This is part 2 of the Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup of Sunday, March 29, 2026.
Part 1 was downstream.
Here we go upstream, with Brianna Schawalder of Trails4Valdosta in her canoe, helping pull limbs aside and photographing, and Russell Hassenstab of Kona Ice paddling the Suwannee Riverkeeper Old Town Canoe, while Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman chainsaws.
Here are some video snippets.
Thanks to Continue reading
Update 2026-04-26: Pictures: Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Upstream, Withlacoochee River 2026-03-29.
Brianna Schawalder of Trails4Valdosta and Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman did some sawing from the Suwannee Riverkeeper Old Town Canoe, but most of the work downstream from Langdale Park Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River was done by Austin Roark and his equipment and crew from Roark’s Land Clearing and Restoration.
They removed the snaggly tree just downstream from the boat ramp that was making fishing and paddling difficult. And a tree a bit farther down that stuck so far across it was eroding the right bank.
Cindy Vedas come to staff a WWALS table at the boat ramp.
Phil Hubbard couldn’t come because he had the flu.
Here are a few video snippets:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/931293323150513/
https://www.instagram.com/p/DXjp9PFCLct/
After we went upstream and back (stay tuned for that report), whole families were fishing where those trees had been.
So that looks like success.
Thanks to all, and to Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA) for their cooperation.
Continue readingA Day in the Woods is always fun, at Gaskins Forest Education Center (GFEC) near Alapaha, Georgia.
Coming up again April 11, 2026.
Here are some pictures from 2025.
Thanks to WWALS volunteers Gretchen Quarterman, Shirley Kokidko, and Cindy Vedas for helping at the WWALS Booth.
Thanks to Heather Brasell for holding this event at GFEC.
For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. Continue reading
Sugar Creek is filthy again, according to a WWALS sample of Thursday.
All the Withlacoochee River results we have are clean, but the most recent are from Monday, so we don’t know what conditions are like now.
The Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers tested clean for Thursday samples.
No new sewage spills have been reported this week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia.
So happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend, but I’d avoid the Withlacoochee River downstream from Sugar Creek.
Come join us today, Saturday, at the WWALS Booth at Azalea Festival 2026-03-14, in Drexel Park, on One Mile Branch, in Valdosta, Georgia.
This image is an illustration. Scroll down for the details.
![[Filthy Sugar Creek, Clean Alapaha River 2026-03-12, Clean Santa Fe River, Withlacoochee unknown]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-03-12--wq/many.jpg)
Filthy Sugar Creek, Clean Alapaha River 2026-03-12, Clean Santa Fe River, Withlacoochee unknown
Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall,
and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results
The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading
Come help WWALS celebrate spring with 30,000 of our south Georgia and north Florida friends.
That’s in Drexel Park, Valdosta, Georgia, this Saturday and Sunday, March 14 and 15, 2026.
The festival starts at 9 AM each day, and runs until 6 PM Saturday and 5 PM Sunday.
We’ll be at our usual location at the entrance on Slater and Brookwood.
GPS: 30.848576, -83.285556.
Drexel Park is on One Mile Branch, which runs into Sugar Creek, into the Withlacoochee River, on the WWALS Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).
![[WWALS Booth at Azalea Festival, Valdosta, GA, March 14-15, 2026]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-03-14--azalea-festival/fbmany.jpg)
WWALS Booth at Azalea Festival, Valdosta, GA, March 14-15, 2026
If you are a WWALS member, you can come help give out flyers and answer questions about outings and events, advocacy and education.
We’re on our own this year, because Continue reading
Update 2026-03-20: OK Santa Fe and Alapaha Rivers, Questionable Withlacoochee River, Dirty Sugar Creek, Clean Little River 2026-03-19.
For once every river WWALS tested came out clean, and Valdosta Utilities concurs.
And even Sugar Creek tested clean at the WaterGoat, just above the Withlacoochee River.
No new sewage spills have been reported this week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia.
So happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this sunny warm weekend.
Come join us today, Saturday, for the Mayor and Chairmans Paddle: Troupville to Spook Bridge 2026-03-07.
This image is an illustration. Scroll down for the details.
![[Clean Santa Fe, New, and Withlacoochee Rivers, and Sugar Creek, 2026-03-05]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-03-05--wq/many.jpg)
Clean Santa Fe, New, and Withlacoochee Rivers, and Sugar Creek, 2026-03-05
Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall,
and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results
The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading
Update 2026-01-30: Clean Alapaha, Santa Fe, and Withlacoochee Rivers 2026-01-28.
WWALS got good river results on the Santa Fe River for Wednesday and upstream on the Withlacoochee River for Thursday.
Valdosta Utilities got bad E. coli results downstream at GA 133 and US 84 for Thursday.
We have no new creek test results.
I wonder if some of the contamination I detected Sunday on feeder creeks just upstream from Langdale Park Boat Ramp had not washed downstream to GA 133 and beyond by Thursday. Or did something else come down Hightower Creek and Sugar Creek into the Withlacoochee River?
No new sewage spills have been reported this week in Georgia or Florida.
So if you can find a river with enough water, happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend before the big freeze next week.
This image is an illustration. Scroll down for the details.
Please welcome back WWALS tester Cindy Vedas. For Thursday she got:
Valdosta Utilities for Thursday got 770 at GA 133 and 650 at US 84, both above the 410 one-time test limit.
WWALS testers Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for Wednesday at Mills Dock, a bit upstream from Poe Springs Ramp, bot a very clean 33, with 6.2 C air temperature and 17.0 C water temperature. And a beaver!
Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results
rainfall
and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results
The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading
Update 2026-01-20: OK One Mile Branch 2026-01-13, Filthy Langdale Park Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2026-01-18.
WWALS testers found the Withlacoochee, Santa Fe, and Ichetucknee Rivers clean for this Wednesday.
We have no new creek results and no results this week from Valdosta Utilities.
No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in Georgia or Florida.
The weather is supposed to be sunny Saturday, but colder and rainy Sunday. If you can find a river with enough water and you don’t mind cole, happy paddling, motoring, swimming, and fishing.
This image is an overview. Scroll down for the details.
![[Clean Ichetucknee, Santa Fe, and Withlacoochee Rivers; No Valdosta Utilities results, 2026-01-14]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-01-14--wq/many.jpg)
Clean Ichetucknee, Santa Fe, and Withlacoochee Rivers; No Valdosta Utilities results, 2026-01-14
Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results
rainfall
and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results
The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading
Update 2025-11-15: Clean Santa Fe River and Withlacoochee downstream; Dirty Hightower and Sugar Creek 2025-11-12.
The Withlacoochee River tested clean downstream for Wednesday and Thursday. We also have a completely clean Suwannee River result for last Wednesday.
But Valdosta Utilities again got too-high results upstream on Sugar Creek at Gornto Road and Baytree Road.
However, Valdosta got OK results for the Withlacoochee River Upstream at US 41, and OK downstream at GA 133, plus clean farther downstream at US 84, matching an even cleaner WWALS result on the Withlacoochee almost down at the Suwannee.
So these continuing high Sugar Creek results are still mysterious, especially given no rain to wash residue downstream
No sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in the past week in Georgia or Florida.
It might rain Saturday morning. Other than that, no rain is expected for the next ten days.
So I’d avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near it. Other than that, happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend.
Or join us tomorrow (Saturday, November 8) at one of two festivals in two states:
This image is an overview. Scroll down for the details.
![[Clean Withlacoochee River, Dirty Sugar Creek, Might rain Saturday, 2025-11-06]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-11-06--wq/many.jpg)
Clean Withlacoochee River, Dirty Sugar Creek, Might rain Saturday, 2025-11-06
Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results
rainfall
and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results
The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading
Update 2025-10-18: Too much E. coli at the Watergoat, Sugar Creek 2025-10-10, Problematical Withlacoochee River 2025-10-16.
Update 2025-10-11: Plus Staten Road for Thursday.
WWALS testers found the Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers clean within the past seven days, and the Withlacoochee River mostly clean.
We don’t know about Sugar Creek, because Valdosta Utilities stopped testing after the state-required four weeks beyond a major spill.
GA-EPD finally added the gallons spilled in Valdosta’s big August sewage spills to its Sewage Spills Report. But no new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.
It’s supposed to be mostly sunny or sunny for the next ten days.
I’d avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near it, Other than that, happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend.
This image is an overview. Scroll down for the details.
![[Clean Ichetucknee and Santa Fe, Mostly clean Withlacoochee River, Unknown Sugar Creek, 2025-10-09]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-10-09--wq/many.jpg)
Clean Ichetucknee and Santa Fe, Mostly clean Withlacoochee River, Unknown Sugar Creek, 2025-10-09
Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall, and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results
The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading
![[Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Upstream from Langdale Park BR, Towards US 41 Bridge, Sunday, March 29, 2026]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-03-29--langdale-park-chainsaw-pictures/many.jpg)
![[Pictures: Downstream chainsawing, Langdale Park Boat Ramp 2026-03-29, Roark Land Clearing and Restoration, Trail4Valdosta, WWALS]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-03-29--langdale-park-chainsaw-pictures-downstream/many.jpg)
![[Pictures: A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River 2025-04-12, Gaskins Forest Education Center, Thanks, WWALS volunteers]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-04-12--a-day-in-the-woods-pictures/fbmany.jpg)
![[Santa Fe River Clean, Withlacoochee Clean Upstream, Withlacoochee Bad Downstream at GA 133 & US 84, 2026-01-22]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-01-22--wq/many.jpg)