Tag Archives: FWC

Dock work at Gibson Park Ramp 2023-05-25

Gibson Park Ramp will not be closed for upcoming work, except possibly briefly.

Inquiring minds wanted to know, so I called Chuck Burnett, Director, Hamilton County Parks & Recreation.

[Square Gibson Park Ramp 2022-02-05]
Gibson Park Ramp 2022-02-05

The work is actually about the dock, not the ramp. Continue reading

Florida and Georgia Boat Ramps Status 2020-04-09

Yes, you can boat, fish, and swim on rivers and lakes during the stay-home period, in both Florida and Georgia, as long as you keep your distance. Don’t gather in large groups unless you want your favorite river or lake access to get closed, not to mention unless you want to get or transmit the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, for which there is no vaccine. Stay six feet apart, no large groups (usually no more than 10), and on the water stay at least 10 feet apart or 50 feet apart in Florida.

Below is a snapshot of conditions today. Check on your local park or ramp or launch before going for current conditions.

Also check on bacterial conditions, especially since last night’s rain.

Florida

Here’s a handy map that shows status of Florida boat ramps and launches. Red means closed. Blue means open.

[Florida]
Florida

Tony Acevedo, SaltStrong, 31 March 2020, This Map Shows Which Boat Ramps Are Closed & Which Are Open, Continue reading

Barrel with toxic chemicals removed from Suwannee River at White Springs 2019-11-04

Scotti Jay reports:

Nov 4th a paddler noticed the barrel. Took a picture of barrel and label.

[Next to river]
Next to river

I asked his location. He was very accurate. I looked up the label information and was alarmed.

Continue reading

WWALS to FWC BAC against paid permits for paddle boats 2017-11-27

Sent today. See also PDF, and previous posts about what you can do. -jsq


To: Nick Wiley, Executive Director
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
620 South Meridian Street
Tallahassee, FL  32399-1600
850-488-2975
nick.wiley@MyFWC.com
Emily Herschman Davis:   850-617-9577
emily.herschman@MyFWC.com

Colonel Curtis Brown, Chairman
Boating Advisory Committee (BAC)
Curtis.Brown@MyFWC.com


Captain William Griswold, Chairman
Non-Motorized Boat Working Group (NMBWG)
WSGriz@aol.com

Re: Paid permits for non-motorized boats

Dear E.D. Wiley, Chairman Brown, and Chairman Griswold,

As the head of an organization that holds many paddle outings in Florida, I thank you for holding a public meeting tomorrow of the Boating Advisory Council that could finally put to rest the ill-advised idea of charging permit fees for paddle boats or boards. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend, so I am sending this letter.

population density map of Florida
Stean Rayer, Ying Wang, Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR), University of Florida, 30 October 2014, Measuring Population Density for Counties in Florida

Thank you, FWC Executive Director Wiley, for saying back in February Continue reading

NMBWG and BAC going for paydirt of paid paddle permits

Remember, you can object to paid paddle boat permits before the Tuesday morning meeting of the Florida Boating Advisory Council (BAC). More below on what you can do, plus still more apparent term limit overruns, paddle boaters represented by a yacht business owner, the last NMBWG meeting, the paydirt of paddlers pay (for marinas), and what that would cost.

After a decade of BAC attempts to charge people for paddling (see yesterday’s installment), in 2015 the BAC decided it needed a sub-group:

“The Non-Motorized Boat Working Group (NMBWG) was created by the Boating Advisory Council at its May 18, 2015 meeting. The purpose of the working group is to address four core areas of non-motorized boating: access, education, safety, and user pay/user benefit.”

It doesn’t take much reading of the NMBWG minutes to infer that the whole goal of this group was not access, education, safety, nor (non-motorized boater) user benefit, but “user pay”.

Yacht Octopus by Peter Sleeckx, 2 December 2006
Yacht Octopus by Peter Sleeckx, 2 December 2006, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Term limits apparently don’t apply

Continue reading

More than a decade of attempts to charge permits for paddle boats

Remember, you can object to paid paddle boat permits before the Tuesday morning meeting of the Boating Advisory Council.

For more than a decade, at least half its lifetime, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Boating Advisory Council (BAC) has been trying to find a way to charge permit fees for registration of non-motorized boats. Here’s the story so far, which will make clear there’s no reason to believe such efforts will stop. Also including not one, but two BAC members mysteriously serving longer than state-mandated term limits would seem to allow. Is it really about the children? Or is it about marinas, that paddle boaters don’t use? With a special appearance by the Florida state rep. who sponsored the law that expedited WWALS vs. Sabal Trail & FDEP.

BAC logo

The Boating Advisory Council (BAC) was created Continue reading

Paid permitting of paddle boats and boards Tuesday? 2017-11-28

One group wouldn’t do it, so its parent may: require paid permits for paddle boats and boards in Florida.

When: 9AM, Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Where: Mission Inn, 10400 County Road 48, Howey-in-the-Hills, 34737
That’s a golf club resort halfway between The Villages and Orlando, rooms $179 to $246 for Monday night.

Who: Boating Advisory Council (BAC) of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)

Event: On the agenda under “Unfinished Business / Updates”:
“Non-Motorized Boat Working Group Recommendations Review — William Griswold”

TripAdvisor, Mission Inn Resort & Club, 10400 County Road 48, Howey in the Hills, FL 34737-3000
TripAdvisor, Mission Inn Resort & Club, 10400 County Road 48, Howey in the Hills, FL 34737-3000

How to Comment: Continue reading

The Alliance opposes any new pipelines in these areas –Ichetucknee Alliance to FERC

Filed with FERC 17 December 2013 and on the Ichetucknee Alliance facebook group:

Lucinda F Merritt, Fort White, FL.

The Ichetucknee Alliance (http:// ichetucknee alliance.org) opposes placement of any new natural gas pipelines under, over or through the 5.5-mile long Ichetucknee River, including the area of Ichetucknee Springs State Park, the area of Columbia County that is included in the historic riverbed (the Ichetucknee Trace), and any part of the Ichetucknee Springshed.

The Alliance opposes any new pipelines in these areas for the following reasons.

The river and springs, including Ichetucknee Springs State Park, are Continue reading