Tag Archives: Suwannee River Water Trail

Suwannee Riverkeeper on The Spotlight Show, Talk 92.1 FM, 2023-12-07

Join us on The Spotlight Show on https://talk921.com at 6 PM, Thursday, December 7, 2023.

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman and “Diamond” Jim Halter will talk about upcoming outings such as this weekend’s campout at Griffis Fish Camp where naturalist C.B. Adams will tell us old-timey stories before we paddle the next day from the Okefenokee Swamp down the Suwannee River.

[Spotlight Show on Talk 92.1 FM, C.B. Adams at Griffis Fish Camp on the Suwannee River]
Spotlight Show on Talk 92.1 FM, C.B. Adams at Griffis Fish Camp on the Suwannee River

Also this December we’re having a chainsaw cleanup on the Withlacoochee River in Georgia.

To begin the New Year, swim with us on Iche Nippy Dip Day on the Ichetucknee River in Florida, and then paddle down the river.

In September, join us for the second annual WWALS River Revue sit-down fundraising dinner with new songs in the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, 5-8 PM, Saturday, September 7, 2024, at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia. Continue reading →

Sewage spills: Ashburn, GA, Live Oak, FL 2023-12-01

Update 2023-12-08: Clean Santa Fe River 2023-12-06.

Live Oak, Florida, was much faster in reporting its Friday sewage spill than was Ashburn, Georgia, in reporting its Sunday-before-last spill.

Probably neither of these spills had any noticeable effect on the nearby Little or Suwannee Rivers, and certainly not on the far-downstream Withlacoochee River.

For more about WWALS water quality testing, see https://wwals.net/issues/testing.

[Ashburn, GA, and Live Oak, FL, sewage spills]
Ashburn, GA, and Live Oak, FL, sewage spills

Ashburn, Georgia, spilled 2,000 gallons on November 19, reported on November 28, into Ashburn Branch, which ends up in the Little River far upstream from Tifton. Continue reading →

South Georgia Naturalist Chris Adams to speak at WWALS Griffis Fish Campout and Okefenokee Swamp and Suwannee River Paddle 2023-11-08

Update 2023-12-27: Pictures: C.B. Adams speaks about Okefenokee Swampers at Griffis Fish Camp Suwannee Paddle 2023-12-08.

Update 2023-12-12: Videos: SCFSP to Suwannee River Sill 2023-12-09

Naturalist C.B. Adams will speak Friday evening, December 8, 2023, at Campfire Cooking at Griffis Fish Camp and Suwannee River paddle. He will bring props and artifacts. He said, “I can guarantee you it will be a jam up program.”

[C.B. Adams, Griffis Fish Camp, Campfire Cooking, Suwannee River, Okefenokee Swamp]
C.B. Adams, Griffis Fish Camp, Campfire Cooking, Suwannee River, Okefenokee Swamp

Chris “Turtleman” Adams is a South Georgia Naturalist, Historian, Farmer, & Folklorist. He has worked with Georgia Native Cattle Company and Okefenokee Adventures, and he runs the Wiregrass Ecological and Cultural Project, bringing awareness to the heart of the Deep South and showcasing its natural & cultural communities.

Join us to camp overnight Friday at Griffis Fish Camp. Campers arrive starting at 4 PM Friday. Chris will start talking around sunset at 5:29 PM.

Mastermind of this event, Shirley Kokidko, said, “Chris will have an hour before dark to show the artifacts but we’ll also have a fire so he can talk as long as he wants.”

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman said, “You heard Chris briefly at the WWALS River Revue in September. Next Friday you can hear him at length.” Continue reading →

Logging Railroads in the Okefenokee Swamp 1889-1942

Here are maps of logging railroads in the Okefenokee Swamp, and detailed maps of railroads and the town on Billys Island.

[Logging Railroads and Billys Island, Okefenokee Swamp]
Logging Railroads and Billys Island, Okefenokee Swamp

The Billys Island maps are by Chris Trowell or revised from his maps. As the redrawn map says, Billys Island is 1.8 miles from Stephen C. Foster State Park, upstream on the Suwannee River and its East Fork. As you can see by the map, it was quite a bustling place. Until the trees ran out.

I don’t know who drew the map of all the railroads in the Swamp, but I would guess Chris Trowell may have had something to do with it. This is presumably the same C.T. Trowell frequently cited in the documents for Floyds Island in the National Register of Historic Places, and his paper included, “Seeking a Sanctuary: A Chronicle of Efforts to Preserve the Okefenokee,” C.T. Trowell, 1998.

These railroads did not all exist at the same time, since they pulled up tracks from one place to go another place.

These maps came from a ranger at Stephen C. Foster State Park, back in 2021. Naturally, right now I cannot find the email he sent with the maps. Continue reading →

Sand Mine Special Exception Levy County Commission 2023-12-05

Update 2024-01-15: Meeting: Outstanding Florida Springs Basin Management Plans 2024-01-23.

It’s back: the proposed Special Exception for the 3RT Sand Mine.

This time it will be at the Levy County Board of County Commissioners, 9 AM, Tuesday, December 5, 2023, in the Levy County Government Center Auditorium, 310 School Street, Bronson, FL 32621.

[Cows, mining trucks, and Public Notice]
Cows, mining trucks, and Public Notice

Meanwhile, you can still sign on to this change.org opposition petition by Kim Wheeler:
https://www.change.org/p/no-special-exceptions-for-mining-in-rural-neighborhoods

And you can send written comments up to five days before the Public Hearing; see below.

The mine site is still in the springshed of Rainbow Springs.

You may not think that these are enough: Continue reading →

Pictures: Suwannee River Wilderness Trail at Lafayette County Florida State Parks Open House Public Meeting 2023-10-26

Update 2025-06-07: Okefenokee Gateway Getaway at The Farm at Okefenokee 2023-10-26.

Learned a few things in this last of the FDEP series of county meetings about state parks, (almost) the only one that also included the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail and its River Camps.

[Posters and personnel]
Posters and personnel

We also talked about the previous day’s meeting, in Hamilton County, which included Big Shoals State Park. Moving the portage around Big Shoals from Columbia County to Hamilton County, on the right bank of the Suwannee River, is now merely a discussion topic, not a plan. They do want to do something to improve the exit from the portage back into the river. The jagged and slippery limestone rocks are a safety issue. One possibility is steps like at the Big Shoals Tract Launch. They didn’t like my suggestion of just put in some posts with a chain for people to use to get down to the river. But steps would be great. Continue reading →

Colossal aggregation of Redeye Chubs 8 years ago –Ken Sulak 2015-08-15

Back in the day—15 Aug 2015—Gilchrist Blue Spring, before the boardwalk and steps were damaged by a storm and removed.

I was there the next day—phenomenal aggregation—not seen again by me since there or elsewhere. Spawning?? Feeding?? The bottom of the run then was carpeted by Hydrilla about 1-2″ high, having been munched to a Hydrilla-turf carpet by Suwannee Cooters which arrived that summer in the hundreds to munch. That changed my mind about Hydrilla removal—maybe better to leave it alone as turtle pasture. I would like to see the chubs and turtles like that again.

[Gozillions of Redeye Chubs! Photo by diver/photographer Danielle Shmalberg from Orlando.] Gozillions of Redeye Chubs! Photo by diver/photographer Danielle Shmalberg from Orlando, Now Danielle Marsh, actually from Gainesville.

Back in 1994-1998 big schools of chubs were present in the Val bed right at the kayak launch at Iche St. Park. These minnows are highly associated with submerged aquatic vegetation, typically living within the Val forest, but have greatly declined in abundance now. Loss of habitat I suppose.

Ken Sulak

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

Hike Camp Branch to Suwannee Springs 2024-02-03

Update 2024-01-29: Cancelled: Hike Camp Branch to Suwannee Springs 2024-02-03.

Join veteran Florida Trail hiker Randy Madison for a winter hike along creeks and over a historic bridge to Suwannee Springs on the Suwannee River near Live Oak, Florida.

Update 2023-10-30: Meet and park at Suwannee Springs and Randy will lead a small caravan to the trailhead.

This hike will take us down beautiful Camp Branch, also know as Disappearing Creek. Disappearing Creek tumbles down a narrow canyon and disappears into a 15 foot high limestone rock wall before resurfacing and then going under ground again to resurface finally just before emptying into the Suwannee River.

After the descent of Camp Branch and a break at Disappearing Creek, we’ll head down the Suwannee on the Florida Trail to cross Crooked Branch, accend the Greasy Gully to summit Devils Mt, elevation 137ft, then follow the River passing through a scenic area with the hike ambling along the edge of some open cliffs, then a couple nice sandbars before coming in to the Graffiti Bridge, old 129.

We’ll take the blue trail from the Graffiti Bridge back to the Suwannee Springs ruins and our cars. Bring lunch, plenty of water, bug spray and appropriate clothing for the outing.

The hike down Camp Branch is through open forest and can be strenuous, so if you’re not up to uneven terrain and a little bush whacking this may not be a hike for you.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:15 AM, end 4 PM, Saturday, February 3, 2024

Meet and Take Out Here: Suwannee Springs, 3243 91st Dr., Live Oak, FL 32060

GPS: 30.394478, -82.934538

[Map and about]
Camp Branch and Suwannee Springs in the WWALS map of the Suwannee River Water Trail.

Continue reading →

Big Shoals State Park, move portage to Hamilton County, meeting 2023-10-25

Today, in White Springs, Florida State Parks is holding a public meeting about Big Shoals State Park and Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center.

I have a prior engagement, but you may want to go.

When: 3-7 PM, Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Where: White Springs Tourism Building, 10499 Spring Street, White Springs, Florida 32096

More: https://floridadep.gov/parks/public-participation

[Maps and Flyer, Hamilton County Parks Meeting, Big Shoals State Park 2023-10-25]
Maps and Flyer, Hamilton County Parks Meeting, Big Shoals State Park 2023-10-25

The agenda is basically show up, look at the materials, ask questions. Continue reading →