Tag Archives: John S. Quarterman

Cancelled: Juneteenth at Reed Bingham State Park, Little River, Reed Bingham State Park Beach, 2023-06-17

Update 2023-06-16: Cancelled due to weather reports.

[Outing Cancelled]
Outing Cancelled

More: For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. WWALS members also get an upcoming list in the Tannin Times newsletter.

 -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: Suwannee River Chainsaw Cleanup, Three Steps Landing to Fargo, GA 2023-06-10

The second Suwannee River Chainsaw Cleanup went well. Got a little hot in the middle, and rained towards the end.

[Chainsawing deadfalls, Suwannee River 2023-06-10]
Chainsawing deadfalls, Suwannee River 2023-06-10

But the rain came only after we cleared four deadfalls above Fargo Ramp and Reeves Landing: Continue reading →

OVL ED around Troupville River Park 2023-05-31

Mary Beth Brownlee, new Executive Director of One Valdosta-Lowndes (OVL), got to see the site of the future Troupville River Camp and Nature Park.

[Around Troupville River Camp and Nature Park --jsq]
Around Troupville River Camp and Nature Park –jsq

She and Georgia Power Southwest Regional Director Joe Brownlee and their daughter Elizabeth are only about the third party who have followed me around the entire river circumference of the site, down the Little River to its Confluence, and then up the Withlacoochee River back to GA 133.

WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman took many of these pictures. WWALS provided the visitors information about Troupville Nature Park and Troupville River Camp including letters of support from Valdosta and Lowndes County, Georgia, the Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber, Madison and Hamilton Counties, Florida, the Suwannee River Water Management District, and others.

Troupville River Camp is top of the project list for OVL, which is an economic development and well being organization. Continue reading →

Origins of WWALS and Suwannee Riverkeeper Part 1

People are often confused: what are WWALS and Suwannee Riverkeeper, where did they come from, how are they related, and what do they do?

Well, it’s a long story. Here is the first of several parts.

[Black and white square WWALS and Suwannee Riverkeeper logos]
Black and white square WWALS and Suwannee Riverkeeper logos

You’ll probably see this reposted on Walk Around Lowndes:
https://walkaroundlowndes.spyderserve.info/

Justin Coleman is walking every road and street in Lowndes County, Georgia, and blogging about it, featuring Suwannee Riverkeeper.

What is the mission of WWALS?

Continue reading →

Send in your song for the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2023-09-22

2023-07-11: Chuck Roberts returns as M.C. for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest plus WWALS River Revue.

Submissions are open for the 2023 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

[Songwriting Flyer 2023]
Songwriting Flyer 2023

$300 First Prize, and $50 each for best song sent in from inside the Suwannee River Basin, and from outside.

Plus plaques to each best song per genre.

All finalists get videos posted on YouTube, and a one year WWALS membership.

WWALS President Sara Jay Jones said, “Musicians, song submissions are open! Don’t wait until the deadline to send in your song.”

Here’s the entry form:
https://forms.gle/ZPbfnnLj5ruum5xk6

WWALS Development Director Veronica Oakler said, Continue reading →

Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, 2023-06-24

Update 2023-06-20: Rescheduled: Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2023-06-24 to merge with Sugar Creek to Troupville, Withlacoochee River Cleanup 2023-07-22.

We need volunteers to pick up trash while a few people chainsaw some deadfalls.

Our main target this time is one remaining big deadfall between I-75 and GA 133.

Yes, this stretch from Sugar Creek to Troupville is the same as for the plain old cleanup a month later.

When: 9 AM, Saturday, June 24, 2023

Put In: Meet at the back of the Salty Snapper parking lot, 1405 Gornto Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602 and we’ll put in at the railroad tracks.

GPS: 30.861764, -83.318854

[A deadfall between I-75 and GA 133, and a previous deadfall]
A deadfall between I-75 and GA 133, and a previous deadfall

Continue reading →

Videos: Cleanup below Knights Ferry, Withlacoochee River 2023-04-08

Here are some videos I took of the main trashjam from the WWALS Cleanup below Knights Ferry, Withlacoochee River 2023-04-08.

It’s not all gone, but boats can pass by now. We had to leave much trash there due to time, and there is more in other spots up and down the river.

[Collage @ Cleanup below Knights Ferry, Withlacoochee River 2023-04-08]
Collage @ Cleanup below Knights Ferry, Withlacoochee River 2023-04-08

Thanks again especially to Josh Tison who reported the big trash jam blocking the river and brought a crew with chainsaws to deal with it, and to Russell Allen McBride for leading this WWALS outing, as well as to everyone else who came and helped.

Here is a WWALS video playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKwQ5xfKf-Qz_O7f4LVH2mZY2mJ2F9PGa Continue reading →

Pictures: Cleanup below Knights Ferry, Withlacoochee River 2023-04-08

Update 2023-05-04: Videos: Cleanup below Knights Ferry, Withlacoochee River 2023-04-08.

Josh Tison reported the Withlacoochee River blocked by a trash jam. He and Marla Tison and Bobby Higgs came out to help clear it, with chainsaws, on Yet Another Cleanup Knights Ferry to Nankin, Withlacoochee River, 2023-04-08.

An alligator jumped off the target trash jam just after I nosed my boat into it. Russell Allen McBride and Josh Tison walked on it. It was covered with trash, as were many other spots along the river.

The combination of trash brands again indicates it came from Valdosta: Cookout, Bojangles, and Jackson Hewitt, for example.

All this floating Valdosta trash is in Brooks County, because the county line between Brooks and Lowndes County is the east bank of the Withlacoochee River. And three Brooks County people came with their motor boat and chainsaws to clean up some of it.

[Collage, Cleanup, KF to Nankin, 2023-04-08]
Collage, Cleanup, KF to Nankin, 2023-04-08

Russell Allen McBride remarked, “As the leader of this outing it was sad that I had to have everyone leave several of the trash spots to have room and time for the main one.”

With now three trash traps and more promised, Valdosta is starting Continue reading →

Juneteenth at Reed Bingham State Park, Little River, Reed Bingham State Park Beach, 2023-06-17

Update 2023-06-16: Cancelled: Juneteenth at Reed Bingham State Park, Little River, Reed Bingham State Park Beach, 2023-06-17

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

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

[Boating and family fun at Juneteenth 2021]
Boating and family fun at Juneteenth 2021

WWALS will provide stunt adults to go with any children 16 or under so they can boat, in case their parents don’t want to paddle. Continue reading →

Agenda: Upper and Middle Suwannee River MFL webinar and followon WebBoard meetings 2023-05-02 2023-05-02

Update 2023-06-16: Final webinar, Upper and Middle Suwannee River Minimum Flows and Levels (MFLs) 2023-06-23.

Here is the agenda for the SRWMD MFL meeting tomorrow.

After I posted the meeting notice, I asked SRWMD for a copy of the agenda, noting that it was not in the calendar the notice referenced, www.MySuwanneeRiver.com/calendar, and not in the SRWMD web page on UPPER AND MIDDLE SUWANNEE MFLS PEER REVIEW. I sent that request to Amy Brown, Deputy Executive Director, Water Resources, SRWMD (pictured on the left).

[Agenda for 2023-05-02 and picture from 2023-03-15 meeting]
Agenda for 2023-05-02 and picture from 2023-03-15 meeting

Later that same day, Continue reading →