Category Archives: Swamp

Lake City Sabal Trail pipe yard in cleared wetlands

Update 2016-08-10: Videos of all the speakers.

You are invited to come ask SRWMD why it hasn’t responded to WWALS’ request about the unregistered Sabal Trail Lake City apparently on fill in wetlands. Figure 12: Pipe Yard on top of former forested wetlands You can speak in person Tuesday morning, or write them a letter saying how Sabal Trail would affect you, no matter where you are elsewhere on the pipeline path, in the Floridan Aquifer, or for other reasons.

When: 9AM Tuesday August 9th 2016

Where: SRWMD District Headquarters,
9225 CR 49, Live Oak, FL 32060

Or write to: Noah Valenstein, Executive Director, SRWMD, NDV@srwmd.org.

Update 2016-08-07: You may also send a letter to all Board members of the SRWMD by writing to their senior Board assistant:
Lisa Cheshire, LMC@srwmd.org
Robin Lamm, Coordinator, rrl@srwmd.org

In the subject header to Lisa include the following info:
SRWMD Board Members:

Then cc here, too:
Noah Valenstein, NDV@srwmd.org

Sabal Trail is not on the agenda, but people can speak in Continue reading →

Map: Okefenokee-Osceola Longleaf Pine Restoration Priority Area

The idea is to stop wildfires coming out of the Okefenokee Swamp as they encounter a one-mile buffer Map of longleaf pine that has already had regular prescribed burns, according to Hunter Bowman, who sent this map of where the Okefenokee-Osceola Local Implementation Team works.

I live 60 miles west of that new buffer, yet I remember vividly the smoke from the 2007 fires, which even put people in the hospital farther west in Quitman, GA. All that smoke, not to mention runoff from the burned area, can’t be good for our waters.

A large image of the map is below, and PDF is on the WWALS website. As you can see, the Suwannee River above Fargo is entirely within the subject area, Continue reading →

Southern Company awards longleaf conservation grant to Okefenokee-Osceola Local Implementation Team 2016-07-06

Part of this longleaf pine forest grant from a major utility is partly in WWALS watersheds, in the Okefenokee Swamp and Osceola National Forest, in the upper Suwannee River basin.

Southern Company PR, July 6th 2016, Southern Company and partners award 10 longleaf conservation grants,

Continuing its longstanding tradition of supporting natural resource conservation, Southern Company, in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), today announced $4.3 million in grants to support, restore and enhance the longleaf ecosystem. The grants include funding for 10 projects in the Southeast states where Southern Company operates electric utilities.


Longleaf Pine Forest | Credit: Christine Ambrose

The 2016 grants will support 21 projects that are a part of Continue reading →

WWALS at Grand Bay –Pictures by Gretchen Quarterman 2015-12-12

It was a fine warm fall day for the Grand Bay Hike, WWALS banner on top of tower on the boardwalk through wet savannah and cypress and blackgum swamp at Grand Bay Wildlife Management Area, which is on the Alapaha River Water Trail. Thanks to Bret Wagenhorst for organizing this outing.

Carol Cleary Herndon also posted a facebook album.

These pictures are from Gretchen Quarterman’s facebook album.

More outings coming up: Continue reading →

WWALS Outings and Events late 2015 – early 2016

Update 2016-04-03: Extra Withlacoochee outing by popular demand.

Coming up soon!

See the WWALS calendar for any more events already scheduled.

All these outings are in Georgia. Which is a switch, since Continue reading →

The Alapaha River Corridor: a high priority wildlife landscape feature

Interesting find by Heather in the State Wildlife Action Plan, July 31, 2015, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division, featuring the newly-scientifically-recognized Suwannee River alligator snapping turtle. Maybe we’ll see one on the WWALS outing this Sunday from Sasser Landing to Jennings Bluff, and you can preview some of the vegetation mentioned in Julie Bowland’s pictures.

Alapaha River Corridor

The Alapaha River is a nonalluvial (blackwater) river in the Gulf Coastal Plain of Georgia. The Alapaha River corridor includes significant upland habitats associated with sandhill environments. This system includes longleaf pine-scrub oak woodlands, old-growth dwarf pondcypress swamps, mesic hardwood bluffs, and depression ponds. High priority species associated with these habitats include striped newt, gopher frog, gopher tortoise, spotted turtle, eastern indigo snake, eastern diamondbacked rattlesnake, tiger salamander, silky camellia, and pondspice. The Alapaha River is inhabited by the Suwannee River alligator snapping turtle, a distinct, newly described species that is rarer in Georgia than the species found in other drainages. (Note: this conservation landscape spans the Southeastern Plains and Southern Coastal Plain.

Fortunately, the Alapaha River has no Continue reading →

EPA Clean Water Rule finalized

I still see EPA’s new Clean Water Rule as a good thing, since it protects drinking water, paddling, and fishing, while opponents remain quite vague about what might be wrong with it.

After last year’s comment period, U.S. EPA has posted a prepublication version of its final Clean Water Rule.

Katie Shepherd, L.A. Times, 27 May 2015, Under new EPA rule, Clean Water Act protections will cover all active tributaries, Continue reading →

Okefenokee Outing @ Fargo, GA 2014-11-22

Update 2025-05-11: Pictures: Okefenokee Outing 2014-11-22.

Meet at 10AM Saturday November 22nd at Georgia’s Stephen C. Foster State Park near Fargo, GA, and paddle into the park and back. Bring a boat, or you can rent one at the park. WWALS board member and veteran boater Bret Wagenhorst will be our guide. Facebook event.

This event is FREE! All we ask is Continue reading →

New Georgia law bans riding ATVs in riverbeds.

Terry Dickson and Walter C. Jones wrote for the Florida Times-Union Saturday, May 22, 2010, New Georgia law bans riding ATVs in riverbeds,
IMG_8139.JPG

The measure should increase safety and reduce environmental damage.

Riding all-terrain vehicles in stream beds is against the law in Georgia with Gov. Sonny Perdue’s signature on legislation Friday that has been long sought by environmentalists, property owners and safety advocates.

House Bill 207, Continue reading →

WWALS July 19 outing @ Banks lake

20140717-120814-43694626.jpgWWALS is having an outing on July 19 @ Banks lake. So be there by 8:30am because we are putting in @ 9:00am. This is a beautiful scenic lake so don’t miss out. The location is @ 307 West Highway 122 Lakeland, Georgia 31635.

This event is FREE! All we ask is that you are a current member of WWALS Watershed Coalition. If not, its easy to join online today at /donations/.

Facebook event.