Tag Archives: Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program

Schedule for 2023 Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program (GOSP) grant applications 2023-01-11

I’ve heard differing opinions about various deadlines for submitting a grant proposal this year to the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program (GOSP), such as for Troupville Nature Park and River Camp at the Little River Confluence with the Withlacoochee River, just west of Valdosta, Georgia.

[GOSP, Helen Tapp, Land Between the Rivers]
GOSP, Helen Tapp, Land Between the Rivers

So I asked GA-DNR, who replied that grant pre-applications will open this fall, and will be announced this spring. The earliest anything might need to be done with GA-DNR about GOSP is informational webinars, which may be scheduled for May or June.

I’m sticking to my opinion that there’s no point proceeding with a grant application until ongoing park maintenance is lined up. It’s my understanding that Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson and One Valdosta-Lowndes have the token to find that maintenance money as well as the rest of the required cash match.

Lowndes County already made a huge step forward by buying Helen Tapp’s Land Between the Rivers for eventual addition to the land already owned by the Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreational Authority (VLPRA) to form the park. I don’t know of anything else pressing the county needs to do at the moment.

Here is this morning’s response from GA-DNR: Continue reading →

Lowndes County to purchase land for Troupville Nature Park and River Camp @ LCC 2022-12-13

Update 2022-12-12: Videos: Dollar General rezoning legally must be tabled, Troupville land purchase is for a park @ LCC 2022-12-12.

Lowndes County tomorrow will take a big step and buy 77.14 acres down to the Little River Confluence with the Withlacoochee River, adjoining the 49.36 acres including Troupville Boat Ramp already owned south of GA 133 by Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA).

The idea is to combine the two tracts into a 126.5-acre Troupville Nature Park, the dream of landowner Helen Tapp, with trails, signage, and an educational pavilion. It will include a Troupville River Camp on the Withlacoochee just upstream from the Confluence. The project still needs ongoing maintenance funds, but this purchase clears a big hurdle after four years of preparation.

That’s 5:30 PM, Tuesday, December 13, 2023, at 327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor, Valdosta, Georgia, 31601.

[Agenda item, map]
Agenda item, map

The price of $121,500 is dirt cheap at $1,575 per acre, because it’s all flood plain, and there was also some discount from the tax-appraised value of $127,347 because of the conservation easement.

Many thanks to landowner Helen Tapp for organizing the conservation easement and for being willing to sell at such a price. This purchase ensures the land won’t turn into a shooting range or some other inappropriate facility. (There already is a shooting range slightly upstream on the Little River.) Continue reading →

Troupville River Camp not on GOSP approved projects: try again this year 2020-01-22

There is a list approved by Georgia DNR for grants from the Georgia Outdoor Stewardshp Program (GOSP), but Troupville River Camp is not on it:

[GOSP Proposal of Approved Conservation Projects]
Georgia Reporter: GOSP Proposal of Approved Conservation Projects; see also PDF.

The GOSP web page says pre-applicants will be notified February 3, 2020, but the GOSP board apparently made their choices more than two weeks ago. Like everybody else, they’re making it up as they go this first year of GOSP.

Jill Nolin, Georgia Recorder, 22 January 2020, Georgia park projects axed as tax on outdoor gear comes up short, Continue reading →

Water Trail signs reposted at Knights Ferry and Nankin Boat Ramps 2019-12-29

Update 2020-06-15: And again six months later, Knights Ferry Boat Ramp signs replanted 2020-06-15.

Thanks to Dan Phillips for replanting new and updated copies of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT) signs at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp and Nankin Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River.

[Knights Ferry Boat Ramp]
Knights Ferry Boat Ramp

The previous signs were stolen. If you want copies of these signs, we’ll be happy to sell them to you for $50 a pair.

Or you can donate to the cost of printing more of these metal signs to go at more access points.

[Nankin Boat Ramp]
Nankin Boat Ramp

The signs at Nankin Boat Ramp are attached to the video surveillance sign so as to be Continue reading →

VSU Geology and ASA at Land Between the Rivers 2019-11-26

Two Geology Professors visited The Land Between the Rivers and wrote a letter about many projects they and their students can do there, at the site of Troupville Boat Ramp. This is more in-kind match for the GOSP grant pre-application.

[Prof. Don Thieme & Can Denizman, 13:30:33, 30.8515417, -83.3452859]
Prof. Don Thieme & Can Denizman, 13:30:33, 30.8515417, -83.3452859

Letter from Donald M. Thieme, Associate Professor, Geology, Valdosta State University (VSU):

[Donald M. Thieme, Associate Professor, Geology, VSU]
Donald M. Thieme, Associate Professor, Geology, VSU
PDF

I am very pleased and excited about the proposal by WWALS to develop the Troupville River Camp. The property in question is Continue reading →

Architect Mac McCall supports Troupville River Camp 2019-12-13

Architect John M. “Mac” McCall’s support letter for the Troupville River Camp includes an offer of in-kind services. That will help bring down the cash match for the grant application.

Other organizations can still send in a letter until the end of this month.

[their work will... help monitor and keep clean these watersheds will have a great impact for generations to come.]
their work will… help monitor and keep clean these watersheds will have a great impact for generations to come.
PDF

Please accept this letter as my indication of support for the WWALS Watershed Coalition’s Application for grant assistance regarding the Troupeville River Camp project.

As a property owner of separate properties in Valdosta, Lowndes County, and on the banks of the Suwannee River in Florida, | fully support the mission of the WWALS Watershed Coalition and the work they are doing for the rivers. The impact their work will have to help monitor and keep clean these watersheds will have great impact for generations to come. The funding provided by this grant will only serve to add to their ability to do this work and to help citizens learn about and experience these rivers that are the natural assets of the State of Georgia.

As a Principal of McCall Architecture, I am glad to offer my firm’s in-kind architectural services to the project to assist in any planning or architectural design needed.

Thank you for your consideration of this Application. Please let me know if any additional support or documentation would be helpful.

This offer of in-kind architectural services adds to the in-kind services already provided by Continue reading →

Madison County, FL, supports Troupville River Camp 2019-11-26

Madison County sent the first support letter from an elected body for the Troupville River Camp, almost a month ago. Other organizations can still send in a letter until the end of this month.

[...will increase tourism and the recreational opportunities for locals in our area.]
…will increase tourism and the recreational opportunities for locals in our area.
PDF

Thank you, Chair Alston Kelley and Commissioners Alfred Martin, Rick Davis, Donnie Waldrep, and Ronnie Moore, as well as County Coordinator Brian Kauffman, for this letter.

The Board met during a special called meeting on November 26, 2019, to discuss this issue, and it was unanimously approved because this project will increase tourism and the recreational opportunities for locals in our area.

[Three in a row]
Photo: Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS, of Nankin to Four Freedoms Trail, Withlacoochee River cleanup and paddle 2019-11-16
Madison County, Florida, near side; Lowndes County, Georgia, far side.

Although we live in Florida, Madison County views the Withlacoochee River as a shared resource with Valdosta, Lowndes County, and the State of Georgia, because the river crosses all political boundaries. In addition, we are very familiar with the River Camps that were built several years ago on the Suwannee River and know that these camps have worked extremely well to facilitate increased tourism. Therefore, the Madison County Board of County Commissioners is excited to provide this letter of support for the development of the Troupville River Camp.

The Troupville River Camp will be in the center of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT), leading down by Continue reading →

SRWMD supports Troupville River Camp 2019-12-04

The Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) “is excited to provide this letter of support for the development of the Troupville River Camp. This project will increase tourism and recreational opportunities for local communities in our area.”

[This project will increase tourism and recreational opportunities for local communities in our area.]
This project will increase tourism and recreational opportunities for local communities in our area.
PDF

Thank you, SRWMD Executive Director Hugh Thomas and Edwin McCook for this support letter. Continue reading →

WCTV: Valdosta City Council to consider supporting Troupville River Camp 2019-12-02

She got a quote from the Mayor:

“We have the park out there where there’s a landing and parking areas and things like that, so it could be a tourist attraction, and people stopping in here to buy supplies and getting ready for their river trips,” said Valdosta Mayor John Gayle. “It could be a plus for us.”

He’s not in the WCTV video, but you may recognize the logo on this cap:

[at the confluence of the two rivers]
at the confluence of the two rivers

The Troupville River Camp project goes beyond what’s out there now; see this TV report: Continue reading →