Heather Brasell demonstrated why she is the
2023 Tree Farmer of the Year of the American Tree Farm System,
in a thorough discussion of many aspects of forest management,
from water quality testing to logging, replanting, prescribed burns, and herbicides,
to educating the public.
As she said, forestry is more than just Best Management Practices,
and sustainable forestry is more than replanting trees.
Plus good stewardship costs money that may not be offset by income.
She spoke in a WWALS Webinar via zoom
on the impacts of forest management on water quality,
from noon to 1 PM, Thursday, November 14, 2024.
WWALS president Sara Squires Jones gave a brief introduction before Heather spoke,
and the last ten minutes were for questions and answers.
Scotti Jay wrote today, “Day 2 of the sewage fountain on Wainright Dr. One Mile Branch that flows to Sugar Creek>Withlacoochee River>Suwannee River>Gulf of Mexico. Approaching 72 hours since the heavy rains and no warning signs installed by the city. No public notice. Nothing…”
Valdosta City Schools posted on Thursday morning a list of streets closed,
as did the City of Valdosta, Lowndes County Schools, and the Georgia Department of Transportation.
Only today do we finally get a report by the City about seven sewage spills, two still ongoing, including at Wainwright Drive.
Why couldn’t the City let everyone know about sewage spills as soon as they knew?
Warning people not to drive into flood waters is important, but why is telling people about contaminated waterways not as urgent?
As Scotti asks, why no sewer spill warning signs?
Why has that manhole at Wainwright Drive not been fixed yet?
We were complaining about it back in 2021 and before.
The same location (and many of the others of this time) spilled
Hurricane Debby.
The builder put in another, higher, manhole.
But they did not remove the old one.
And in these videos you can see both manholes still spewing sewage.
These are not criticisms of Valdosta Utilities or its Director.
They are questions for the City Manager, Mayor, and Council,
about their priorities.
WWALS President Sara Squires Jones will preside over the WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting.
The public is invited to this regular busineass meeting.
That’s for the
entire 10,000 square mile Suwannee River Basin, in Georgia and Florida,
including the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Alapahoochee, Little Alapaha, Little times two, New times two, Black, Dead, Sampson, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers, and all their creeks, springs, sinks, ponds, and swamps,
such as Grand Bay, Banks Lake and the Okefenokee Swamp.
Robert Thatcher, from Signal Mountain, Tennessee, and Tom Brown, from Dalton, Georgia, accompanied by Bob’s wife,
played their song “Roll On, Echo River”
and won
Best Folk / Americana / Bluegrass Song
in the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2024.
Bill Berry, from Valdosta, Georgia, accompanied by Luke Smith,
played his song “The River”
and won Best Americana Song in the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2024.
Bill Berry wrote about himself,
“I’m 67, a native of Valdosta, a solo singer/ songwriter, and
play guitar. I’ve been playing and writing for about 45 years.”
Hahira, Georgia, September 9, 2024— the First Prize winner in the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest is from Lake City, Florida, with Best from Inside the Suwannee River Basin from Adel, Georgia, and Best from Outside the Suwannee River Basin from Palatka, Florida.
Everyone listened to the two main speakers, the talks about WWALS,
and the headliner at the
WWALS River Revue.
More about all that later.
Then the three judges listened to the
five finalists
of the Seventh Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest,
and picked these winners.
The Winners, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, WWALS River Revue 2024-09-07
Center top: Rachel Grubb of Lake City, Florida, won
Best Americana Indie-Folk Song for “Cruising Down the Suwannee”
and First Prize, with $300.
Top left:
Sweet William Ennis from Palatka, Florida, won Best Blues Song for “Catfish Stew (Suwannee River Blues),” and Best Song from Outside the Suwannee River Basin, with $50.
Top right:
David Rodock from Adel, Georgia, won
Best Pop Country Folk Song for “Moonlight Echoes,” and Best Song from Inside the Suwannee River Basin, with $50.
Bottom left:
Robert Thatcher from Signal Mountain, Tennessee and Tom Brown from Dalton, Georgia, won
Best Folk / Americana / Bluegrass Song for “Roll On, Echo River.”
Bottom right:
Bill Berry from Valdosta, Georgia, won
Best Americana Song for “The River.”
Thanks to Emily Ferrall for the
overview of the bats of Georgia. She including species likely
to occur at Banks Lake, and footage of the Douglas warehouse bats.
She mentioned the Anabat Acoustic Survey Volunteer Project. There
was discussion of the Okefenokee Swamp, in a lively question and
answer period.
Emily Ferrall is a Wildlife Biologist, in the Wildlife Resources
Division of the Wildlife Conservation Section of the Georgia
Department of Natural Resources (GA-DNR).
She specializes in research and monitoring for nongame mammals
in Georgia and spends much of her time working with bats. Emily has
been with GA DNR since 2016. Emily earned both her Bachelor of
Science and Master of Science degrees from the University of
Georgia with an emphasis in wildlife science.
Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman said a few words about
what WWALS does, and WWALS Board President Sara Jay Jones gave a
brief introduction, before Emily Ferrall spoke for about 45
minutes, followed by the Q&A period. Continue reading →
Thanks to Amanda Rollins of Georgia Forestry Foundation for inviting WWALS to talk about forestry and water to elementary school students from Moultrie, Colquitt County, and Albany, Georgia.
At each of two sessions, there were seven groups of students, who cycled by us for 20 minutes each, as one of seven stations.
Thanks to Heather Brasell for hosting this event
twice at the Gaskins Forest Education Center.
Thanks to WWALS President Sara Squires Jones and Board member Scotti Jay Jones
for staffing the WWALS booth on July 10.
Gretchen Quarterman and John S. Quarterman did the same on June 28. Continue reading →
![[Clean up One Mile Branch on the Azalea City Trail, Wainwright Drive, Valdosta GA, Rescheduled to 2025-01-25]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-01-25--wainwright-drive-one-mile-branch-azalea-city-trail-cleanup/fbmany.jpg)
![[Clean up One Mile Branch at Azalea City Trail 2024-12-29, Wainwright Drive, Valdosta GA]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-12-29--wainwright-drive-one-mile-branch-azalea-city-trail-cleanup/fbmany.jpg)
![[Forest Management and Waterways, Heather Brasell, GEFC, WWALS Webinar 2024-11-14]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-11-14--heather-brasell-forest-management-waterways-wwals-webinar-video/fbmany.jpg)
![[Manholes spewing sewage into One Mile Branch, Wainwright Drive Valdosta, GA, second day, 2024-11-08]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-11-08--one-mile-branch-valdosta-spill/many.jpg)
![[Agenda: WWALS Board Meeting, 6-8 PM, Sunday, October 20, 2024]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-10-20--wwals-board/fbmany.jpg)
![[Robert Thatcher & Tom Brown, Roll On, Echo River, Best Folk / Americana / Bluegrass Song, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2024]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-09-07--robert-thatcher-tom-brown-roll-on-echo-river-best-bluegrass/fbmany.jpg)
![[Bill Berry, The River, Best Americana Song, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2024]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-09-07--bill-berry-the-river-best-americana-song/fbmany.jpg)
![[The Winners, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, WWALS River Revue 2024-09-07]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-09-07--winners-suwannee-riverkeeper-songwriting-contest/fbmany.jpg)
![[Bats of Georgia, Emily Ferrall, GA-DNR 2024-08-15, A WWALS Webinar, Banks Lake, Douglas, GA, Okefenokee Swamp]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-08-15--bats-webinar-pictures/fbmany.jpg)
![[Gaskins Forest Education Center, Alapaha, GA, 2024-06-28, 2024-07-10, Forestry and Water, Boys & Girls Club, Georgia Forestry Foundation]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-06-28--gfec-forestry-water/fbmany.jpg)