Yesterday was actually Florida Gopher Tortoise Day, but as Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says, “you can celebrate gopher tortoises by making your yard tortoise friendly and participating in our new recognition program.”
Georgians, you won’t get a sign, but you can also make your yards gopher-friendly for Gopherus polyphemus.
Gopher Tortoise Friendly Yard Recognition Program
![[Gopher tortoise in human habitat --FFWCC]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-04-10--gopher-tortoise-day/6893501454_bbe28cdf8a_o.jpg)
Gopher tortoise in human habitat –FFWCC
Last month the SRWMD board approved buying the Camp and Abel Tract on the Suwannee River in Hamilton County.
Tomorrow morning, April 11, 2023, at 9 AM, SRWMD will approve an additional resolution for a slightly higher amount to cover costs of the transaction.
And SRWMD will consider buying Waldo Tree Farm, which is near the Santa Fe River in Alachua County.
You can attend in person at SRWMD HQ, 9225 Co Rd 49, Live Oak, FL 32060.
Or online:
GoTo Webinar Link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7498156259411455319
Public Comment Form Link: www.MySuwanneeRiver.com/Comments.
The entire board packet is on the WWALS website.
Here are a few excerpts. Continue reading
Update 2023-05-30: Pictures: Portage Big Shoals, Paddle Little Shoals, Suwannee River 2023-05-20.
Join us as we portage around Big Shoals, the biggest rapids in Florida, and paddle through Little Shoals on the Suwannee River.
Practicing Geologist Dennis J. Price of Hamilton County will lead us past the lally columns of Old Godwin Bridge. Two thirds of a mile later, we will take out just before Big Shoals, and portage a quarter mile through the woods. Paddlers in good health should be able to do this. We do not recommend it for small children. We will be portaging: if you want to paddle through Big Shoals, do it on a different trip.
Then we’ll paddle past several creeks, including Bell Springs Run and Falling Creek.
About 3.5 miles downstream from Big Shoals, we’ll paddle through Little Shoals, which can get up to Class II rapids. Plus there’s another little rapid just before the railroad bridge and the US 41 bridge.
When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 2 PM, Saturday, May 20, 2023
Put In: Big Shoals Tract Launch, From White Springs, travel north on CR 135 to SE 94 Street (Godwin Bridge Road); turn right and follow road to Big Shoals, in Hamilton County, Florida.
![[Big Shoals pictures from 2021-05-19]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-05-20--big-shoals-suwannee/many.jpg)
Big Shoals pictures from 2021-05-19
Update 2023-04-15: Clean Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers 2023-04-13.
According to all the recent test results we have, the Withlacoochee River is pretty clean from E. coli. However, it’s raining upstream now, and predictions are for more rain tomorrow.
I’m still planning to paddle on Yet Another Cleanup Knights Ferry to Nankin, Withlacoochee River, 2023-04-08. If we’re quick, we may be finished before more than a drizzle falls.
If you want to paddle, swim, or fish this weekend, I’d recommend do it Saturday morning before the rain has much time to wash contamination out of creeks.
![[Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-04-06]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-04-06--wq/many.jpg)
Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-04-06
No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida since the tiny inland High Springs spill Thursday a week ago.
There is the matter of Valdosta’s followup testing after their February sewage spills, but the only bad results from that were Wednesday and Thursday a week ago, and that was in the Alapaha River basin. Continue reading
Once a year, the Waterkeepers of Florida gather in Gainesville to attend the Public Interest Environmental Conference (PIEC) at the University of Florida Levin College of Law.
![[Waterkeepers Florida at PIEC 2023-02-03]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-02-03--piec-wkfl/2023-02-03--wkfl-at-piec.jpg)
Waterkeepers Florida at PIEC 2023-02-03
Eight out of fifteen ain’t bad. A few more attended the actual Waterkeepers Florida (WKFL) meeting via teleconference.
Waterkeepers Florida asks you to ask Georgia officials to stop a proposed
strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp, which is the headwaters of the Suwannee and St. Marys Rivers, and sits above the Floridan Aquifer from which we all drink in south Georgia and most of Florida:
https://wwals.net/?p=61437
For more about Waterkeepers Florida, see:
https://www.waterkeepersflorida.org/
I drove Continue reading
Update 2023-04-20: Ten days until BIG Little River Paddle Event, 2023-04-29.
WWALS charter board member Bret Wagenhorst will guide a tour of the Little River from Red Roberts Landing to Reed Bingham State Park Lake.
Paddlers will learn about natural history of the river, from flora and fauna to aspects of rivers and black water: oxbows, tannic acid, river foam, hairpin curves and breakthroughs, sloughs, silt deposition sides, etc. If more than 8 boats sign up, we will add another tour guide.
The tour will make stops at various locations for short learning experiences. The tour will last at least 1.5 hours, and possibly up to 2.5-3 hours depending on water level, paddle speed, and number of questions. There will be a briefing before and after on land.
Registration is online in advance:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wwals-members-only-paddle-with-an-expert-big-little-river-paddle-event-tickets-605920995007
This is a WWALS members-only event.
If you are not a WWALS member, you can become one at the event,
or online:
https://wwals.net/donations
There is no charge for this paddle,
other than a $5 park entrance fee and any boat rental fees to the park.
Please contact the park in advance about any boat rentals.
https://gadnr.org/ReedBingham/Paddling
Paddlers are encouraged to donate to this WWALS fundraiser. Sponsors will be listed on a sign at the event and in social media and other postings.
When: Gather 8 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 3 PM, Saturday, April 29, 2023
Put In: Red Roberts Landing, 4727 Rountree Bridge Rd., Adel, GA 31620. Take I-75 exit 41, head west onto Roundtree Bridge Road, then right to stay on Roundtree Bridge Road (CR 251). After 4.7 miles, turn left just before the Little River, into the park entrance at Red Roberts Landing, in Cook County, Georgia.
![[Bret Wagenhorst, paddlers on the Little River, 2022]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-04-29--blrpe/m2023.jpg)
Bret Wagenhorst, paddlers on the Little River, 2022
Continue reading
Georgia has it, among 23 states, including all states in the southeast, except for Florida.
Looks like it’s coming to Florida: a state constitutional amendment for a Right to Hunt and Fish. Identical bills are speeding through the state House and Senate towards getting this amendment on the 2024 ballot.
![[Ballotpedia, 23 states have Right to Hunt and Fish as of November 2020]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-03-27--fl-right-hunt-fish/2020-11-01--ballotpedia-right-to-hunt-fish-fl.jpg)
Ballotpedia, 23 states have Right to Hunt and Fish as of November 2020
And what good is a Right to Hunt and Fish without clean water for the fish and wildlife? Floridians, please sign the petition for Right to Clean Water, also intended for the 2024 ballot.
Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida, Tampa Bay Times, March 27, 2023, updated March 29, Hunting, fishing could be enshrined in Florida Constitution under proposal: If approved, the proposal could be on the November 2024 ballot. Continue reading
Update 2023-04-07: Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-04-06.
Best to paddle, swim, and fish tomorrow morning. Rains are predicted tomorrow.
But until then, all the water quality tests we have are good, for the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers.
![[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide map 2023-03-30]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-03-30--wq/many.jpg)
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide map 2023-03-30
No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia in the past week.
But High Springs had a 150-gallon spill. That small an amount and apparently inland should have no effect on the Santa Fe River or its springs.
Thanks to WWALS tester Continue reading
Update 2023-03-31: Clean Rivers 2023-03-30.
No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia in the past week.
![[Map: FDEP PNP, High Springs 50-gallon spill, 2023-03-30]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-03-30--high-springs-fl-sewage-spill/2023-03-30--map-fdep-pnp-high-springs.jpg)
Map: FDEP PNP, High Springs 50-gallon spill, 2023-03-30
But there was a tiny one in Florida yesterday, that was very unlikely to have any effect on the Santa Fe River.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Public Notice of Pollution (PNP) Finder: Last 30 Days, accessed 2023-03-31, Continue reading
Human sewage sludge used as fertilizer is a huge problem in Florida, causing algae blooms when it runs off into waterways. In Georgia, distributing sewage sludge as fertilizer may not be as common, but some Land Application Sites (LAS) rent their spray fields for growing hay or other crops. Plus such waste may also carry cancer-causing forever chemicals: PFAS.
![[Sewage sludge in Florida --WLRN 2023-06-02]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-03-30--pfas-sludge/2023-06-02--wlrn-sewage-sludge-florida.jpg)
Sewage sludge in Florida –WLRN 2023-06-02
Jenny Staletovich, WLRN 91.3 FM, June 2, 2021, State Tightens Rules For Sewage Sludge Used As Fertilizer But Leaves A Loophole In Place,
As damaging algae blooms continue to afflict Florida, the state is taking steps to crack down on and track pollution from biosolids, the waste from sewage plants loaded with nutrients that can fuel blooms.
But the new rules, conservationists warn, continue to ignore a loophole for about 40% of the state’s waste.
Continue reading
![[Agenda, Waldo Tree Farm on the Santa Fe River, Camp and Abel Tract on the Suwannee River @ SRWMD Board 2023-04-11]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-04-11--srwmd-board/many.jpg)