This is an 8 mile round trip wilderness paddle on one of the most scenic canoe trails in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
We’ll be paddling 4 miles against the current to get to the platform at Minnie’s Lake. Have a rope for your boat to tie off at the platform. We’ll take a lunch break and then paddle back with the current. There will be plenty of birds and alligators to see.
When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 2:30 PM, Monday, September 7, 2026
Put In:Okefenokee State Park Ramp, formerly known as Stephen C. Foster State Park Ramp,
17515 GA-177, Fargo, GA 31631. From Fargo, travel south on US 441 to CR 177; turn left and travel to Okefenokee State Park, in Charlton County.
Paddlers usually put in down the access road from the ramp, at the west entrance to the one-of-a-kind Okefenokee Swamp.
Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson and Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman
discussed the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest last Thursday
at the Mayor’s day job, the radio show he owns and hosts on talk921.fm.
Songs can be about any waterbody in the 10,000-square mile Suwannee River Basin
or Estuary in Georgia or Florida, including the Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha, Alapahoochee, or Suwannee Rivers,
or the Okefenokee Swamp, or any other river, creek, swamp, or sink.
Plus underground waters such as the Floridan Aquifer.
Songwriters can be from anywhere; they come from as far as Tennessee and south Florida.
Once we get those last few songs from the procrastinating songwriters,
the organizing committee will select Finalists.
The Finalists will play at WWALS River Revue, 5-9 PM, Saturday, September 12, 2026,
at the Lowndes County 4-H Club in Lake Park, Georgia, on Long Pond.
When you buy a ticket, you get to hear them along with the three judges,
who will select the winners.
And you get a sit-down dinner with cash bar, Headliner Joe First, who is last year’s winner, and two speakers:
Amy Sharma of Science for Georgia, talking about hyper-scale AI datacenters.
Rick Davis, Chair of the dozen-county Florida Task Force, talking about
Water First North Florida (WFNF), the currently-hibernating scheme
to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into wetlands in the Suwannee Basin.
After more than four decades of application since 1982, on Saturday, July 25, 2026,
the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Sites inscribed in previous years include the Everglades, the Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty, and San Antonio Missions, which include the Alamo.
I’m sure we’ll hear the usual unsubstantiated complaints about Chinese control off the U.S., but if Texas isn’t worried about the Alamo being a World Heritage site, why should Georgia be worried about the Okefenokee joining that list?
Here is what the inscription says,
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO,
CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0.
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
The property, located in southeastern Georgia and northeastern
Florida, protects the Okefenokee Swamp, the largest lowland
freshwater peatland in the subtropical zone worldwide and one of the
largest and most intact ecosystems within the North American Coastal
Plain global biodiversity hotspot. The property comprises a diverse
mosaic of wetlands, savannas, and forests shaped by the ongoing
interaction of water, fire, vegetation, and wildlife, with
alternating fire and rainfall processes driving peat formation,
vegetation structure, and biodiversity. The site also contains
significant areas of endangered Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris)
savanna, of which less than 3% remains, supporting high
concentrations of plant species endemic to the region. Its extensive
peat deposits provide an important archive of palaeo-environmental
history and critical carbon storage. The property supports
exceptional biodiversity, including at least 856 plant species, 48
mammal species, 238 bird species, 39 fish species, and 90 reptile
and amphibian species, and provides important habitat for migratory
birds, threatened species, and a significant population of American
alligators.
Join us at the 4-H Club in Lake Park, Georgia, for the WWALS River Revue sit-down dinner
with speakers from Georgia and Florida, music from Finalists in the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, and Headliner Joe First, last year’s winner.
Plus a silent auction, online and in person.
If you like what we’re doing, with water quality testing and water trails and river and lake outings and hikes and cleanups and chainsaw cleanups,
come on down and support WWALS and have some fun!
We support rights to clean water and solar power in appropriate places,
and we
oppose unnecessary mines and datacenters, detention centers, and Jacksonville treated wastewater into the Suwannee Basin (Water First North Florida or WFNF).
MC Tim Carroll, a former trumpet player and Valdosta City Council District 5,
will introduce the speakers, the Headliner, and the Judges, Anna Stange (Madison, FL), Tony Buzzella (Lake City, FL), and Norm McDonald (Live Oak, FL).
Songwriters, don’t wait until August 12 to send in your song!
It can be about any river, creek, spring, sink, swamp, or pond in the 10,000-square-mile
Suwannee River Basin or Estuary, or underground water such as the Floridan Aquifer. Continue reading →
On April 27, 2026, after consideration of the drought severity and
the water resource impacts, the Georgia Environmental Protection
Division (EPD) declared a state-wide Drought Response Level 1 for
public water systems using surface water and/or groundwater. EPD has
been closely monitoring drought conditions in Georgia for months,
and on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, EPD held conference calls with
public water systems to discuss current water supply and EPD’s
consideration of issuing a Level 1 drought response. Following the
conference calls, the public water systems had three days to submit
any additional feedback before EPD could proceed with a drought
response declaration.
As a result of the Level 1 Drought Response, public water systems
must implement a public information campaign including, at a
minimum, notice regarding drought conditions and drought-specific
announcements in one or more of the following ways: newspaper or
online ads, bill inserts, social media, and notices in public
libraries. This public information campaign is designed to help
citizens better understand drought, its impact on water supplies,
and the need for water conservation.
Outdoor water use between the hours of 4 PM and 10 A.M. is still Continue reading →
Tupelo trees are blooming in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge so let’s paddle the tupelo lined Suwannee River from the Sill to Griffis Fish Camp.
The river is very low and slow so we’ll take our time on this beautiful wilderness trail. There could be some dragging where the water is too low but there should be enough water to float our boats.
Honey bees are very attracted to the blooms, anybody with bee allergies need to be aware.
When: Gather 9:30 AM, launch 10:30 AM, end 1 PM, Saturday, April 18, 2026
Put In:Suwannee River Sill Ramp,
From Fargo, travel south on US 441 to GA 177; turn left and travel towards Stephen C. Foster State Park. Go 11.2 miles and turn left on Suwannee River Sill.
Hahira, Georgia, March 31, 2026 —
Send in your song starting April First, no fooling!
You can send songs until August 12, 2026, for the Ninth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.
Finalists will be selected by the organizing committee, and will perform their songs at the WWALS River Revue sit-down fundraising dinner.
That will be Saturday, September 12, 2026, 5-9 PM,
at the Lowndes County 4-H Club,
6100 4-H Club Road in Lake Park, Georgia 31636.
There will be food, drink, speakers from Georgia and Florida, a silent auction,
and the music of a headliner before the Songwriting Contest Finalists play.
“More fun than you can have anywhere off the water!” said WWALS Board member Scotti Jay.
We like songs about issues, nature, history, fun on the water, or community,
or whatever tickles your fancy.
For the first time we’re including the Santa Fe River Basin.
We used to exclude that Basin, because Our Santa Fe River (OSFR)
had a songwriting contest for it.
OSFR is not doing that anymore.
Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, who invented that contest, will do one next year by Rum 138, her outfitter.
But she recommends WWALS include the Santa Fe Basin in our Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, “As a result of JEA wanting to send treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee River Basin, give us your best songs.”
a) Action on the Board of Trustees of the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Fund 2025-2026 Approved Proposal of Projects (Trevor Santos, Deputy Commissioner) (Tab B)
The Board of Natural Resources will meet at the A.W. Jones Heritage Center,
610 Beachview Drive,
St. Simons Island, GA 31522, on Friday, January 30, 2026, at 9:00 a.m.
Here is some more detail on the item to demolish the Suwannee River Visitors Center, on the agenda for the GA-DNR Board of Natural Resources,
for this Friday, January 30, 2026, on St. Simons Island and livestreamed.
The Suwannee River Visitor Center has been unoccupied and closed for
over a decade. The structure is now extensively deteriorated and
occupied by a large colony of bats. The building has been subject to
repeated vandalism and structural damage, resulting in unsafe
conditions that render it unfit for public use or rehabilitation.
Due to these ongoing issues, the facility represents a continuing
safety risk and liability to staff, visitors, and the Department.
The Board of Natural Resources will meet at the A.W. Jones Heritage Center,
610 Beachview Drive,
St. Simons Island, GA 31522, on Friday, January 30, 2026, at 9:00 a.m.
There is nothing in the board packet about rebuilding anything on the site.
The Visitor Center is at the entrance to Fargo Boat Ramp, in Fargo, Georgia, off of US 441.
The Ramp would be unaffected, assuming they can contain the demolition debris.
Fargo Ramp is the first publicly-owned Suwannee River access downstream
While that building has indeed been in dire straits for a decade or more,
very few people seem to have been aware of this proposal to demolish it.
There is nothing about it in the minutes of the previous meeting of the Lands Committee nor of the minutes of the previous meeting of the Board Natural Resources.
This item comes directly from GA-DNR Commissioner Walter Rabon,
like the other proposal to demolish,
“Requesting approval via Executive Order to demolish the Red Top Mountain State Park well house, Bartow County.”
That’s the big building on stilts above Fargo Boat Ramp.
Fargo is the second public paddling stop downstream from the Okefenokee Swamp,
and the last stop in Georgia
before 19 Suwannee River miles to Roline Ramp in Florida.
The Suwannee River Visitor Center was opened in 2004,
after $2 million investment.
This was before the Eco-Lodge, inland up US 441.
A year or so ago there was a rumor that private deep pockets had been found
to fix it up.
But the bats and guano in the building apparently would cost too much to fix.
So this Friday the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Board will vote to demolish the Suwannee River Visitors Center.
![[Okefenokee Paddle, to Minnies Lake, Suwannee River, 2026-09-07]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-09-07--okefenokee-minnies-lake-paddle/fbmany.jpg)
![[Songs for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest by August 19, on Scott James radio, Finalists play September 12, 2026]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-08-13--scott-james-radio/fbmany.jpg)
![[New UNESCO World Heritage Site, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, along with Mount Olympus, July 25, 2026]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-07-25--okefenokee-world-heritage-site/fbmany.jpg)
![[WWALS River Revue, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, 4-H Club, Lake Park, GA, 5-9 PM, Saturday, September 12, 2026]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-09-12--wwals-river-revue/fbmany.jpg)
![[Statewide Drought Response Level 1 --GA-EPD, April 27, 2026]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-04-27--drought-level-1-ga-epd/fbmany.jpg)
![[Tupelo Blossom Paddle, Suwannee River Sill Ramp 2026-04-18, to Griffis Fish Camp, Low water but doable]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-04-18--tupelo-blossom-paddle/fbmany.jpg)
![[Entry Form Banner 2026 SuwRK Songwriting Contest Trim]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-03-31--song-submissions-suwrk-songwriting/big/Entry-Form-Banner-2026-SuwRK-Songwriting-Contest-trim.jpg)
![[Amended Agenda: Removed, Suwannee River Visitor Center @ GA-DNR Board of Natural Resources, 2026-01-30, St. Simons Island, GA]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-01-30--ga-dnr-revised-agenda/many.jpg)
![[Packet: Suwannee River Visitor Center unfit for public use or rehabilitation @ DNR Board of Natural Resources 2026-01-30]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-01-30--ga-dnr-packet/many.jpg)
![[Agenda: Demolish the Stephen C. Foster State Park Suwannee River Visitor Center --GA-DNR Board 2026-01-30]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-01-30--ga-dnr-agenda/fbmany.jpg)