Don Davis of the Lowndes County Museum had asked for copies of some water trail signs, so today I delivered to him duplicates of the ones for Troupville Boat Ramp:
One of them is about the entire Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT). As befits a museum, this one is actually a prototype, with Continue reading
The local newspaper discovered another discrepancy between what the Army Corps announced and what the mining company is saying.
Marla Ogletree, Charlton County Herald, 23 July 2019, Twin Pines seeks permit for heavy mineral mining in Okefenokee area.
The story notes the Public Notice says Twin Pines Minerals (TPM) is asking to mine 12,000 acres near the world-famous Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. But Steven Ingle with TPM told the newspaper TPM only owns about 9,000 acres, and they would disturb only part of that.
The story has further discussion about TPM’s claims of low impact. Then:
“Based on the amount of permanent damage, the mining could still [a]ffect the top soil for planting trees, which could then cause issues for natural habitats,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.
Endangered animals, such as Continue reading
Spooks! Daredevil dry-land kayaker! Bridge climber! Gnarly jerky and the golf cart! Also the Withlacoochee River at Spook Bridge, Knight’s Ferry Boat Ramp, Nankin Boat Ramp, each with road and kiosk signs for the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail, plus briefly Port-A-Potties at all those places and halfway back up towards Troupville Boat Ramp, and a gopher tortoise, all during Day 2 of #PaddleGA2019.
There were boats. Continue reading
In the Valdosta Daily Times, page 4A, July 24, 2019, and online July 21: QUARTERMAN: Swamp, Suwannee more valuable than titanium (updated here in light of recent developments, with links):
A company wants to mine on Trail Ridge, between the St. Mary’s River and the Okefenokee Swamp, which is the headwaters of the Suwannee River.
![[Suwannee River Basin Landings]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-07-12--tpm-usace/landings.jpg)
Suwannee River Basin Landings
For much more about the mine application, see
wwals.net/pictures/2019-07-12–tpm-usace/.
See also WWALS the interactive google map,
Landings on the rivers in the Suwannee River Basin: Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, upper and lower Suwannee River watersheds and Estuary, plus Santa Fe River, by Suwannee Riverkeeper, WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc.
The Charlton County Commission passed Continue reading
Update 2019-07-24: Free to everyone!
Come help WWALS clean up at Franklinville Landing at Tyler Bridge on Franklinville Road on the Withlacoochee River, and on adjoining private land, courtesy of the landowner. Per our usual arrangement, Lowndes County Public Works will come get the trash after we bag it and set it on the public road right of way. We will also visit the nearby monument to Franklinville, which was the county seat of Lowndes County before Valdosta and before Troupville.
When: 9 AM, Saturday, August 3, 2019
Gather at:
Franklinville Landing, 6560 Franklinville Road, Hahira, GA 31632. in Lowndes County.
Be sure to get to Franklinville Road from the west, from Skipper Bridge Road; you can’t get to the clean up site from Cat Creek Road.
From Valdosta, go north on N. Oak Street Extension, which becomes Cherry Creek Road and then Staten Road. After you cross the Withlacoochee River on Staten Road, turn right on the next paved road, which is McMillan Road. Turn left onto Skipper Bridge Road. After 2.4 miles, turn right onto Franklinville Road, which is a dirt road. Continue to Tyler Bridge, which is closed, so you can’t miss it because you can’t go any further.
From Hahira, go east on GA 122, after 4.2 miles turn right onto Skipper Bridge Road, and after 0.9 miles turn left onto dirt Franklinville Road.
Take Out: Same.
Bring: Cleanup materials will be provided, but if you’ve got a trash picker, bring it along. No boat required, although you can bring one to paddle up and down if you want to.
Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members everyone!
We recommend you support the work of WWALS by
becoming a WWALS member today!
For those interested, afterwards go to Langdale Park Boat Ramp for an additional cleanup. That is downstream on the Withlacoochee River, also on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.
![[Downstream from bridge, 13:38:58, 30.981386, -83.267655]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2018-02-11--hagan-bridge-franklinville/20180211_133858.jpg)
Downstream from bridge, 13:38:58,,
2018-02-11
30.9813860, -83.2676550,
Three people came up from Baker County, Florida, to get another copy of the mine application from Twin Pines Minerals (it matches the earlier copy) and then had to leave early. Emily Jones of Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) came from Savannah. Suwannee Riverkeeper (I) asked the Charlton County Commissioners to consider asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to extend the application comment date. The Chair of St. Mary’s Riverkeeper spoke. The miners’ lobbyist sat silent.
![[Attorney?, County Administrator Hampton Raulerson, Absent Jesse Crews (3), Vice Chair Alphya Benefield (1), Chair James E. Everett (2), , Drew Jones (4), Luke Gowen (5), County Clerk Jenifer Nobles, Finance Coordinator Rebecca Harden]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-07-18--charlton-bocc/20190718_175920.jpg)
Thanks for hospitality to Attorney?, County Administrator Hampton Raulerson, Absent Jesse Crews (3), Vice Chair Alphya Benefield (1), Chair James E. Everett (2), , Drew Jones (4), Luke Gowen (5), County Clerk Jenifer Nobles, Finance Coordinator Rebecca Harden.
Since we learned that Twin Pines Minerals still has a hydrogelogical study in process with some unknown completion date, the thirty-day extension GPB announced the next day does not seem adequate, since a key study is missing. Remember to comment on the Corps’ and GA DNR dockets, and see below for the dates, times, and locations of upcoming meetings in Charlton County.
There was nothing on the agenda about the mine, so everything about it was in Continue reading
Update 2019-07-22: Corrected headline to match extension date in GPB story. See also Charlton County, GA, BOCC 2019-07-18.
I asked the Charlton County Commission just yesterday to ask the Corps for an extension, and numerous other people and organizations have done so. The Corps has already responded.
Emily Jones, Georgia Public Broadcasting, 19 July 2019, Army Corps Extends Comment Deadline On Mining Near Okefenokee,
The Army Corps of Engineers is extending the deadline for public comments on a proposal to mine for minerals near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
The new deadline is September 12, an additional 30 days from the original deadline of August 13.
Environmental groups were calling for the deadline extension.
Since there’s nothing on the Corps’ Public Notices website about that, I asked her how she knew. She said Senior USACE Public Affairs Officer Billy Birdwell, 912-652-5014. So I called him.
The complete 565-page permit application by Twin Pines Minerals, SAS-2018-00554, is now on the WWALS website.
News about it is all over North America, with more coming out daily.
You can go ahead and send in comments to the Army Corps of Engineers or to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
![[Twin-Pines-Individual-Permit-Application--complete-0006]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-07-17--tpm-permit/Twin-Pines-Individual-Permit-Application--complete-0006.jpg)
Twin-Pines-Individual-Permit-Application–complete-0006
You can retrieve the complete application from Continue reading
Some of what I said:
Much of what Quarterman and the watershed coalition does is educate people who use the Floridan aquifer, he said.
It’s important to get people out on the water to show them the importance of the natural resource, but since most of the drinking water is more than 400 feet below them, it’s hard to make people appreciate the resource, he said.
“We want to be careful about using up the aquifer,” Quarterman said. “The water level goes down each year, and each year we have to dig deeper to get to the water.”
![[VDT Front page, Sunday, July 14, 2019]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-07-14--vdt-water/front-page.jpg)
Front page, Sunday, July 14, 2019, Valdosta Daily Times
Some of you may recognize the picture, which shows the boom Sabal Trail put in the Withlacoochee River west of Valdosta after their pilot hole leaked drilling fluid up into the river.
Thomas Lynn, Valdosta Daily Times, 14 July 2019, Waste not, want not: Water preservation not a priority,
VALDOSTA — Water is a finite resource. Continue reading
My vegetable buyer from St. Mary’s, GA, said “I heard you on the radio this morning.” Notice the map Georgia Public Broadcasting posted says “Phase I” in U.S Army Corps of Engineers Application SAS-2018-00554. The company actually owns land northwards all the way up next to the swamp.
Emily Jones, GPB Radio News, 15 July 2019, Mining Proposed Near Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge,
An Alabama company wants to mine for heavy minerals near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Georgia.
The proposal from Twin Pines Minerals called for Continue reading
![[Trail Ridge Land LLC]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-07-12--tpm-usace/trail-ridge-land.jpg)
![[Joe Cook and Harold Harbert]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-06-16--paddle-ga-day-2/20190616_094032.jpg)
![[Phase I location Map]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-07-12--tpm-usace/SAS-2018-00554-Charlton-0712-SP-HAR-0007.jpg)