Tag Archives: Suwannee River

Two Georgia House bills introduced to protect the Okefenokee Swamp 2025-02-20

Update 2025-02-27: Okefenokee Bills, city and county resolutions, GA House Committee 2025-02-26.

Bipartisan sponsors have introduced two Georgia House bills to protect the Okefenokee Swamp:

These bills will not stop the current mining application before the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD). But they can stop further applications for expansion, which will make the current application much less valuable. And they can stop other mining applications, including by other companies using other mining methods.

The focus of these bills is Trail Ridge east of the Okefenokee Swamp, which is in the St. Marys River Basin. But there is no dam in the Swamp between that Basin and the watershed of the Suwannee River, which drains about 85% of the Swamp.

Please contact your Georgia House Representative and ask them to support these bills.
https://wwals.net/about/elected-officials/georgia-house/

Floridians, please urge your Georgia friends and family to do so. And you can call or write the Georgia State Representatives yourself. Remember: this is all upstream from Florida.

[Two Georgia House bills introduced to protect the Okefenokee Swamp, February 20, 2025]
Two Georgia House bills introduced to protect the Okefenokee Swamp, February 20, 2025

The experienced mining company Chemours spilled 230,000 gallons of process water into the Suwannee River Basin in Florida a week ago.

The company that proposes to strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp for titanium dioxide, which is primarily used for white paint, is still under a Florida Consent Order for violations it caused when it was processing tailings at one of Chemours’ Florida mines.

So please ask your Georgia State Representatives to support these bills, and other methods of preventing mining near the Okefenokee Swamp. Continue reading →

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

Update 2025-06-01: Pictures: Big Shoals St Pk to Suwannee Wayside, Suwannee River 2025-05-31.

Join us on this beautiful section of the Suwannee River.

This paddle is appropriate for anyone who is in reasonable physical condition, agile enough to launch from a rocky edge (see photo above), and can portage your kayak 400 feet. There will be plenty of time to enjoy the magnificent views and cool off in the river.

We will launch from Big Shoals State Park, paddle downstream 1 mile to the start of the portage trail around Big Shoals, the only Class III rapids in the state of Florida.

Pack light as you will need to portage everything on a dirt trail. Then we get back in our boats and paddle on through Little Shoals.

When: Gather 9:00 AM, launch 10:00 AM, end 3 PM, Saturday, May 31, 2025
Come on time to drop your kayak at the launch site and be ready to help with the shuttle to the take out in White Springs.
**Shuttle begins promptly at 9:30 a.m.

Put In: Big Shoals Tract Launch, Right bank. From White Springs, travel north on CR 135 to SE 94 Street (Godwin Bridge Road); turn right and follow road to Big Shoals, in Hamilton County, Florida.

GPS: 30.3529705, -82.6879375

[Big Shoals Tract Launch, Suwannee River Wayside Park, Suwannee River, Portage Big Shoals 2025-05-31]
Big Shoals Tract Launch, Suwannee River Wayside Park, Suwannee River, Portage Big Shoals 2025-05-31

Continue reading →

Rescheduled: Griffis Camp to Fargo, Suwannee River Paddle 2025-03-01

Come out and join us for a late winter paddle on the Suwannee River in this remote 14-mile section of wilderness from Griffis Fish Camp to Fargo.

Rescheduled to March due to very cold weather in January.

Dress in case of a cold day and bring a change of clothes. Everyone must wear a PFD at all times on the water. Have a bow line/rope for your kayak.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 4 PM, Saturday, January 11, 2025

Put In: 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.

GPS: 30.7845, -82.446333

[Griffis Fish Camp to Fargo 2025-03-01, Suwannee River, Late Winter paddle]
Griffis Fish Camp to Fargo 2025-03-01, Suwannee River, Late Winter paddle

Continue reading →

Okefenokee NWR Minor Acquisition Boundary Expansion approved by USFWS 2025-01-03

Now anyone who wants to sell property within the new boundary to the Refuge can do so.

That includes the coal miners from Alabama who want to strip mine within three miles of the Okefenokee Swamp. Sure, right now they say they don’t want to do that, but things could change.

See also the WWALS support letter for this Minor Expansion, which notes that this action protects not just Trail Ridge, but the entire circumference of the Swamp.
https://wwals.net/?p=66587

Leslie Hull-Ryde, USFWS PR, January 3, 2025, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Finalizes Plan for a Minor Expansion of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge Boundary
Enables voluntary actions to protect hydrological integrity, conserve wetlands and key wildlife habitat, and create fuel reduction zone to help protect neighboring properties

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced its final decision to expand the acquisition boundary of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge by approximately 22,000 acres. The new acquisition boundary includes lands currently held by a variety of owners within a 1-mile fuel reduction zone adjacent to the refuge. Potential conservation actions on the lands within the boundary expansion could strengthen protection of the hydrological integrity of the swamp, provide habitat for the gopher tortoise, mitigate impacts of wildfires, and provide opportunities for longleaf pine restoration to benefit the red-cockaded woodpecker.

The expanded boundary allows the Service to potentially offer priority public uses such as hunting, fishing, wildlife watching, and education to the more than 400,000 annual visitors to the refuge, thereby driving a growing ecotourism economy within the community.

[Okefenokee NWR Minor Expansion of Acquisition Boundary approved 2025-01-05 by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service]
Okefenokee NWR Minor Expansion of Acquisition Boundary approved 2025-01-05 by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Today’s decision follows the Department’s recent announcement that Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge will be nominated to the UNESCO World Heritage List. If designated, the refuge would join the list recognizing 1,223 cultural and natural sites of universal importance, such as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, the Taj Mahal in India, the Great Wall in China, and the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador. Continue reading →

Griffis Fish Camp Suwannee River Water Trail signs planted –Richard Fowler 2024-12-15

Thanks to Richard Fowler for these pictures of the WWALS Suwannee River Water Trail signs being planted at Griffis Fish Camp.

[Griffis Fish Camp, Suwannee River Water Trail signs, planted 2024-12-15, Photos: Richard Fowler]
Griffis Fish Camp, Suwannee River Water Trail signs, planted 2024-12-15, Photos: Richard Fowler

Thanks to Linda Tindall for digging and leveling, to Shirley Kokidko for pouring, and to camp manager Walter Hickox for advising on where to plant the signs.

Thanks to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA-DNR) for the generous grant that paid for these signs, the signpost, the concrete, and the screws.

See also the other pictures of this sign planting, and also at Fargo Ramp:
https://wwals.net/?p=66605

And pictures of the paddle Shirley organized the previous day from Stephen C. Foster State Park in the Okefenokee Swamp down the Suwannee River back to Griffis Fish Camp:
https://wwals.net/?p=66675 Continue reading →

St. Juan River in Map of East and West Florida, 1763

Can you spot the Suwannee River on this old map?

At least The Great Swamp called Owaquaphenogaw is pretty obvious: the Okefenokee Swamp.

Since the only river that is shown running south from the swamp is the one under the E in East Florida, which goes by a town called S. Juan, that looks like a good bet. But maybe not.

[Where is the Suwannee River? Map of East and West Florida, An account ...natural history of Florida, by William Roberts, 1763]
Where is the Suwannee River? Map of East and West Florida, An account …natural history of Florida, by William Roberts, 1763

Back in 1920 somebody tried to make sense of this map, in The Old Spanish Trail, A Historical Sketch, by G. M. West, 1920, Panama City Publishing Co., Panama City, Fla., online by St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, Texas. Continue reading →

Pictures: Stephen C. Foster State Park, Okefenokee Swamp, to Griffis Fish Camp, Suwannee River 2024-12-14

It was a fast paddle from Stephen C. Foster State Park in the Okefenokee Swamp to Griffis Fish Camp on the Suwannee River, as part of the WWALS campout and paddle: barely more than three hours. Or four hours, counting getting ready at the Park and getting out at Griffis.

But it still looked fun, through the Narrows, past piers of an old logging railroad, and through the Suwannee River Sill, with birds and gators.

[Stephen C. Foster State Park, Okefenokee Swamp 2024-12-14 to Griffis Fish Camp, Suwannee River]
Stephen C. Foster State Park, Okefenokee Swamp 2024-12-14 to Griffis Fish Camp, Suwannee River

Fast because expedition leader Shirley Kokidko decided to go through the first gate at the Suwannee River Sill, considering water levels were too low to go up to the second gate and back down the west side of the Sill.

Thanks to Shirley Kokidko of Pearson, GA, for leading and for one picture here, and to Phil Royce of Live Oak, FL, for the other pictures. And thanks to the paddlers, from Miami to Alabama to South Carolina, not to mention Hahira and other places in Georgia and Florida.

Stay tuned for pictures of the campfire cooking and the turkeys the next morning.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are announced, see:
https://wwals.net/outings Continue reading →

Final Report: Georgia House Study Committee on Navigable Streams 2024-12-01

They decided not to change the 1863 law, and did not chart any clear legislative course forward.

This is better than some courses they could have taken, the Georgia House Study Committee on Navigable Streams and Related Matters.

However, they seem to left the problem for everyone else to navigate in ad hoc partnerships, which could leave paddlers having to negotiate passage among many parties.

[Final Report for little change, maybe privatization of passage 2024-12-01, Georgia House Study Committee on Navigable Streams and Related Matters]
Final Report for little change, maybe privatization of passage 2024-12-01, Georgia House Study Committee on Navigable Streams and Related Matters

Here are the recommendations of the committee from their final report:

  1. Maintain the definition of navigability set forth in O.C.G.A. §44-8-5(a) and the right of passage for navigable streams as found in O.C.G.A. §52-1-31;
  2. Refrain from a statutory delineation of navigable and non-navigable streams;
  3. Incentivize and strengthen tools to foster collaboration and partnerships between landowners, nonprofits, and local/state government that increase opportunities for public access and conservation of Georgia’s waterways;
  4. Preserve the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program;
  5. Urge the Department of Natural Resources to further publicize and fund new technologies that assist in tracking and resolving disputes on waterways; and
  6. Protect Georgia’s fishing, hunting, trapping, and outdoor recreation traditions, as well as those reliant on waterways such as logging and farming, by carefully analyzing the impact of any potential legislation on these sectors.

They paid commendable attention to what the public had to say, including fishers, paddlers, riparian landowners, loggers, farmers, and trappers (who said current law does not permit them to trap on public waters).

Noting pulls in various directions, the committee continued to support the 1863 law that requires a navigable stream to be “capable of transporting boats loaded with freight in the regular course of trade either for the whole or a part of the year,” while the committee also depended on GA-DNR’s opinion: Continue reading →

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge to be Nominated to Join UNESCO World Heritage List –U.S. Department of the Interior 2024-12-20

After the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Refuge staff and others did a lot of work, including much public input, the Interior Department has taken the next step towards getting the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.

[Okefenokee NWR Nominated as UNESCO World Heritage Site, U.S. Department of the Interior, December 20, 2024]
Okefenokee NWR Nominated as UNESCO World Heritage Site, U.S. Department of the Interior, December 20, 2024

If approved by UNESCO, the Okefenokee will join its nearest neighbors, Everglades and Great Smokey Mountains National Parks in North Carolina and Florida, and Poverty Point Monumental Earthworks in Louisiana. Continue reading →

Suwannee River Water Trail signs planted at Fargo Ramp and Griffis Fish Camp 2024-12-15

Update 2025-01-02: Another view: Griffis Fish Camp Suwannee River Water Trail signs planted –Richard Fowler 2024-12-15.

We got two sets of at-water signs planted Sunday on the Suwannee River in Georgia, at Fargo Ramp and Griffis Fish Camp, just downstream from the Okefenokee Swamp.

[Suwannee River Water Trail at-water signs planted at Fargo Ramp and Griffis Fish Camp 2024-12-15]
Suwannee River Water Trail at-water signs planted at Fargo Ramp and Griffis Fish Camp 2024-12-15

Thanks to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA-DNR) for the grant that paid for these signs for the Suwannee River Water Trail (SRWT).

Thanks to Ray Figueroa of Miami for digging the hole at Fargo Ramp.

Thanks to Linda Tindall of Umatilla, Florida, for digging at Griffis Fish Camp, to Richard Fowler of I’m not sure where for photographing, and to Shirley Kokidko of Pearson, Georgia, for bringing water for the Quikrete.

Thanks to camp manager Walter Hickox for telling us where to plant the Griffis signs.

There are also signs for Stephen C. Foster State Park, but those are waiting on final sign-off by the Park and by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

There are more images below. Continue reading →