Kyra Purvis, WFXL, November 15, 2021, The city of Valdosta is working together to protect Okefenokee Swamp,
The city of Valdosta is working together to protect the Okefenokee Swamp from a proposed strip mine being placed near the area.
![[Reporter, Mayor, Suwannee Riverkeeper, mine in Suwannee River Basin map]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-11-15--valdosta-okefenokee-resolution-wfxl/many.jpg)
Reporter, Mayor, Suwannee Riverkeeper, mine in Suwannee River Basin mapThe Okefenokee Swamp is a 438,000 acre wetland that straddles the Georgia-Florida line and is a place [where] many local residents go for nature-filled fun.
Continue reading
Update 2023-01-05: News again: Valdosta’s 2021 resolution against the strip mine proposed too near the Okefenokee Swamp 2023-01-01.
Yesterday the most populous city in the Suwannee River Basin passed a resolution opposing the proposed Twin Pines Minerals (TPM) strip mine or any others within ten miles of the Okefenokee Swamp. The resolution further asks the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reverse its abdication of oversight, asks GA-EPD for a moratorium on all mining permits until effects are settled of the recent court overruling of 2020 Clean Water Act changes, as well as to reject the TPM permits, or at least to review those applications as thoroughly as the Army Corps would, and asks the Georgia legislature to prevent such strip mines near the Swamp or any blackwater rivers in the Suwannee River Basin.
You can also ask the state to stop this mine: https://wwals.net/?p=55092
Continue readingUpdate 2022-01-26: Rescheduled: Third Annual Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Withlacoochee River 2022-02-19.
Join us for a leisurely paddle on the Withlacoochee River past the clean outfall of the Valdosta Withlacoochee Wastewater Plant, which has not spilled in years. See turtles, fish, birds, cypress, pines, oaks, palmetto, and maybe otters. Probably no alligators, although you could be lucky. You will see the signs where the notorious Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline leaked drilling fluid into the river.
Previously called the Mayor’s Paddle, this third annual is the Chairman and Mayor’s Paddle, as in the Chairman of Lowndes County and the Mayor of Valdosta, who are working to purchase land you will see at the Little River Confluence for a future Troupville River Park and Troupville River Camp. The route also runs along Brooks County, and is upstream of Madison and Hamilton Counties, Florida: y’all come.
When: Gather 8 AM, launch 10 AM, end 4 PM, Saturday, January 29, 2022
Put In: Troupville Boat Ramp, 19664 Valdosta Hwy, Valdosta, GA 31602: on GA 133 off I-75 exit 18. Lowndes County. Go west across I-75 on St. Augustine Road (GA 133), turn left at the light for Val Tech Road.
GPS: 30.652536, -83.34586
Take Out: Spook Bridge. Park outside the gate at the corner of Old Quitman Highway and Martin Lane. Do not drive onto the private property; we will have shuttle golf carts and such for the last half mile up from the river. Thanks to The Langdale Company for access for the lunch spot and the takeout below Spook Bridge.
Bring: the usual personal flotation device, boat, paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.
Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members.
You can pay the $10 at the outing, or online:
https://wwals.net/outings
We recommend you support the work of WWALS by
becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/#join
![[Troupville Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River, WWTP clean outfall, Spook Bridge, Takeout]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-01-29--chairman-mayors-paddle/many.jpg)
Troupville Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River, WWTP clean outfall, Spook Bridge, Takeout;
Photos: John S. Quarterman
on the previous Mayor’s Paddle 2021-03-27
Third scheduled time was the charm for the Second Annual Mayor’s Paddle, Withlacoochee River, Troupville Boat Ramp to Spook Bridge. In addition to the nice writeup in the Valdosta Daily Times, here are some pictures. Only two or three people capsized, nobody was mad, and everybody had a good time.
The 2022 version will be the Chairman and Mayor’s Paddle,
coming up Saturday, January 29, 2021 2022.
Stay tuned. Update 2021-10-28: Chairman and Mayor’s Paddle: Troupville to Spook Bridge, Withlacoochee River, 2022-01-29.
Thanks to The Langdale Company for access at the lunch spot and at Spook Bridge. Thanks to the Boys and Girls Club for shuttling. Thanks to Steve Miller for his ATV for shuttling people up from the river at Spook Bridge to the road. Thanks to Bobby McKenzie for leading the outing.
We found some landmarks, such as where the Valdosta, Moultrie, and Western (VMW) Railroad used to cross the Withlacoochee River. Continue reading
That titanium strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp is still in permitting, as Scott James and I discussed on his radio show Monday morning; here’s video. You can help stop that mine.
There’s serious doubt about the legitimacy of the decision last October by the Army Corps of Engineers to abdicate responsibility, since a District Court revoked last year’s EPA decision that the Corps used to decide. Meanwhile, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) has five permit applications from those Alabama coal miners, Twin Pines Minerals LLC. For details, see Mining moratorium: NWPR WOTUS and Army Corps on Okefenokee mine site –WWALS to EPD 2021-09-27.
![[Strip mine discussion and location]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-10-19--scott-james-radio/minemany.jpg)
Strip mine discussion and location
You can ask GA-EPD for a moratorium on all mining,
until the effects of that District Court decision get sorted out,
or to deny the permits for that mine,
or at the very least to examine the permits very thoroughly and produce the equivalent of the Environmental Impact Statement that the Corps should be working on.
https://wwals.net/?p=55092
And don’t forget the WWALS Boomerang paddle race tomorrow morning,
Saturday, October 23, 2021, from Georgia into Florida and back!
https://wwals.net/pictures/2021-10-23–boomerang/
Here’s WWALS video of that radio discussion: Continue reading
On his radio show Monday morning, Scott James and I talked about the WWALS Boomerang paddle race, coming up this Saturday, 9AM, October 23, 2021, at State Line Boat Ramp, aka Madison Highway Boat Ramp or Mozell Spells or GA 31 Ramp or CR 145 Bridge Launch. We’ll paddle downstream into Florida and back up into Georgia! Food, drink, and a silent auction. Fun for the whole family.
The overall winner wins a $100 First Prize. Others will win in many categories.
![[Radio, WWALS Boomerang paddle race]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-10-19--scott-james-radio/many.jpg)
Radio, WWALS Boomerang paddle race
Tickets for this WWALS fundraiser are available online or at the event.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wwals-boomerang-paddle-race-2021-tickets-168646372841
Registration opens at 9AM, where you can say whether you want to paddle 1, 2, or 3 miles downstream, and the same back up.
Everything about the Boomerang is here:
https://wwals.net/pictures/2021-10-23–boomerang/
Below are links to each of the video segments about the Boomerang on the radio, followed by a WWALS video playlist. Continue reading
This Sunday, paddle out with us to see the sun set and the moon rise, with bats, in the Banks Lake Full Sturgeon Moon Paddle!
It’s only $10 for non-members, and free to non-members, as Scott James reminded us on his radio show last week.
With free boat rental, thanks to the Lakeland-Lanier County Chamber of Commerce.
And WWALS membership is only $25 for individuals or $40 for a family.
https://wwals.net/donations/#join
![[Banks Lake Full Sturgeon Moon Paddle]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-08-12--scott-james-video/many.jpg)
Banks Lake Full Sturgeon Moon Paddle
For more details of this evening paddle just west of Lakeland, Georgia, see: https://wwals.net/?p=56344
Here’s WWALS video of that radio interview: Continue reading
Update 2023-07-30: Langdale Park to Sugar Creek Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2023-09-09.
In which the Mayor of Valdosta does work. I lent him my Sawzall and he sawed off a deadfall.
![[Boats, Withlacoochee River, Deadfalls, Sugar Creek, Salty Snapper]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-05-15--langdale-park-sugar-creek-salty-snapper/many.jpg)
Boats, Withlacoochee River, Deadfalls, Sugar Creek, Salty Snapper
Many kinds of boats started out at Langdale Park Boat Ramp. Continue reading
“If you see it, it’ll break your heart. In a deadfall it all gathers,” Valdosta Mayor Scott James said to me on his radio show about trash in Sugar Creek, just above the Withlacoochee River, where it washes downstream into Florida and the Suwannee River, onwards to the Gulf. We discussed how the problem has been documented by the City of Valdosta since 2010, and some inexpensive solutions.
Here is video I took for WWALS of that August 12, 2021, radio show. Continue reading
Tickets are $10 online or $12 at the door, for the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, coming up at 7PM this Saturday, August 21, 2021, at the Turner Center Art Park in Valdosta, Georgia. Scott James and I discussed it on his radio show a week ago: Nine finalists, three singing judges, and this year’s Master of Ceremonies is Big Country Wes James of WAAC Rivers Radio.
Get tickets to the Songwriting Contest here:
https://wwals.net/pictures/2021-08-21–songwriting
![[Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2018-08-21]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-08-12--scott-james-video/songwriting.jpg)
Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2018-08-21
Here are links to each video segment about the Contest, followed by a WWALS video playlist: Continue reading
![[Mayor and Riverkeeper]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-11-11--valdosta-okefenokee-resolution/many.jpg)
![[Troupville Boat Ramp, WWTP Outfall, Spring Branch, Lunch banners, Spook Bridge Landing, VSU CORE, Ride]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-03-27--mayors-paddle-pictures/many.jpg)
![[Radio 2021, Plan 2010]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-08-12--scott-james-trash-problem-video/many.jpg)