Plug pulled on parks plan: protect Florida Parks from golf courses and hotels 2024-08-29

First they postponed the meetings for the attempt to put golf courses or pickleball courts in state parks.

And day before yesterday the Florida governor said “back to the drawing board.”

[Plug Pulled on Park Plan, DeSantis claimed it leaked, Back to the drawing board, How about a bill to prevent it?]
Plug Pulled on Park Plan, DeSantis claimed it leaked, Back to the drawing board, How about a bill to prevent it?
Photo: DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD, Tampa Bay Times,
https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2024/08/28/florida-desantis-state-parks-golf-course-hotel-pickleball-plan/

But don’t trust them. The same or different developers behind this attempt will be back again.

Since state legislators of both parties were opposed to this bad idea, there is talk of a bill to stop this from happening again.

That’s good, and how about a constitutional amendment for Right to Clean Water?
https://www.floridarighttocleanwater.org

None of the nine parks proposed this time are in the Suwannee River Basin. But if they happened, how long before somebody wants to put a golf course or a lodge at Suwannee River State Park, or Manatee Springs, or Ichetucknee Springs?

Alex Harris and Ana Ceballos, Miami Herald, August 29, 2024, DeSantis pulls plug on controversial state parks plan after public, political backlash, Continue reading →

Cancelled: Juneteenth again in August at Reed Bingham State Park 2024-08-31

Cancelled due to heat and holidays. We will reschedule to a date to be determined.

Hahira, GA, August 1, 2024 — “Like we did in June, WWALS will again provide stunt adults to paddle with children whose parents don’t want to get in a boat,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.

WWALS will also provide boats for new paddlers at this gathering of people from Brooks, Cook, and Tift Counties, Georgia, and beyond in another celebration of Juneteenth, this time in August.

We’re calling it Augusteenth.

Food and activities for children will be provided by Fannie Gibbs and Macedonia Community Foundation.

When: 11 AM, Saturday, August 31, 2024

Put In: Reed Bingham State Park Beach, 542 Reed Bingham Rd, Adel, GA 31620. Take I-75 Exit 39, turn west on GA 37, right on Evergreen Church Road (CR 99), left on Reed Bingham SP Road (CR 221), in through the gate and across the dam, and the beach is on your right, in Colquitt County.

GPS: 31.162563, -83.548506

[Juneteenth Boating again in August, Reed Bingham SP 2024-08-31, WWALS & Macedonia Community Foundation]
Juneteenth Boating again in August, Reed Bingham SP 2024-08-31, WWALS & Macedonia Community Foundation

Continue reading →

Alligator hunting in Banks Lake NWR 2020-07-16

Yes, alligator hunting is happening in Banks Lake NWR.

Well, actually, already happened. According to GA-DNR, “The 2024 season opens at SUNSET on Friday, August 16, 2024, and closes at SUNRISE on Monday, October 7, 2024.”
https://georgiawildlife.com/Hunting/Alligator

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: “Alligator: All State of Georgia Regulations will apply and the season will be limited to two three-day units within the state season. Hunters will access the lake using the refuge boat ramp…. Alligator hunting on the Refuge will be the first two weekends in accordance with the state season.”

So that was August 16-18 and 23-25, 2024.

[Alligator Hunting in Banks Lake NWR 2024, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Georgia Department of Natural Resources]
Alligator Hunting in Banks Lake NWR 2024, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Georgia Department of Natural Resources

Excerpts from Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge Hunt Plan, July 2020, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:
https://ecos.fws.gov/ServCat/DownloadFile/221089

Avg total nightly count = 56 Avg known legal nightly count = 24

Due to increased information from alligator surveys and monitoring from Georgia DNR, the process to allow alligator hunting on Banks Lake NWR was initiated in 2019. The alligator population in Georgia is one of many renewable natural resources that can sustain limited harvest in concert with biological monitoring and periodic evaluations. Allowing an alligator hunt on Banks Lake NWR will provide hunters additional opportunities where other public lands hunting opportunities are limited. Opening this hunt also supports the refuge’s compliance with Secretarial Order 3356, “to support and expand hunting and fishing, enhance conservation stewardship, improve wildlife management, and increase outdoor recreation opportunities for all Americans”.

II. Statement of Objectives

Continue reading →

Hamilton County, Florida, Creeks 2024-08-24

The opposite of what I expected: just west of Hamilton County High School, Cat Creek under SW 55 Drive flows north, not south.

This matters for figuring out what is upstream and downstream from a site on Cat Creek.

[Movie: Cat Creek south of SW 55 Drive, 14:56:38, 30.4736975, -82.9406837 (31M)]
Movie: Cat Creek south of SW 55 Drive, 14:56:38, (31M) 30.4736975, -82.9406837

Continue reading →

Alapaha and Little Alapaha Rivers at US 41, Hamilton County, FL 2024-08-24

Frequently there’s no flow in the Little Alapaha River at US 41, but Saturday there was.

In the Alapaha River where it is often completely dry under US 41, there was plenty of water, a bit west of Jasper, Florida, in Hamilton County.

[Rivers at US 41, Hamilton County, FL, 2024-08-24, Alapaha River, Little Alapaha River]
Rivers at US 41, Hamilton County, FL, 2024-08-24, Alapaha River, Little Alapaha River

The Alapaha River Jennings Gauge was about 66.06 feet NAVD88 at 2:15 PM, Saturday, August 24, 2024. That’s well within the WWALS recommended water levels of low 65, high 76 at US 4 1 on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

Here’s a bit of video:
https://youtu.be/FWFsUfMSOP0 Continue reading →

WWALS River Revue, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, and Augusteenth on The Spotlight Show, Talk92.1 FM 2024-08-29

Join us on The Spotlight Show on talk921.com at 6 PM, Thursday, August 29, 2024.

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman and “Diamond” Jim Halter will talk about the WWALS River Revue with the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, coming up in a week. Also Augusteenth: Juneteenth boating again at Reed Bingham State Park this Saturday. Plus chainsaw cleanups, the Okefenokee Swamp, the Ichetucknee Springs and River, and the water quality testing.

[WWALS River Revue and Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest on The Spotlight Show, 6-7 PM, Thursday, August 29, 2024]
WWALS River Revue and Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest on The Spotlight Show, 6-7 PM, Thursday, August 29, 2024

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

Pictures: Jon boat Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup, Langdale Park Boat Ramp 2024-08-25

I think that’s eight big deadfalls and some littler stuff that we sawed, downstream on the Withlacoochee River Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup. Hurricane Debby and other storms left quite a bit of debris.

[Downstream Chainsaw Cleanup, Langdale Park 2024-08-25, 2 jon boats and a canoe, Withlacoochee River]
Downstream Chainsaw Cleanup, Langdale Park 2024-08-25, 2 jon boats and a canoe, Withlacoochee River

We had Phil Royce’s jon boat with 3.5 hp outboard, the WWALS jon boat with 9.9 hp outboard, and TJ Johnson in a canoe.

I think there were four or five chainsaws among us, including the 24-inch Husqvarna 460 that the Wild Green Future Grant paid for, along with the 9.9 hp outboard. Plus TJ’s handsaw.

Here are some video snippets:
https://youtu.be/tuGSugOlTLw?si=xQrAla60gZzeNnkR

So you want to know: after all this sawing, can you paddle from Langdale Park to Sugar Creek? Continue reading →

Valdosta Parking Lots 2022-04-04

This map shows the big parking lots in the city of Valdosta, Georgia, along with some other impervious surface.

[Impervious surface, Valdosta, GA 2024-04-04, Parking Lots & Streams, SGRC, VALORGIS]
Impervious surface, Valdosta, GA 2024-04-04, Parking Lots & Streams, SGRC, VALORGIS

For example, you can see the parking lot on St. Augustine Road next to Hightower Creek that has featured in many previous WWALS posts about trash. Continue reading →

Upstream deadfalls, Langdale Park, Withlacoochee River, Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-08-25

Update 2024-08-27: Pictures: Jon boat Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup, Langdale Park Boat Ramp 2024-08-25.

I thought we’d just skate up under the US 41 bridge to where Stillhouse Branch comes out of Valdosta Country Club, to see if there was a logjam or trash there.

But only a little more than halfway up Langdale Park to the bridge, we found a huge oak deadfall.

Sawing passage through that took a while. And then we could see an even bigger oak and pine deadfall.

[Upstream deadfalls, Langdale Park 2024-08-25, Withlacoochee River, Chainsaw Cleanup]
Upstream deadfalls, Langdale Park 2024-08-25, Withlacoochee River, Chainsaw Cleanup

Here are a few videos:
https://youtu.be/XB66qmC2XrY

So we turned downstream towards our primary chainsaw cleanup goal of clearing downstream passage.

We being Phil Royce and TJ Johnson from Live Oak, Florida, and Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.

Thanks to Wild Green Future for the generous grant that paid for the Husqvarna 460 24-inch chainsaw and the 9.9hp outboard motor, as well as the tires on the boat trailer. Continue reading →

Chainsawing deadfall from Langdale Park Boat Ramp entrance Road 2024-08-25

Update 2024-08-25: Upstream deadfalls, Langdale Park, Withlacoochee River, Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-08-25.

This deadfall had been there since Hurricane Debby, 20 days before.

It was in our way to Langdale Park Boat Ramp, and we had chainsaws for the Langdale Park Boat Ramp jon boat chainsaw outing, so we removed this deadfall.

[Chainsawing deadfall, Langdale Park Boat Ramp 2024-08-25, Withlacoochee River, Valdosta, GA, Chainsaws from Live Oak, FL]
Chainsawing deadfall, Langdale Park Boat Ramp 2024-08-25, Withlacoochee River, Valdosta, GA, Chainsaws from Live Oak, FL

We being Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman and two people from Live Oak, Florida: Phil Royce and TJ Johnson.

Do we get paid for this, Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority?

Thanks to Wild Green Future for generous grant that paid for the Husqvarna 460 24-inch chainsaw I used to make the main cuts.

Videos:
https://youtu.be/5AnuFDuwNKQ?si=EAkbbFZU_HTLjZcF

Continue reading →