Tag Archives: Berrien Beach Boat Ramp

Work in progress at Lakeland Boat Ramp 2023-06-20

Update 2023-06-27: Good Alapaha River 2023-06-25.

Thanks to GA-DNR for silt fences and turbidity curtains during their upgrade of Lakeland Boat Ramp, and for that upgrade.

Also thanks to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA-DNR) for officially adopting the name Lakeland Boat Ramp as decided back in 2018 by the Lakeland County Commission, as well as Berrien Beach Boat Ramp, also decided in 2018 by the Berrien County Commission, both for the WWALS Alapaha River Water Trail. This naming development is specifically thanks to WWALS tester Kimberly Tanner and GA-DNR Boating Access Coordinator Jeff E. Bishop.

[At-water ARWT sign, silt fences and turbidity curtain, Lakeland Boat Ramp, 2023-06-20]
At-water ARWT sign, silt fences and turbidity curtain, Lakeland Boat Ramp, 2023-06-20

When I took these pictures, Tuesday, June 20, 2023, the Statenville Gauge read about 7.17 feet (83.27′ NAVD88). Today, Saturday, June 24th, the Alapaha River is almost seven feet higher, at 14.01′ (90.11′ NAVD88), into Action Stage.

So don’t be surprised if GA-DNR’s plan to start work May 30 and end about July 26 gets extended a bit. Continue reading

Lakeland Boat Ramp to close for eight weeks 2023-05-22 2023-05-30

Update 2023-06-24: Work in progress at Lakeland Boat Ramp 2023-06-20.

Update 2023-05-19: Closure date changed to May 30, so Lakeland Boat Ramp should reopen around July 26, 2023.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA-DNR) is closing Lakeland Boat Ramp @ GA 122 to rebuild it, which will take about eight weeks. So it will be closed from May 22 30, 2023 through about July 20 26, 2023.

[Berrien Beach Boat Ramp and Lakeland Boat Ramp]
Berrien Beach Boat Ramp and Lakeland Boat Ramp

GA-DNR recommends going instead to Continue reading

Pictures: Berrien Beach Cleanup, Alapaha River 2022-09-24

We got quite a bit of trash on a fun morning at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp in Berrien County and across the Alapaha River at Berrien Beach in Lanier County, in the September 24, 2022, River Alive cleanup.

[Banners, trash, and people at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp and Berrien Beach, Alapaha River 2022-09-24]
Banners, trash, and people at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp and Berrien Beach, Alapaha River 2022-09-24

The most unusual item was cash. Most of the rest was water, beer bottles, and plastic bags. And the usual used diapers. Plus a bumper. Continue reading

Rivers Alive Trash Pick Up, Alapaha River, Berrien Beach Boat Ramp, 2022-09-24

Update 2022-09-30: Pictures.

Get a Rivers Alive t-shirt for picking up river trash. Come to Berrien Beach Boat Ramp with gloves and trash pickers if you have them. No boat required, but those of us who bring one will also float across to Berrien Beach itself and clean up there, or you can drive across the bridge and get there by land.

When: 9 AM – noon, Saturday, September 24, 2022

Put In: Berrien Beach Boat Ramp, 12496 Highway 168, Nashville, GA 31639, N side of GA 168, right bank, west side of Alapaha River, in Berrien County, Georgia.

GPS: 31.159076, -83.045554

[Volunteers at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp, Rivers Alive t-shirt 2020-09-12]
Volunteers at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp, Rivers Alive t-shirt 2020-09-12

Bring: No boat required, but you can bring one if you like, with the usual personal flotation device, boat, paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags: this WWALS outing is a cleanup. Continue reading

Willacoochee to Lakeland, Alapaha River, 2021-08-10, 2021-08-19

See the Alapaha River for yourself, in these 360-degree views, on Earthviews, taken in August 2021 by WWALS member Bobby McKenzie.

[Willacoochee Landing, overhanging branches, GA & FL RR, mile marker, beach, Lakeland Boat Ramp; ARWT map]
Willacoochee Landing, overhanging branches, GA & FL RR, mile marker, beach, Lakeland Boat Ramp; ARWT map

Willacoochee Landing @ GA 135 to Berrien Beach Boat Ramp @ GA 168

That’s 19.17 river miles, on August 10, 2021. Continue reading

The real trash problem: the companies that make it

Update 2023-12-23: The Real Trash Problem is the Producers, and How to Stop It 2023-12-23.

Update 2023-02-05: Beyond cleanups: trash traps, ordinances, business permits, reusable substitutes, bottle deposits, and single-use packaging bans 2023-02-05.

Update 2020-11-18: Landslide Yes on Georgia Amendment 1 to dedicate trust funds!

People shouldn’t litter, but individuals are not the real litter problem. The companies that make all those throwaway items are the problem. There are fixes, which we can implement. One fix Georgians can vote on right now: vote Yes on Amendment 1 please!

There was no lack of trash on the Alapaha River in September, at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp in Berrien County and at Berrien Beach in Lanier County. We found the usual cigarette butts, shotgun shells, and yes, a few used diapers.

Plus tires. To help stop tires being dumped by rivers, please vote Yes on Georgia Constitutional Amendment 1 to stop fee diversions.

We found fewer shotgun shells and tires but more of everything else at Twomile Branch in Valdosta, Sugar Creek, and the Withlacoochee River in August.

Come to the big cleanup this Saturday on the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers in Lowndes County and on Sugar Creek, Onemile Branch, and Twomile Branch in Valdosta October 10, 2020!

We expect as usual the most numerous items will be plastic and glass bottles and cans.

[Bottles]
Bottles

Sure people shouldn’t litter, but Anheuser-Busch and other beer makers, as well as Nestlé, Coca Cola, and Walmart, should stop making and selling disposable bottles and cans.

Fifty years ago those things had deposits on them, and people would collect them for the cash. In economic downturns such as right now, that could be useful to a lot of people, and a lot more cleanups would happen. Sure, there was still trash back then, but not as much.

People still do in Hawaii and nine other states: California, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Vermont, plus Guam. They don’t have nearly as big of a litter problem.

But Georgia or Florida do not have such container deposits. Maybe we should change that.

No, recycling will not solve this problem. There’s no market for plastic to recycle, and recycling has been pushed by big oil for years as an excuse to make more plastic throw-away containers. Laura Sullivan, NPR, 11 September 2020, How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled.

You’ve probably seen the famous ‘Crying Indian’ ad from 1971: Continue reading

Bad lower Suwannee, good Withlacoochee and Alapaha 2020-09-14

Update 2020-09-18: OK Withlacoochee River Quality, sewage spill Suwannee, FL, Suwannee River 2020-09-17

Sunday, Suzy Hall tested for WWALS at Sullivan Launch @ CR 15 on the Withlacoochee River, and got good results.

This despite a report of cows in a creek near the river just upstream in Hamilton County, Florida: that’s right, Florida, not Georgia.

Loretta Tennant’s WWALS results for the lower Suwannee were not so pretty.

And while Valdosta’s results for late last week corroborate those of WWALS and Madison Health, for Wedensday, September 2, Valdosta got bad results at State Line Boat Ramp.

[Withlacoochee and Suwannee Rivers]
Withlacoochee and Suwannee Rivers

Lower Suwannee River

Monday, September 14, 2020, Loretta Tennant tested again for WWALS at Continue reading

Alapaha River good water quality at Berrien Beach and Lakeland Boat Ramp, also Withlacoochee 2020-09-12

Update 2020-09-16: Bad lower Suwannee, good Withlacoochee and Alapaha 2020-09-14.

Results look good from the Alapaha River Saturday, at Berrien Beach and Lakeland Boat Ramp. Florida Thursday Withlacoochee River results corroborate the WWALS State Line results of that same Thursday we reported last time, and extend them downstream into Florida, also good.

However, more than half an inch of rain fell on Okapilco Creek Thursday, 0.75″ at Spence Field east of Moultrie, and also 0.6″ at Dixie in the west of Brooks County. Is that enough to wash some manure into the creek? We shall see.

[Withlacoochee and Alapaha Rivers]
Withlacoochee and Alapaha Rivers

Berrien Beach

After the Berrien Beach Boat Ramp (and Beach) cleanup, I collected a sample at Continue reading

Pictures: Berrien Beach Boat Ramp Cleanup 2020-09-12

Nine people collected 304 pounds of trash at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp in Berrien County, Georgia, and at Berrien Beach in Lanier County, downstream across the river.

[Boat Ramp, Berrien Beach, bags of trash, bottles]
Boat Ramp, Berrien Beach, bags of trash, bottles

We got a picture with banners early before anybody left, and more later, with the trash and the beautiful Alapaha River. See also the real trash problem, the companies that make it.

[Before]
Before
Photo: John S. Quarterman, L-r: Dan Phillips, Dylan Phillips, Bret Wagenhorst, Bobby McKenzie, Shirley Kokidko, Cindy Leighton, Becky Garber, Donald Roberson.

WWALS charter board member Bret Wagenhorst handed out t-shirts from the Georgia statewide Rivers Alive program, from our last cleanup near this location, Continue reading

Berrien Beach Boat Ramp Clean Up, Alapaha River, 2020-09-12

Update 2020-09-13: Pictures.

Cleanup on the Alapaha River in Berrien County, Georgia, at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch N/A, end 12 PM, Saturday, September 12, 2020

Put In: Berrien Beach Boat Ramp. Concrete boat ramp on the north side of GA 168, west side of Alapaha River, in Berrien County, Georgia. About 20 minutes east of Nashville, GA, same southwest of Pearson. Less than 45 minutes southeast of Tifton and northeast of Valdosta. About an hour north of Madison, Jasper, Live Oak, or Lake City, FL; two hours north of Gainesville, FL.
The boat ramp is public, but the Berrien (west) side of the river is owned by Langdale Timber Company. Also known as Berrien Beach Landing. Float downstream under the bridge to the sand beaches of Berrien Beach.

GPS: 31.159076, -83.045554

Take Out: Berrien Beach Boat Ramp , which is on the WWALS Alapaha River Water Trail.

Bring: the usual personal flotation device, boat, paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.
Actually, you don’t have to bring a boat to this one: there’s plenty of trash to clean up right at the boat ramp.

Free: it’s a cleanup. However, we recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!
wwals.net/donations/#join

Event: facebook, meetup

Bret Wagenhorst: Public access on north side of bridge, with cement strip boat ramp at higher water level but no facilities. Access road is unpaved and about 1/4 mile long. Nice sandy beach 2014-10-20
Photo: Bret Wagenhorst, Public access on north side of bridge, with cement strip boat ramp at higher water level but no facilities. Access road is unpaved and about 1/4 mile long. Nice sandy beach 2014-10-20.

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