Category Archives: River

Logging Railroads in the Okefenokee Swamp 1889-1942

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Here are maps of logging railroads in the Okefenokee Swamp, and detailed maps of railroads and the town on Billys Island.

[Logging Railroads and Billys Island, Okefenokee Swamp]
Logging Railroads and Billys Island, Okefenokee Swamp

The Billys Island maps are by Chris Trowell or revised from his maps. As the redrawn map says, Billys Island is 1.8 miles from Stephen C. Foster State Park, upstream on the Suwannee River and its East Fork. As you can see by the map, it was quite a bustling place. Until the trees ran out.

I don’t know who drew the map of all the railroads in the Swamp, but I would guess Chris Trowell may have had something to do with it. This is presumably the same C.T. Trowell frequently cited in the documents for Floyds Island in the National Register of Historic Places, and his paper included, “Seeking a Sanctuary: A Chronicle of Efforts to Preserve the Okefenokee,” C.T. Trowell, 1998.

These railroads did not all exist at the same time, since they pulled up tracks from one place to go another place.

These maps came from a ranger at Stephen C. Foster State Park, back in 2021. Naturally, right now I cannot find the email he sent with the maps. Continue reading →

Clean Rivers 2023-11-23

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Most of our testers were away for the holiday, but those who tested got clean results for the Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers. Plus the usual bad results for Sugar Creek last Sunday.

There was some rain in the past few days, but not much. Some rain is predicted for Sunday, but it it’s like the last predicted rain, it won’t amount to much, either.

In the last week, no new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

So happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend!

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-11-23]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-11-23

Kim Tanner tested the Alapaha River Monday at Lakeland Boat Ramp and Naylor Park Beach and got very clean results.

Joanne Tremblay tested the Santa Fe River Wednesday. For the US 27 bridge she wrote, “Looking good. The river was swirling gently with leaves. There is a midriver spring right above the ramp. There is also a riparian neighborhood that hugs the high banks along this stretch and a couple of shoals that aerate and solarize the waters.”

For US 41 she wrote, “This location is a few miles down from River Rise. Here the river is mostly surrounded by protected State Park with very few residences tucked in.”

WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall tested Sugar Creek last Sunday and got too-high results, “Still yucky.”

WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman delivered testing supplies to several testers.

If you want to get trained to be a WWALS water quality tester, please fill out the form:
https://wwals.net/?p=47084

The most recent Valdosta results we have are for Wednesday and Friday upstream, which were good. As usual, Valdosta’s last week upstream results corroborated what WWALS saw Thursday last week.

As previously noted, Valdosta’s last downstream tests were September 1, 2023. Continue reading →

Okefenokee season, fall 2023

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Apparently it’s Okefenokee season this fall, with resolutions for the Swamp and against the proposed strip mine, when Clinch County also reserved cash match for a Dark Sky Observatory, one of three natural resources economy projects around the Swamp. There is some movement on listing the Refuge as a UNESCO World Heritage Site including an art auction dinner in Brunswick. Charlton, Ware, and Clinch Counties held their first-ever collaboration, Okefenokee Gateway Getaway. There were dinners and paddles at all three entrances to the Swamp, including a WWALS paddle to camp at Floyds Island, the most remote spot in Georgia, with people from Miami, Alabama, South Carolina, and Atlanta, and a Georgia Water Coalition panel attended by Suwannee Riverkeeper.

You can still help stop the proposed titanium dioxide strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp:
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining

[Collage of Okefenokee season, fall 2023]
Collage of Okefenokee season, fall 2023

In August, Echols and Clinch Counties passed resolutions for the Swamp and against the proposed titanium dioxide mine. When DeKalb County passed a resolution in November, it mentioned those, and a previous resolution by Waycross and Ware County. Continue reading →

Vegetative Buffer Encroachment on Mud Swamp Creek for Valdosta Old Clyattville Road Widening 2023-10-19

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Valdosta’s widening of Old Clyattville Road will affect a drainage ditch out of the SAFT America battery plant on Gil Harbin Road, which is currently hiring. The drainage ditch goes into Mud Swamp Creek, which joins Grand Bay Creek east of Valdosta to form the Alaphoochee River, which flows into the Alapaha River just across the GA-FL line, and then into the Suwannee River.

The project will require mitigation bank credits, probably from the Cherry Creek Mitigation Bank, half of which was previously denied deannexation by the Valdosta Mayor and Council. The city hired TTL to do most of the application work, and apparently also Lovell Engineering Associates to plan the actual road work.

WWALS did not file any comments with GA-EPD, because we did not find any irregularities in the actual project. We did find some interesting tidbits in the application, such as a historic cemetery, railroad, and archaeological sites.

[Collage of Valdosta application for Vegetative Buffer Encroachment on Mud Swamp Creek for Clyattville Road Widening]
Collage of Valdosta application for Vegetative Buffer Encroachment on Mud Swamp Creek for Clyattville Road Widening

Also, the USGS Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) boundary for the Upper Mud Swamp (HUC 031103021001) is incorrect. We may contact USGS about that. Continue reading →

Floyds Island 1838, Hebard Cabin 1925, Okefenokee Swamp

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Answers to some popular questions about Floyds Island, up the Middle Fork of the Suwannee River in the Okefenokee Swamp.

Meanwhile, you can help stop a proposed strip mine near the Swamp:
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining

[Collage, Floyds Island]
Collage, Floyds Island

Who was Floyds Island named for?

The Okefenokee was a Creek hunting ground in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Briefly in 1836 and for most of 1838 theSecond Seminole War in Florida extended into the Okefenokee. Roads and forts were built around the perimeter of the swamp, and Georgia militia and U.S. army troops patrolled intensively. They burned down a Seminole village on an island that they subsequently renamed Floyds Island, for Charles Rinaldo Floyd. In response to this violence, the Seminole began to leave the swamp in 1838, but skirmishes continued to occur along the Georgia-Florida boundary as late as 1840.

C.T. Trowell, New Georgia Encyclopedia, Originally published Sep 20, 2002, Last edited Feb 23, 2022, Human History of the Okefenokee Swamp.

Who was Charles Rinaldo Floyd? Continue reading →

Pictures: Arriving Floyd’s Island, Okefenokee Swamp 2023-11-04

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Update 2023-11-19: Floyds Island 1838, Hebard Cabin 1925, Okefenokee Swamp 1925-01-01.

Alligators and pitcher plants on the Suwannee River to Floyds Island, logging railroad, Indian mound, and tents there, and somebody fell over in a chair.

[IG: Collage, SCFSP to Floyds Island, Okefenokee Swamp, 2023-11-04]
IG: Collage, SCFSP to Floyds Island, Okefenokee Swamp, 2023-11-04

People came to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge from as far away as Miami, Alabama, South Carolina, Savannah, and Atlanta, as well as from Williston, White Springs, Pearson, Douglas, and Hahira.

Thanks to Shirley Kokidko for organizing, and for Randy Madison for leading when Shirley could not go. Continue reading →

Mostly clean Withlacoochee River 2023-11-16

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There was some rain in the past few days, but apparently not enough to wash contamination into the Withlacoochee River. Even famously filthy Crawford Branch was clean. However, Langdale Park Boat Ramp tested dirty, but that is probably because the water is so low it is stagnant there.

No rain is predicted for this weekend.

In the last week, no new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

So happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend!

[Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-11-16]
Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-11-16

Most of the usual WWALS testers are off for the holiday.

Russ Tatum got clean results for Wednesday for the Withlacoochee River at Holly Point, between Allen Ramp and the Suwannee River.

Cindy Vedas very got good results for Thursday for the Withlacoochee River at Franklinville, Crawford Branch, and Staten Road, but too -high at Langdale Park.

WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall provided sage advice.

WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman delivered testing supplies to several testers.

If you want to get trained to be a WWALS water quality tester, please fill out the form:
https://wwals.net/?p=47084

The most recent Valdosta results we have are for Monday upstream, which were good. As usual, Valdosta’s last week upstream results corroborated what WWALS saw Thursday last week.

As previously noted, Valdosta’s last downstream tests were September 1, 2023. Continue reading →

Exploring the Santa Fe River: Origins –Joanne Tremblay 2023-11-03

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Joanne Tremblay says, “I was inspired to create a visual of the river’s path so folks could get a better understanding of its changes it goes through before it becomes the spring-laden stretch that most are familiar with. All my own footage, paddles are a composite from my own at different times.”

[Cover]
Cover

My favorite is this slide, “I will not repeat this journey”, about Worthington to Bible Camp Road: “Seven miles through tangled woods”. Continue reading →

Scotti and Sara Jay discovered One Mile Branch fish kill, leading to GA-EPD Consent Order 2023-09-23

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Thanks to Scotti Jay Jones for discovering and photographing a fish kill on One Mile Branch a year ago, and for taking water quality samples. Thanks to Sara Jay Jones for plating those samples. Suwannee Riverkeeper reported all that to GA-EPD.

One year later, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD), levied a Consent Order on the City of Valdosta for that fish kill and various sewage spills.

[IG: Sara and Scotti Jay Jones, the GA-EPD Consent Order, location map, and fish kill]
IG: Sara and Scotti Jay Jones, the GA-EPD Consent Order, location map, and fish kill

Maybe that Consent Order and its requirements for Standard Operating Procedures will help prevent sewage spills from getting into One Mile Branch, Hightower Creek, and Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River, as well as into Knights Creek into Mud Swamp Creek, the Alapahoochee River, and the Alapaha River. There have also been many personnel changes in the Valdosta City government, and the current Acting Utilities Director so far seems like a big improvement.

And you can join Scotti and Sara and WWALS at Iche Nippy Dip Day Swim and Paddle, Ichetucknee River, Ichetucknee Headspring, 2024-01-06.

Below are links and snippets for previous WWALS blog posts during that year. Continue reading →

Clean Rivers 2023-11-09

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Update 2023-11-17: Mostly clean Withlacoochee River 2023-11-16.

The rivers were still clean, in yet another week with no rain: the Withlacoochee, Alapaha, and Suwannee Rivers. Even famously filthy Crawford Branch was clean. However, notoriously dirty Sugar Creek was dirty, but it did not seem to affect the Withlacoochee River much.

No rain is predicted for this weekend.

In the last week, no new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

So happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend!

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-11-09]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-11-09

Heather Brasell got good results for Continue reading →