Tag Archives: Suwannee River

Plastic bag bans keep trash out of rivers and the sea –a study in Science 2025-06-19

Plastic bag bans work, finds a study published in Science this month. And not by a little bit: “a 25 to 47% decrease in plastic bags as a share of total items collected relative to areas without policies” and a “30 to 37% reduction in the presence of entangled animals in areas with plastic bag policies”. The study says even partial bans help, and the effect increases with more bans.

[Plastic bag bans keep trash out of rivers and the sea --a study in Science, June 19, 2025]
Plastic bag bans keep trash out of rivers and the sea –a study in Science, June 19, 2025

Cleanups alone do not solve the trash problem: trash just keeps coming back. Trash traps help keep it out of creeks and rivers, but have to be continually cleaned out. Banning use of the trash goes a long way towards fixing the problem, as this recent study shows.

Local governments in Georgia and even in Florida can ban or regulate such packaging. Continue reading →

Georgia needs better economic solutions for forestry and rural south Georgia 2025-06-26

I’m going to agree with something a supporter of the now bought-out mine said: we need better economic solutions for south Georgia forest owners. And beyond that, for south Georgia. So counties and cities won’t be tempted by jobs promised by mines, landfills, private prisons, and pellet plants.

[Georgia needs better economics, for forestry & rural south Georgia, Drew Jones, Charlton Co. Commission, Okefenokee Swamp & blackwater rivers]
Georgia needs better economics, for forestry & rural south Georgia, Drew Jones, Charlton Co. Commission, Okefenokee Swamp & blackwater rivers

Drew Jones wrote in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution today, June 26, 2025, Okefenokee deal exposed how Georgia’s forest policy is flawed and needs reform, Continue reading →

Swift Creek @ Suwannee River Water Quality Testing 2025-06-21

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

We had heard a report from Wednesday of a fish kill on Swift Creek, apparently at the Suwannee River.

So yesterday three of us went there and tested the water. We didn’t see any dead fish, and the Swift Creek Confluence doesn’t look much like what was in the Wednesday report video, so we’re not sure where that was.

We tested for E. coli, which was pretty clean, pH, which was slightly towards the base end, and Dissolved Oxygen (DO), which was low, but not fish-killing low. Probably it’s worth testing again.

Swift Creek comes down from the huge phosphate mine north of White Springs, which has previously gotten the mine’s owner into trouble with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

[Swift Creek, Florida Trail, Water Quality Testing 2025-06-21, Suwannee River, Hamilton County, FL]
Swift Creek, Florida Trail, Water Quality Testing 2025-06-21, Suwannee River, Hamilton County, FL

Gee Edwards drew a sample from Swift Creek just below the bridge on the Florida Trail. Continue reading →

Miners bought out near Okefenokee Swamp 2025-06-20

Very good news today! The coal miners from Alabama have been bought out, ending mining on their specific property. First, the thanks. Then the rest of the story.

Many thanks to The Conservation Fund for buying out Twin Pines Minerals, LLC (TPM), and to the James M. Cox Foundation and the Holdfast Collective (Patagonia) for helping fund that acquisition. Thanks to everyone who helped, and to everyone who has opposed this bad mining proposal since at least 2019.

There is a direct path to adding this land into the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (ONWR), since the Okefenokee NWR Minor Acquisition Boundary Expansion was approved by USFWS 2025-01-03. Although given the current chaotic state of the federal government, keeping that land in private hands for now might be prudent.

[Miners bought out near Okefenokee Swamp 2025-06-20, Twin Pines Minerals, by The Conservation Fund]
Miners bought out near Okefenokee Swamp 2025-06-20, Twin Pines Minerals, by The Conservation Fund

We should all celebrate!

But this land acquisition is not the end of the mining story. There is much more we can do to protect the entire Okefenokee Swamp, the blackwater rivers of south Georgia, and to pass a constitutional amendment for Right to Clean Water, Air, and Soil.

Directly to the north of TPM’s parcels is much more land, Continue reading →

Sign the Letter Urging Senators to Vote No On the Reconciliation Bill 2025-06-14

Your organization can still sign onto this letter to all U.S. Senators:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJYPPq-I7vrVSDmC3qoo4SrN9WwFpOacdMcPkacGpEn-5rwg/viewform

The letter specifically opposes pipeline pay-to-play: the section that would give pipeline companies expedited permitting if they pay the lesser of $10 million or 1% of their expected construction costs, while removing the ability of any state or federal agency to reject such a permit.

The letter also opposes the bill’s prohibition on state regulation of so-called Artificial Intelligence (AI) operations, which consume vast amounts of power and emit noise and pollution.

The latter has already been sent to all U.S. Senators, but they will get updates as more organizations sign on.

[Sign the Letter Urging Senators to Vote No On the Reconciliation Bill: No pipeline pay to play]
Sign the Letter Urging Senators to Vote No On the Reconciliation Bill: No pipeline pay to play

Dear Senators,

The “Big Beautiful Bill” strips states rights, property rights, and turns the United States into a Pay to Play nation whereby big industry polluters can very literally buy the permits they desire, States and regulatory agencies are stripped of the ability to reject damaging projects, and impacted property owners and impacted communities are too often denied their day in court, all in service to advance major fossil fuel pipelines, export facilities and associated infrastructure.

We, the undersigned organizations, Continue reading →

Okefenokee Gateway Getaway at The Farm at Okefenokee 2023-10-26

It was quite a do, at The Farm at Okefenokee.

[Okefenokee Gateway Getaway, The Farm at Okefenokee, Next to Okefenokee NWR, October 26, 2023]
Okefenokee Gateway Getaway, The Farm at Okefenokee, Next to Okefenokee NWR, October 26, 2023

The Okefenokee Gateway Getaway was put on by Charlton, Clinch, and Ware Counties, whose leaders “collaboratively strive to harness the potential of our region’s crowning jewel – the Okefenokee Swamp and Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.” It was apparently the first-ever collaborative venture of those three Georgia counties. Continue reading →

How Humans Affect the Aquifer, a WWALS Webinar, by Dennis J. Price, P.G., 2025-06-19

Dennis Price, P.G., of Hamilton County, Florida, says, “I plan on going through the history of surface and ground water in the flatwoods in south Georgia and north Florida in the Suwannee River Basin. Historic water levels and how we have changed these levels. Changes beginning with forestry then farming, and population growth. Ideas for correcting the problems.”

This applies to the Floridan Aquifer proper and the other aquifers above it, all below the Suwannee, Alapaha, and Withlacoochee Rivers, the Okefenokee Swamp, and their tributaries.

When: 12-1 PM, Thursday, June 19, 2025

Put In: Register to join with zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/FdxNg0QeSB-ngQLGUaIWKw
WWALS Board Member Janet Martin will give a brief introduction.
Questions and answers will be at the end.

[How Humans Affect the Aquifer, a WWALS Webinar 2025-06-19, in north Florida and south Georgia, by Dennis J. Price P.G.]
How Humans Affect the Aquifer, a WWALS Webinar 2025-06-19

Continue reading →

Pictures: Big Shoals St Pk to Suwannee Wayside, Suwannee River 2025-05-31

The Suwannee River was deep enough that walking your boat in the side of the river required pulling it up along the bank half of the distance, so wasn’t much better than just portaging all the way.

Except for getting back down that rocky portage put-in.

[Big Shoals SP Launch to Suwannee Wayside, Suwannee River, May 31, 2025]
Big Shoals SP Launch to Suwannee Wayside, Suwannee River, May 31, 2025

Amy was already on the beach below Big Shoals, because she shot the shoals in her Cypress Dagger. So did Mike Hurley in his liquidlogic, designed for whitewater.

The other 15 paddlers portaged one way or another, which was the original plan.

We had lunch on the beach, while Dennis Price told us about the geology of the area. Thanks to Dennis for leading this paddle. Continue reading →

Wildflowers of the Suwannee River Basin in Florida, a WWALS Webinar by Emily Bell 2025-06-26

We’ll hear all about wildflower species in north Florida, and maybe even how to prepare habitat for them, from the Communications Coordinator of the Florida Wildflower Foundation, Emily Bell.

When: noon-1 PM, Thursday, June 26, 2025

Where: Register here to attend online by zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/DRwhEcDjQWqK4Qr9Srnegg
WWALS Board Member Janet Martin will give a brief introduction.
Questions and answers will be at the end.

[Wildflowers of the Suwannee River Basin in Florida 2025-06-26, a WWALS Webinar, by Emily Bell]
Wildflowers of the Suwannee River Basin in Florida 2025-06-26, a WWALS Webinar, by Emily Bell

Emily was born and raised in the wilds of Florida. From spring hopping on the Suwannee River to chasing swells up and down the East Coast, her formative years were spent outside in play, exploration and reflection, instilling in her a deep passion for the environment and a sense of responsibility to safeguard it for future generations. She joined the Florida Wildflower Foundation in 2022 as its communications coordinator. Prior to that, she spent four years coordinating invasive species programs within UF IFAS Extension and for the Florida Invasive Species Partnership. Emily has over a decade of experience with environmental outreach, planning and network building.

Continue reading →

Campfire Cooking at Griffis Fish Camp and Suwannee River paddle 2025-12-05-07

Cast-iron camping cooking is fun. You can also use steel, aluminum, or whatever you like. You don’t even have to cook: there will be plenty for everybody.

Plus a paddle from Stephen C. Foster State Park down the Suwannee River, through the Sill, out of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, back to Griffis.

When: Set up camp 4 PM, Friday, December 5, 2025
Gather 8:30 AM, launch 9:30 AM, paddle from Stephen C. Foster SP back to Griffis, Saturday, December 6, 2025
Wake up and leave when ready, Sunday, December 7, 2025

Camp At: Griffis Fish Camp, 10333 Ga Highway 177 Fargo, Georgia 31631. From Fargo, travel south on US 441 to CR 177; turn left and travel 10 miles northeast; Griffis Fish Camp is on left, in Clinch County.
We’ll have a fire Friday and Saturday nights so please bring a bundle of firewood if you can. Especially important for the cooks that know how to campfire cook and need plenty of coals on Saturday. Firewood has gotten pricey so if everybody pitches in it works out great.
Bring your own plates/bowls/utensils/drinks to help reduce waste.

Put In: Stephen C. Foster State Park Boat Ramp, 17515 GA-177, Fargo, GA 31631. From Fargo, travel south on US 441 to CR 177; turn left and travel to Stephen C. Foster State Park, in Charlton County.
Paddlers usually put in down the access road from the ramp.

GPS: 30.78246, -82.443594

[Campfire Cooking at Griffis Fish Camp 2025-12-05, Suwannee River paddle, Stephen C. Foster SP 2025-12-06]
Campfire Cooking at Griffis Fish Camp 2025-12-05, Suwannee River paddle, Stephen C. Foster SP 2025-12-06

Continue reading →