Tag Archives: mining

Floyds Island 1838, Hebard Cabin 1925, Okefenokee Swamp

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Answers to some popular questions about Floyds Island, up the Middle Fork of the Suwannee River in the Okefenokee Swamp.

Meanwhile, you can help stop a proposed strip mine near the Swamp:
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining

[Collage, Floyds Island]
Collage, Floyds Island

Who was Floyds Island named for?

The Okefenokee was a Creek hunting ground in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Briefly in 1836 and for most of 1838 theSecond Seminole War in Florida extended into the Okefenokee. Roads and forts were built around the perimeter of the swamp, and Georgia militia and U.S. army troops patrolled intensively. They burned down a Seminole village on an island that they subsequently renamed Floyds Island, for Charles Rinaldo Floyd. In response to this violence, the Seminole began to leave the swamp in 1838, but skirmishes continued to occur along the Georgia-Florida boundary as late as 1840.

C.T. Trowell, New Georgia Encyclopedia, Originally published Sep 20, 2002, Last edited Feb 23, 2022, Human History of the Okefenokee Swamp.

Who was Charles Rinaldo Floyd? Continue reading →

Georgia Conservationists meet in Waycross to protect the Okefenokee from mining 2023-11-10

“Beyond Trail Ridge, cities and counties in the Suwannee River Basin value the Okefenokee Swamp and the Suwannee River, and are passing resolutions supporting the Okefenokee Swamp and legislation protecting it, including the City of Valdosta and Clinch and Echols Counties,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.

Douglas Now, November 10, 2023, GEORGIA CONSERVATIONISTS MEET IN WAYCROSS TO PROTECT THE OKEFENOKEE FROM MINING,

The Georgia Water Coalition hosted its Fall Member meeting in Waycross November 8—10, 2023. Conservationists from around the state learned more about the Okefenokee and how to protect it from risky mining operations.

Attendees toured the Okefenokee Swamp Park, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, and the St. Marys River. During the member meeting at South Georgia State College, Georgia Water Coalition members learned about how mining proposals along Trail Ridge threaten the Okefenokee.

[Boats and inside]
Mike Worley, CEO, Georgia Wildlife Federation welcomes Georgia Water Coalition members at the Okefenokee Swamp Park, and inside Okefenokee NWR Manager Michael Lusk, Alice Keys of One Hundred Miles, St. Marys Riverkeeper Emily Floore, Local resident Charlene McIntosh Carter of Okefenokee Pastimes Cabins and Campground, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman. Photo: Southwings.

“The Okefenokee touches everyone that touches its dark waters,” Continue reading →

DeKalb County, GA, resolution requesting protection for the Okefenokee Swamp 2023-10-24

Congratulations to DeKalb County for passing a resolution supporting the Okefenokee Swamp.

You can encourage your city council or county commission to pass such a resolutin. Local government resolutions help encourage state legislatures to pass bills.

And you can still ask GA-EPD to reject the permit applications for that strip mine for titanium dioxide for white paint.
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining/

You can help save the Okefenokee Swamp, the headwaters of the St. Marys and Suwannee Rivers.

[DeKalb County Okefenokee Resolution 2023-10-24]
DeKalb County Okefenokee Resolution 2023-10-24
PDF

Thanks to all those who got it done. I would name them, but I’m not sure who they all were. Continue reading →

Sand Mine Special Exception Levy County Commission 2023-12-05

It’s back: the proposed Special Exception for the 3RT Sand Mine.

This time it will be at the Levy County Board of County Commissioners, 9 AM, Tuesday, December 5, 2023, in the Levy County Government Center Auditorium, 310 School Street, Bronson, FL 32621.

[Cows, mining trucks, and Public Notice]
Cows, mining trucks, and Public Notice

Meanwhile, you can still sign on to this change.org opposition petition by Kim Wheeler:
https://www.change.org/p/no-special-exceptions-for-mining-in-rural-neighborhoods

And you can send written comments up to five days before the Public Hearing; see below.

The mine site is still in the springshed of Rainbow Springs.

You may not think that these are enough: Continue reading →

Winners: Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2023-09-22

Hahira, GA, September 25, 2023 — Hahira, Georgia, September 25, 2023 — Ten musicians wrote songs and seven sang them, about the delights of the waters of the Suwannee River Basin and the need to preserve them against numerous threats. Jane Fallon came all the way from Dunedin, Florida, to the Turner Arts Center in Valdosta, Georgia, to sing a story about legendary Sun Daughters reflecting on a proposed mine near the Okefenokee Swamp, the headwaters of the Suwannee River. The three judges marked her high on storytelling and presenting the value of the waters, on originality of lyrics and music, and on performance, with extra credit for naming waterways. She took home First Prize in the Sixth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

[Winners: Suwannee Riverkeeper; Cindy Bear and Franc Robert, Best Folk; Jane Fallon, First Prize; Bacon James, Best from Outside; Kyle Bird Chamberlain and David Rodock, tie for Best from Inside; Chamberlain, Best Blues; Rodock, Best AmeriKinda; Keven Stephenson, Best Country --Chuck Roberts]
Suwannee Riverkeeper with the Winners: Cindy Bear and Franc Robert, Best Folk; Jane Fallon, First Prize; Bacon James, Best from Outside; Kyle Bird Chamberlain and David Rodock, tie for Best from Inside; Chamberlain, Best Blues; Rodock, Best AmeriKinda; Kevin Stephenson, Best Country; and Robert Thatcher (not pictured). Photo: Chuck Roberts

Jane Fallon said, “Thank you for the honor in recognizing my song ‘Chant For The Okefenokee’ in your contest. It is always a special feeling to sing a song for an audience that truly understands its meaning. Thank you also for the work you do in trying to preserve the waterways. It is so important.”

Here is the first half of her lyrics: Continue reading →

Last call for tickets for WWALS River Revue, on Talk 92.1 FM 2023-09-18

2023-09-25: Winners: Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2023-09-22.

At 8AM, Monday morning, September 18, 2023, I’ll be on talk921.com to say that Monday is the last day to get tickets for the WWALS River Revue:
https://www.betterunite.com/WWALS-wwalsriverrevue2023/

[Michael Smith, Talk921.com, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman, WWALS River Revue]
Michael Smith, Talk921.com, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman, WWALS River Revue

The WWALS River Revue will be 6-10 PM, Friday, September 22, 2023, at the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts, 527 N Patterson Street, Valdosta, GA 31601.

There will be a catered meal, with cash bar, plus a silent auction, a 50-50 raffle, and a kayak raffle.

M.C. Chuck Roberts will present three speakers, as well as WWALS board members and others about what WWALS does.

Chuck will also present three judges who will listen to ten finalists in the Sixth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, and pick winners.

On the radio Monday morning we’ll also talk about what WWALS does that the WWALS River Revue supports: water trails, cleanups including chainsaw cleanups, and water quality testing.

The main purpose of WWALS is advocacy, including trying to reduce trash, sewage, PFAS, and other contamination in the Suwannee River Basin, and opposing LNG, pipelines, mines, and other threats to our waterways.

Plus we try to change the legal and regulatory playing field, by supporting the Florida petition to get a Right to Clean and Water (RTCW) on the ballot for a state constitutional amendment, and preparing for RTCW in Georgia.

https://wwals.net/issues/right-to-clean-water/

Facebook event for the radio show: https://www.facebook.com/events/3454871811400514/

 -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/

Clinch County Resolution against strip mine, for Okefenokee Swamp 2023-09-11

Yesterday, September 11, 2023, the Clinch County Commission unanimously passed a resolution supporting the Okefenokee Swamp and the Suwannee River against the proposed titanium mine, and set aside $50,000 as cash match for a Dark Sky Observatory next to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (ONWR).

[Resolution and Clinch County Commission 2023-09-11]
Resolution and Clinch County Commission 2023-09-11

You can help stop that mine. Ask your city council or county commission to pass a resolution. Here are other things you can do:
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining/

The Clinch County resolution includes:
“7. Request the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to move the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge from a tentative list to become a full UNESCO World Heritage Site, and support a bill by a bipartisan coalition of members of Congress in support of that move.”

As Chairman Henry Moylan remarked, the UNESCO World Heritage List is a big deal, since it goes through the U.N. and includes sites like the Pyramids and the Grand Canyon. Getting ONWR on it should attract more visitors. That list also includes Yellowstone, Yosemite, Great Smoky Mountains, and Everglades National Parks, so it’s a bit puzzling why ONWR is not already on there.

Resolution Against Strip Mine in the Okefenokee Swamp
Resolution Against Strip Mine in the Okefenokee Swamp

Video: https://youtu.be/36S7GqrfdWE

The Dark Sky project involves Continue reading →

Suwannee: Wild River on PBS 2023-09-06

This aired a few days ago on PBS: Suwannee: Wild River, in the series AMERICA OUTDOORS WITH BARATUNDE THURSTON, Season 2 Episode 1 | 53m 8s.

The Suwannee is one of the last wild rivers in America, and its watershed creates woods and wetlands, marshes, and cave systems. From its headwaters in the Okefenokee Swamp, Baratunde journeys downstream, meeting colorful denizens of the Suwannee. From jet skiers to herpetologists, manatees to snapping turtles, he learns how this unique environment inspires a whole range of passions.

[Baratunde Thurston in the Okefenokee Swamp and Rev. Antoine Nixon at the Suwannee Canal on PBS 2023-09-06]
Baratunde Thurston in the Okefenokee Swamp and Rev. Antoine Nixon at the Suwannee Canal on PBS 2023-09-06

It’s on YouTube: Continue reading →

Radio: water quality, cows, trash, mining too near the Okefenokee Swamp @ WKUB FM 2023-09-07

Update 2023-09-13: About WWALS River Revue on The Spotlight Show, Talk92.1 FM 2023-09-14.

How WWALS water quality testing discovered cow manure was contaminating the Withlacoochee River and got it (mostly) fixed.

About that titanium dioxide strip mine proposed too near the Okefenokee Swamp, plus trash and water trails.

Thanks to Bryan Blount for inviting me on WKUB 105.1 FM, from Pierce County, Georgia.

This is Part 2. See also Part 1 about the WWALS River Revue sit-down fundraising dinner, with three speakers, silent auction, and the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, all 6-10 PM, Friday, September 22, 2023, at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia.

Tickets are available online only here:
https://www.betterunite.com/WWALS-wwalsriverrevue2023/

[Suwannee Riverkeeper against a strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp, on WKUB FM 2023-09-07]
Suwannee Riverkeeper against a strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp, on WKUB FM 2023-09-07

For more Continue reading →

Levy county sand mine petition 2023-08-11

Update 2023-11-07: Sand Mine Special Exception at Levy County Commission 2023-12-05.

Follow this link for the petition:

https://chng.it/kNchfFP5Kn

[Mining trucks and cows]
Mining trucks and cows

NO Special Exceptions for Mining in Rural Neighborhoods,

Started August 11, 2023, by Kim Wheeler

Why this petition matters

Currently, Levy County allows major mining in Agricultural/Rural Residential and Forestry/Rural Residential zoned areas of the county by ‘Special Exception’, which is a lengthy and cumbersome process for the county, and a great problem for the rural residents that might be impacted by such mining and the resulting traffic generated. Therefore, we are requesting that the major mining use no longer be allowed in Ag/RR and F/RR areas of the county. Existing mines would be ‘grandfathered’ in, but no new mines allowed. Mines would still be allowed in Industrial zoned areas. There are some 12-15 mines in the county now.

Hazards presented by mining include Continue reading →