Tag Archives: Okefenokee Swamp

Pictures: Stephen C. Foster State Park, Okefenokee Swamp, to Griffis Fish Camp, Suwannee River 2024-12-14

It was a fast paddle from Stephen C. Foster State Park in the Okefenokee Swamp to Griffis Fish Camp on the Suwannee River, as part of the WWALS campout and paddle: barely more than three hours. Or four hours, counting getting ready at the Park and getting out at Griffis.

But it still looked fun, through the Narrows, past piers of an old logging railroad, and through the Suwannee River Sill, with birds and gators.

[Stephen C. Foster State Park, Okefenokee Swamp 2024-12-14 to Griffis Fish Camp, Suwannee River]
Stephen C. Foster State Park, Okefenokee Swamp 2024-12-14 to Griffis Fish Camp, Suwannee River

Fast because expedition leader Shirley Kokidko decided to go through the first gate at the Suwannee River Sill, considering water levels were too low to go up to the second gate and back down the west side of the Sill.

Thanks to Shirley Kokidko of Pearson, GA, for leading and for one picture here, and to Phil Royce of Live Oak, FL, for the other pictures. And thanks to the paddlers, from Miami to Alabama to South Carolina, not to mention Hahira and other places in Georgia and Florida.

Stay tuned for pictures of the campfire cooking and the turkeys the next morning.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are announced, see:
https://wwals.net/outings Continue reading →

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge to be Nominated to Join UNESCO World Heritage List –U.S. Department of the Interior 2024-12-20

After the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Refuge staff and others did a lot of work, including much public input, the Interior Department has taken the next step towards getting the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.

[Okefenokee NWR Nominated as UNESCO World Heritage Site, U.S. Department of the Interior, December 20, 2024]
Okefenokee NWR Nominated as UNESCO World Heritage Site, U.S. Department of the Interior, December 20, 2024

If approved by UNESCO, the Okefenokee will join its nearest neighbors, Everglades and Great Smokey Mountains National Parks in North Carolina and Florida, and Poverty Point Monumental Earthworks in Louisiana. Continue reading →

Suwannee River Water Trail signs planted at Fargo Ramp and Griffis Fish Camp 2024-12-15

Update 2025-01-02: Another view: Griffis Fish Camp Suwannee River Water Trail signs planted –Richard Fowler 2024-12-15.

We got two sets of at-water signs planted Sunday on the Suwannee River in Georgia, at Fargo Ramp and Griffis Fish Camp, just downstream from the Okefenokee Swamp.

[Suwannee River Water Trail at-water signs planted at Fargo Ramp and Griffis Fish Camp 2024-12-15]
Suwannee River Water Trail at-water signs planted at Fargo Ramp and Griffis Fish Camp 2024-12-15

Thanks to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA-DNR) for the grant that paid for these signs for the Suwannee River Water Trail (SRWT).

Thanks to Ray Figueroa of Miami for digging the hole at Fargo Ramp.

Thanks to Linda Tindall of Umatilla, Florida, for digging at Griffis Fish Camp, to Richard Fowler of I’m not sure where for photographing, and to Shirley Kokidko of Pearson, Georgia, for bringing water for the Quikrete.

Thanks to camp manager Walter Hickox for telling us where to plant the Griffis signs.

There are also signs for Stephen C. Foster State Park, but those are waiting on final sign-off by the Park and by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

There are more images below. Continue reading →

WWALS comment on Okefenokee NWR Expansion 2024-12-13

Update 2025-01-05: Okefenokee NWR Minor Acquisition Boundary Expansion approved by USFWS 2025-01-03.

Here is the letter I sent to USFWS yesterday. I have added some images and links for this web publication, plus a few extra paragraph breaks to fit the pictures. See also the PDF.

December 13, 2024

To: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Okefenokee@fws.gov

Re: WWALS comment on Okefenokee NWR Expansion

Dear Fish and Wildlife Service,

Suwannee Riverkeeper for WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS) files these comments in support of the proposed minor expansion of the acquisition boundary for the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (ONWR).

I further recommend that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or the Department of Interior, or Congress, provide sufficient funds to make competitive offers to buy land.

[WWALS Comments 2024-12-13, Proposed Minor Expansion of the Okefenokee, National Wildlife Refuge]
WWALS Comments 2024-12-13, Proposed Minor Expansion of the Okefenokee, National Wildlife Refuge

I sympathize with concerns I have heard expressed by people living near the ONWR, perhaps most basically Continue reading →

Pictures: Departing Floyd’s Island, Okefenokee Swamp 2023-11-05

We got up early enough to see the sun rise above the outhouse on the east side of Floyds Island. I got some pictures of the inside of Hebard Cabin, built in 1925 after the logging was finished. A few of us made a side trip over to Billys Island to see the Lee Cemetery and the few remains of the logging boom town. With alligators and turtles, of course.

[Departing Floyd's Island, Okefenokee Swamp 2023-11-05, Plus Minnies Lake and Billys Island]
Departing Floyd’s Island, Okefenokee Swamp 2023-11-05, Plus Minnies Lake and Billys Island

This was all on the Floyds Island Campout and Suwannee River Paddle in the Okefenokee Swamp, November 4-5, 2023.

See also pictures from the previous day. And facebook photosets by Continue reading →

Virtual public meeting about the minor proposed expansion of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge 2024-12-09

Update 2024-12-14: WWALS comment on Okefenokee NWR Expansion 2024-12-13.

According to a press release from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS):

A virtual meeting has been scheduled for Dec. 9, from 6-8 p.m., for the public to learn more about the minor proposed expansion of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Registration for the virtual meeting is required.
https://empsi.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sJwkU7wZRKW_WkU0QlELZg

[Virtual public meeting, minor proposed expansion, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, 2024-12-09, 6-8 PM]
Virtual public meeting, minor proposed expansion, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, 2024-12-09, 6-8 PM

In addition, the public comment period has been extended to Dec. 13. Input may now be submitted until Dec. 13, 2024 via email to Okefenokee@fws.gov.

Additionally, a public meeting was held Nov. 12, 2024, from 6:30 – 8 p.m. at the Charlton County Annex Auditorium, 68 Kingsland Drive, Folkston, Georgia.

Here are some pictures from that November 12 meeting.
https://wwals.net/2024/11/13/pictures-public-meeting-about-okefenokee-nwr-expansion-2024-11-12/

Remember, nobody has to sell their land or get a conservation easement. Expansion of the acquisition boundary merely makes it easier for USFWS to acquire such land if somebody wants to sell. Continue reading →

Pictures: Camp and paddle at Griffis Fish Camp + Cast Iron Cookout, Suwannee River –Shirley Kokidko, 2022-12-02

“We paddled, we camped, and we cooked! Thank you to everyone for making this a fun weekend,” wrote Shirley Kokidko.

That was at Griffis Fish Camp, where they camped two nights and paddled the Suwannee River from the Okefenokee Swamp.

[Campfire Cooking, Griffis Fish Camp 2022-12-02, Suwannee River, Okefenokee Swamp]
Campfire Cooking, Griffis Fish Camp 2022-12-02, Suwannee River, Okefenokee Swamp

We’re doing it again, December 13-15, 2024.

Thanks to Shirley for these pictures from 2022.

See also facebook posts by: Continue reading →

EPA EnviroAtlas, Suwannee River Basin 2024-11-29

Here are maps of the Suwannee River Basin in the EPA EnviroAtlas, with shadings and boundaries for Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUCs). HUC-8 (eight digits) is big river basins; in this case Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Santa Fe, Upper Suwannee, and Lower Suwannee. HUC-12 is more local.

[HUC 8 and 12 150%]
HUC 8 and 12 150%

What are the odd HUC-12s that are not shaded in? At least some of them, such as around Lake Octahatchee are endorheic basins. Continue reading →

WWALS Day of Giving 2024 #GAGIVES

You don’t have to be in Georgia, and you don’t have to wait until Tuesday, to donate to this fundraiser to support WWALS:
https://www.gagives.org/story/Wwals-Gagives2024

[Day of Giving 2024: Banks Lake, Alapaha River Rise, Juneteenth, Festivals, Chainsaw Cleanups, Sewage, Water Quality, Okefenokee Swamp]
Day of Giving 2024: Banks Lake, Alapaha River Rise, Juneteenth, Festivals, Chainsaw Cleanups, Sewage, Water Quality, Okefenokee Swamp

WWALS Mission

WWALS advocates for conservation and stewardship of the surface waters and groundwater of the Suwannee River Basin and Estuary, in south Georgia and north Florida, among them the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, Santa Fe, and Suwannee River watersheds, through education, awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities.

Advocacy

Continue reading →

Floyds Island Campout, Okefenokee Swamp –Gretchen Quarterman 2024-11-10-11

It was drizzly and it rained on Floyds Island, but everybody enjoyed it anyway.

[Floyds Island Campout, Okefenokee Swamp 2024-11-10-11, Suwannee River, and Middle Fork]
Floyds Island Campout, Okefenokee Swamp 2024-11-10-11, Suwannee River, and Middle Fork

Thanks to Brack Barker for leading this Floyds Island Campout, 9 miles upstream on the Suwannee River in the Okefenokee Swamp.

Thanks to Gretchen Quarterman for these pictures.

Not many gators were visible, but there was a tree full of wood storks. Continue reading →