Second WWALS outing this month, this time on land;
facebook event.
If you enjoy paddling the Alapaha River, I hope you will consider coming out this Saturday to give back and help clean up along the river’s banks as part of a
GA Rivers Alive cleanup. Starts at 0900 at the boat ramp at the Hwy 82 bridge just east of the town of Alapaha. I anticipate the cleanup will last about an hour. Bring work gloves and good cheer.
It is much easier to pick up trash along the banks Continue reading
Update 20 September 2014: Now with a lunch stop at Chris and Deanna’s house! Bring your own lunch or snacks, but the Mericles have picnic tables and bathrooms. Chris reports the Withlacoochee is high enough that the shoals are no problem, and the weather report says clear all day tomorrow. See also his report on FERC and Sabal Trail’s recent visit to this same area and what Sabal Trail wrote to FERC the next day.
Sabal Trail may be thinking of moving their pipeline, but WWALS is
still padding past the original location 10AM Sunday September 21st.
All are invited to come see for themselves the springs, shoals, and sinkholes
that we value more highly than pipeline profit for a company from Houston.
Join us for a fine day on two of our fabulous southern blackwater rivers:
the Withlacoochee River and the Suwannee River, in Hamilton and Suwannee
Counties, Florida.
The meeting place is the CR 143 Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River near Jennings, Florida. For directions, please see the earlier post about this outing.
This event is FREE! All we ask is Continue reading
Dozens of species of birds nest at Lewis Lake in the spring.
WWALS went
17 May 2014,
to that historic private lake, also known as Avera’s Mill Pond and Lake Lewis.
Here’s
a video playlist:
And here are some still pictures.
-jsq
Continue reading
Last Friday a resolution to FERC saying the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline
should avoid sensitive karst limeston regions affecting water resources
passed the Hamilton County, Florida Commission.
Joyce Marie Taylor has added the following to her article in the Suwannee Democrat 25 August 2014, Hamilton fights back against Sabal Trail pipeline,
A special meeting was called on Friday, Aug. 22, and the board voted to pass Resolution 14-10 that expressed their concerns about the proposed pipeline route across the Withlacoochee River that forms the western boundary of Hamilton County.
A portion of the resolution states, Continue reading
Chris Mericle, local host for the
September WWALS Outing,
spoke to the Hamilton County Commission last Tuesday
about the same section of the Withlacoochee River,
where the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline is proposed to cross.
You can come float past it yourself
Sunday 21 September,
and see many local springs, sinkholes and shoals
that need to be protected from that pipeline,
continuing on to where the pipeline would cross the Suwannee River.
Joyce Marie Taylor wrote for the Suwannee Democrat 25 August 2014, Hamilton fights back against Sabal Trail pipeline, Continue reading
Us south Georgia watershed groups have to stick together!
Pictured are Satilla Riverkeeper Ashby Nix, WWALS Watershed Coalition: President John S. Quarterman, Treasurer Gretchen Quarterman, Ambassador Dave Hetzel, in Perry, Georgia, 21 August 2014.
Thanks to workshop presenter Loren Moore Continue reading
Chris Graham took this picture a week ago of the Alapaha River at
US 84, where tomorrow’s WWALS Outing will end up.
Come join us on this gem of a blackwater rural river!
We’re boating the central area of the in-progress
Alapaha River Trail, tomorrow afternoon,
Sunday, August 24st 2014.
Meet up at 1:30 at Hotchkiss Crossing on the Lanier County side.
We will drop the boats off, drive the end point at US 84, on a public right of way, where the road is gravel.
Get on water at 2:00.
We will pass by the location for the new Lowndes County boat ramp and public access point. This is a relatively short paddle, about 1.27 miles, but it could take as long as 2 hours if the water level stays low.
This event is FREE! All we ask is that Continue reading
In the Lanier County Advocate today:
Blue Trails are marked routes that take visitors along rivers, lakes, canals and coastlines. Water trails not only require suitable access points and take-outs for exits but also provide place ashore to camp and picnic and points of interest for canoeists, paddle boarders, boaters, kayakers and rafts. Some trails maybe suitable for float tubing. Blueways are typically developed by the state, county or local municipalities to encourage recreation, ecological education and preservation of wildlife resources.
As a Naylor resident I urge the surrounding county residents to contact their local commissioner and demand all public access to the Alapaha river to be tie into the #Regional_ Water_ Trails_System.
Here are some of the benefits Continue reading
Update 2025-01-21: Little River upstream 2014-06-28.
Paddle upstream on the Little River and float back down:
the WWALS June Outing.
When: Please arrive by 8:30 AM so everyone can be ready to put in by 9AM.
Where: GA 133 bridge at the border of Brooks County and Lowndes County, Georgia. If we go far enough up, Continue reading
A Greenway Trail is an onland version of the sort of Blueways or Water Trails WWALS is working on. WWALS board member Chris Graham got a very nice spread in one of the Lakeland newspapers today about Greenways, speaking for himself. -jsq
Lanier County Advocate, 4 June 2014, Page 12, Local nature enthusiast hoping to bring Greenway Trail to Lakeland,
Naylor native Christopher Graham has spent the majority of his life exploring the great outdoors every chance he gets.
Currently, Graham serves on the board of the Water Shed group to help ensure local rivers are clean and safe for citizens to enjoy. But what Graham has been striving for is to bring a Greenway Trail to the local area.
What are Greenway Trails? Continue reading