Tag Archives: Suwannee River Water Trail

Joe First, Dowling Park, FL, an Americana song, Beautiful Florida Day 2025-09-06

The two judges awarded Joe First the First Prize! In addition to a plaque, organizing committee chair Sara Squires Jones handed him a $300 check.

Thanks to Joe First of Dowling Park, Florida, for writing the song, and to Joe on accordion, Martin Sensiper on guitar, and John White on percussion for playing it, at the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025. Joe was the last Finalist to arrive, yet won First Prize.
https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2025

About Joe First:

I earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from The University of Florida.and then taught K-5 Elementary Music for 10 years in Alachua County, FL and 20 years in Pinellas County, FL I retired in 2007 and moved to Nashville, TN for 18 years. I returned to north Florida in 2023 and reside in the Advent Christian Village in Dowling Park, FL. I play a lot with the Song Farmers of the Suwannee and The Suwannee Bluegrass Association and play my singer-songwriter material in Tallahassee, Nashville, and Switzerland.

Joe First, Dowling Park, FL, with an Americana song 2025-09-06, Beautiful Florida Day: First Prize, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

About Joe’s song:

I was visiting friends who had a house right on the Santa Fe River and did a lot of kayaking there. At one point, looking at a map, I envisioned a trip through the river connections all the way to the Gulf and, instead of taking the trip, I made up a song about my sort of dream.

Here’s Joe First and band singing his song:
https://youtu.be/Xs68D_tD8Zk Continue reading →

Saylor Dollar, Tallahassee, FL, a Bluegrass song, Suwannee 2025-09-06

The two judges awarded Saylor Dollar Best Song from Outside the Suwannee River Basin. In addition to a plaque, the organizing committee chair Sara Squires Jones handed them a $50 check.

Thanks to Dale Dollar and Lisa Saylor Dollar of Tallahassee, Florida, for writing the song, and to Saylor Dollar for playing it, at the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025.
https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2025

About Saylor Dollar:

Saylor Dollar is a husband-and-wife duo hailing from Tallahassee, Florida, comprised of lifelong musicians Lisa and Dale Dollar. They are known for their original songs and eclectic Americana sound infused with elements of bluegrass, folk, and blues.

Lisa Dollar, a music teacher by profession, boasts a degree in music education and has performed with professional orchestras and as a freelance violinist. Dale Dollar, a guitarist, also studied guitar at Florida State University, has taught private guitar lessons, and played in local bands for many years.

Their music has been praised for its “pristine production, extraordinary writing and performing,” according to indiestrong.com. Reviewers have praised their “sassy angelic vocals, flawless guitar chops, and fiddle that hits right on the mark.” Saylor Dollar’s original songs are noted for their introspective and poetic lyricism, drawing inspiration from Appalachian storytelling and love. Their song catalog is available on all streaming platforms.

Dale on guitar and Lisa on fiddle were assisted by Bradley Waldron on bass.

Saylor Dollar, Tallahassee, FL, a Bluegrass song, Suwannee, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, September 6, 2025

Our song, Suwannee, was inspired when we spent time along the Suwannee River during our first visit to perform at the Florida Folk Festival this year. We loved the beauty of the river and wanted to learn more about its history. We read about the Timucuan legend that said the Moon of the Suwannee infused the earth with all the colors of the rainbow; then the Sun drew out the colors by putting them into flowers that bloomed along the Suwannee. We used that in the first verse of the song. We were intrigued by the meaning of the name “Suwannee”. We used some of the possible origins of the name: “Echo River” and “Crooked Black Water” in the lyrics of the song. We also learned that the Suwannee is a rare wild and free-flowing river, so we made sure to write that in the chorus of the song. Dale and Lisa played all the instruments on the recording of their song, Suwannee. Dale played guitar and banjo; and in addition to singing, Lisa played fiddle and string bass.

Here’s Saylor Dollar singing their song:
https://youtu.be/LIu8nLROvEE?si=8IPMOd8wQY5NKrU- Continue reading →

Hillman Bridge, Ellaville, Suwannee River 2025-09-27

I stopped at the historic Hillman Bridge, across the Suwannee River at Ellaville, on the way back from the Suwannee River Camp tour.

It was built 1926, abandoned 1983, and is a 916.0-foot 3-span Metal 7 Panel Rivet-Connected Pratt Through Truss bridge over the Suwannee River.

This happened long after the demise of Ellaville as a logging town, capturing logs coming down the Withlacoochee River with a boom, to be sawed in the sawmill owned by Florida Governor George Franklin Drew. Here’s a video about that logging boom town, Dray’s World, 2021, The Remains of the Drew Mansion & The Lost Cemetery of Ellaville.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBWJDJldb9o

Hillman Bridge, Ellaville, Suwannee River 2025-09-27, 1/5 mile below Withlacoochee River, Built 1926, abandoned 1983

According to Bullet, Abandoned FL, December 1, 2015, Hillman Bridge,

Hillman Bridge is a through truss bridge located in the small town of Ellaville, once a thriving sawmill and manufacturing center owned by George Franklin Drew, Florida’s governor between 1877 to 1881. Built as a federal aid project in 1925-1926 by the R.H.H. Blackwell Co. of East Aurora, N.Y., it was named “Hillman Bridge” during its construction after W.J. Hillman of Live Oak, a member of the State Road Department who had helped push for the construction of the bridge.

No, it’s not the same as the historic Suwannee Springs Bridge, the old US 129 bridge, built 1931, closed to vehicle traffic in 1971. That’s 22 miles upstream, just above the current US 129 bridge. Yes, both historic bridges have graffiti, they both cross the Suwannee River, and they are both through truss steel bridges. But they are not the same.

There are more pictures below of the historic Hillman Bridge. Continue reading →

Request: Ichetucknee Springs Protection Zone –Citizens to FWC 2025-07-29

Update 2025-10-07: Lower Ichetucknee River Springs Protection Zone @ Suwannee BOCC 2025-10-07.

If you like Linda’s request for a Springs Protection Zone on the Lower Ichetucknee River, you can join many others in writing to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWC), using this handy form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScYFArSQsstOauhRVYTCMoikXYIo0i_gDmkuDlbTC-7OSsgQQ/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=114012348461689332646

Or you can write to:

Captain Rachel Bryant <Rachel.bryant@myfwc.com>
Major Bill Holcomb <William.holcomb@myfwc.com>
Rob Klepper <Robert.klepper@myfwc.com>

Request to Florida FWC, Ichetucknee Springs Protection Zone, No Wake Zone, Turtles and Personal Watercraft

Date: July 29, 2025
To: Captain Rachel Bryant (Rachel.bryant@myfwc.com)
Major Bill Holcomb (William.holcomb@myfwc.com)
Rob Klepper (Robert.klepper@myfwc.com)
From: Linda L. Weseman
Subject: Request to Create a Springs Protection Zone on the Lower Ichetucknee River
Current recreational use by motorized vessels on the lower half of the Ichetucknee spring run is resulting in shoreline erosion and turbidity that is detrimental to the overall health of the spring run. These issues are primarily and predominantly caused by motorboats and personal watercrafts (PWCs). It is recommended that the Commission establish a Springs Protection Zone that creates a no wake zone on the Ichetucknee from the boundary of Ichetucknee Springs State Park to the confluence at the Santa Fe River, the “lower Ichetucknee”. It is additionally recommended that personal watercrafts, PWCs, be restricted from operating on this section of the Ichetucknee spring run.

The purpose of establishing a no wake zone on the lower Ichetucknee is to Continue reading →

Bacon James, Gainesville, FL, with a Bluegrass song, Ellaville. 2025-09-06

Thanks to Bacon James, for writing a song and playing it, at the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025.

And thanks for digging into Suwannee and Withlacoochee River history about Ellavile, the town where George F. Drew had his sawmill, with a boom across the mouth of the Withlacoochee River, to catch logs floated down the river.
https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2025

“I’m Bacon James—singer-songwriter and frequent supporter of environmental causes and organizations. I love being in nature, playing and writing music, and generally trying to be too clever for my own good.”

Bacon James, Gainesville, FL, Bluegrass song, Ellaville, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, September 6, 2025

“I wrote Ellaville after visiting the site during one of my recent trips to the Suwannee and subsequently digging into the history of the town and what occurred there. I loved the idea of a bustling little mill town on the river and was so fascinated by the story of how the town boomed and then fell. I thought of all the hardships of the folks I’ve met, and how I have so many close friends now that are currently unemployed and struggling. Dreams found, lives built and then dashed. Nature constantly exploited by those in power, ostensibly retaliating against those by which it had been wronged. Are we learning? Are we growing? Were there lessons the river was trying to impart about humanity, and have we heard them? That’s what this song explores.”

Here’s he is singing his song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37APDWhJBLQ Continue reading →

Nutrien water withdrawals approved –SRWMD 2025-09-09

After SRWMD Chair Virginia Johns took the oath of office due to being reappointed, the Board at its September 9, 2025, meeting approved the agenda unchanged and then approved the Consent Agenda with the Nutrien White Springs phosphate mine water use permit still in there, for withdrawal of up to 64.1621 million gallons per day (MGD) of groundwater.

Plus, “The executive director may authorize the use of groundwater for back-up mining/dewatering use in excess of 11.0000 mgd in emergency circumstances.”

For comparison, the City of Gainesville is permitted 30.0 mgd by SJRWMD.

This strip mine water use permit was approved despite the fish kill WWALS notified SRWMD of and despite frequent violations of the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

Nutrien water withdrawals approved, Consent Agenda unchanged, Letters from WWALS and OSFR ignored –SRWMD 2025-09-09

I wonder if the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) Board or Staff looked at EPA ECHO, which shows Clean Water Act (CWA) Violations Identified in 5 of 12 quarters and 1 Significant Noncompliance, as well as Significant Noncompliance in all 12 quarters of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). It’s true that these EPA ECHO quarters do not seem to include 2025, but such previous results are troubling. This is for PCS PHOSPHATE WHITE SPRINGS, 15843 SE 78TH PL, WHITE SPRINGS, FL 32096, which is the permit holder for NPDES permit FL0000655, which is cited in the SRWMD Board packet on page BCS 66: Continue reading →

Please take the Nutrien Water Use Permit off Consent Agenda and hold a Public Hearing –WWALS to SRWMD 2025-09-08

The SRWMD Board agenda for tomorrow, Tuesday, September 9, 2025, is here:
https://www.mysuwanneeriver.com/Archive.aspx?ADID=1706

I sent this letter Monday evening.

Please remove Nutrien WUP from Consent Agenda and hold a Public Hearing –WWALS to SRWMD 2025-09-08

September 8, 2025
To: Virginia H. Johns
Board Chair
virginia.johns@srwmd.org
Suwannee River Water Management District
Cc: Hugh Thomas
Executive DIrector
Hugh.Thomas@srwmd.org

Dear SRWMD,
Staff seem unaware of a recent fish kill on Swift Creek, one of the “offsite discharge locations” cited in the Memorandum on the proposed five-year extension of the Nutrien Water Use Permit 2-047-219878. A fish kill is not a natural system “healthy and functioning well.”

That alone should be enough reason to remove that item from the Consent Agenda and to schedule a public hearing on that WUP.

Specifically, on your agenda for Tuesday morning, in this item, Continue reading →

Chemours to blame for flooding rural Santa Fe River Basin? –Grist 2025-09-04

Update 2025-09-05: Clean Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers 2025-09-04.

What is overflowing in that floodwater from those five Chemours mines on Trail Ridge at the top of the Santa Fe River Basin?

“If I lived near Chemours, I’d be paranoid too,” said John Quarterman, who serves as the Suwannee Riverkeeper, a staff position for an organization of the same name that advocates for conservation of the numerous watersheds within the Suwannee River Basin. “Some of the stuff they’re paranoid about is probably actually happening, but it’s hard to document which of it is and which of it isn’t.”

Until the Florida Department of Environmental Protection takes frequent measurements up and down the state’s rivers, Quarterman said, it will be difficult to pin down the impact of Chemours’ activities. And without such studies, he said, it’s difficult to identify bad actors — let alone hold them accountable.

WWALS has a volunteer water quality monitoring program, and two recently-trained testers may start testing in the Santa Fe River Basin soon.
https://wwals.net/issues/testing

Is Chemours to blame for flooding rural Santa Fe River Basin? –Grist 2025-09-04

Sachi Kitajima Mulkey, Ayurella Horn-Muller, Grist, September 4, 2025, Waterlogged and contaminated: In rural Florida, locals suspect a mining company is to blame for their flooding troubles: Residents are trying to connect the dots between hurricanes, high radium levels, and a mineral mining giant next door.

The storm had passed, but the water kept rising. In September 2017, Hurricane Irma slammed into Florida, causing tides to surge and dumping about a foot of water across much of the state. A few days later, Jane Blais stood on a bridge with her neighbors near her High Springs ranch, watching the Santa Fe River below swell higher and higher.

“We had zero notice,” Blais said, Continue reading →

Live Oak Sinkhole 2025-08-25

A sinkhole opened in U.S. 90 in the middle of Live Oak, Florida, yesterday. FDOT says it’s fixed since yesterday evening.

But chronic overpumping of groundwater produces such cavities, and increasintly big rains wash them open.

Live Oak Sinkhole, U.S. 90, 2025-08-25, Between Dowling Ave. and Union Ave.

Live Oak Police Department yesterday reported with a video of the sinkhole opening: Continue reading →

Explore the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Veronica Kelly-Summers, a WWALS Webinar by Zoom, 2025-09-11

Discover all that Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge has to offer in our upcoming presentation focused on things to see and do around the 407,000-acre national wildlife refuge. From camping under the stars to paddling scenic water trails, the refuge is a haven for outdoor enthusiasts. Learn about wildlife watching ethics, areas for hiking and biking, guided boat tours, overnight excursions, hunting and fishing opportunities, and so much more. Whether you’re seeking outdoor adventure or a peaceful connection with nature, this presentation will showcase how Okefenokee has something for everyone.

When: 12 PM, Thursday, September 11, 2025

Put In: Register to join with Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tUE8DKI4QJqDpfgYiuiFmw
WWALS Board Member Janet Martin will give a brief introduction.
Questions and answers will be at the end.

Explore the Okefenokee NWR, Veronica Kelley-Summers, a WWALS Webinar by Zoom, Thursday, September 11, noon-1 PM

Veronica Kelly-Summers is a dedicated Visitor Services Manager with over 15 years of experience in protecting natural resources and connecting people with nature. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in forestry from Southern Illinois University with a focus on forest recreation and wildlife habitat management. Her career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has taken her to eight national wildlife refuges from the woods and swamps of southern Illinois to the Loess Bluffs of Iowa and Missouri, the Florida Everglades, and she’s now stationed at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia. She works closely with staff and partners to provide leadership and strategic direction for the Visitor Services program including managing visitor facilities and recreational opportunities for camping, boating, interpretation, environmental education, special events, outreach, hunting, fishing, managing volunteers, and much more. When not at work, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Jacob, and their pets, a yellow lab named Charlie and a spicy tuxedo cat name Tino.

Continue reading →

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

A healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.