Tag Archives: swamp

WWALS with Satilla Riverkeeper at Okefenokee Pioneer Day Festival 2016-11-19

Cane syrup boiling, mule grinder, endangereed species puppetry, and more at the Okefenokee Pioneer Day Festival. With the froggie toss game, WWALS will be on the east side of the Okefenokee Swamp Saturday November 19th 2016, travelling out of WWALS territory to visit our good neighbor to the east, Satilla Riverkeeper.

When: 9AM – 3PM, Saturday, November 19th 2016

Where: Richard S. Bolt Visitor Center
Suwannee Canal Recreation Area (East Entrance)
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
30.73870100, -82.14000600

Directions: Continue reading →

Okefenokee Suwannee River Outing @ Fargo, GA 2016-12-10

Update 2017-02-05 Pictures.

Okefenokee West Entrance Trails You can join WWALS for a fall Saturday paddle on the Suwannee River in the Okefenokee swamp. Bring a boat, PFD, and paddle, or you can rent those at the park.

When: 10AM Saturday December 10th 2016

Where: Georgia’s Stephen C. Foster State Park near Fargo, GA

What: Paddle from Billy’s Lake down through the River Narrows to the Suwannee River Sill.

Distance: About 7 miles in about 4 hours Continue reading →

Lake City Sabal Trail pipe yard in cleared wetlands

Update 2016-08-10: Videos of all the speakers.

You are invited to come ask SRWMD why it hasn’t responded to WWALS’ request about the unregistered Sabal Trail Lake City apparently on fill in wetlands. Figure 12: Pipe Yard on top of former forested wetlands You can speak in person Tuesday morning, or write them a letter saying how Sabal Trail would affect you, no matter where you are elsewhere on the pipeline path, in the Floridan Aquifer, or for other reasons.

When: 9AM Tuesday August 9th 2016

Where: SRWMD District Headquarters,
9225 CR 49, Live Oak, FL 32060

Or write to: Noah Valenstein, Executive Director, SRWMD, NDV@srwmd.org.

Update 2016-08-07: You may also send a letter to all Board members of the SRWMD by writing to their senior Board assistant:
Lisa Cheshire, LMC@srwmd.org
Robin Lamm, Coordinator, rrl@srwmd.org

In the subject header to Lisa include the following info:
SRWMD Board Members:

Then cc here, too:
Noah Valenstein, NDV@srwmd.org

Sabal Trail is not on the agenda, but people can speak in Continue reading →

Map: Okefenokee-Osceola Longleaf Pine Restoration Priority Area

The idea is to stop wildfires coming out of the Okefenokee Swamp as they encounter a one-mile buffer Map of longleaf pine that has already had regular prescribed burns, according to Hunter Bowman, who sent this map of where the Okefenokee-Osceola Local Implementation Team works.

I live 60 miles west of that new buffer, yet I remember vividly the smoke from the 2007 fires, which even put people in the hospital farther west in Quitman, GA. All that smoke, not to mention runoff from the burned area, can’t be good for our waters.

A large image of the map is below, and PDF is on the WWALS website. As you can see, the Suwannee River above Fargo is entirely within the subject area, Continue reading →

Southern Company awards longleaf conservation grant to Okefenokee-Osceola Local Implementation Team 2016-07-06

Part of this longleaf pine forest grant from a major utility is partly in WWALS watersheds, in the Okefenokee Swamp and Osceola National Forest, in the upper Suwannee River basin.

Southern Company PR, July 6th 2016, Southern Company and partners award 10 longleaf conservation grants,

Continuing its longstanding tradition of supporting natural resource conservation, Southern Company, in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), today announced $4.3 million in grants to support, restore and enhance the longleaf ecosystem. The grants include funding for 10 projects in the Southeast states where Southern Company operates electric utilities.


Longleaf Pine Forest | Credit: Christine Ambrose

The 2016 grants will support 21 projects that are a part of Continue reading →

WWALS at Grand Bay –Pictures by Gretchen Quarterman 2015-12-12

It was a fine warm fall day for the Grand Bay Hike, WWALS banner on top of tower on the boardwalk through wet savannah and cypress and blackgum swamp at Grand Bay Wildlife Management Area, which is on the Alapaha River Water Trail. Thanks to Bret Wagenhorst for organizing this outing.

Carol Cleary Herndon also posted a facebook album.

These pictures are from Gretchen Quarterman’s facebook album.

More outings coming up: Continue reading →

EPA Clean Water Rule finalized

I still see EPA’s new Clean Water Rule as a good thing, since it protects drinking water, paddling, and fishing, while opponents remain quite vague about what might be wrong with it.

After last year’s comment period, U.S. EPA has posted a prepublication version of its final Clean Water Rule.

Katie Shepherd, L.A. Times, 27 May 2015, Under new EPA rule, Clean Water Act protections will cover all active tributaries, Continue reading →

Okefenokee Outing @ Fargo, GA 2014-11-22

Meet at 10AM Saturday November 22nd at Georgia’s Stephen C. Foster State Park near Fargo, GA, and paddle into the park and back. Bring a boat, or you can rent one at the park. WWALS board member and veteran boater Bret Wagenhorst will be our guide. Facebook event.

This event is FREE! All we ask is Continue reading →

Delaware Riverkeeper and leaky methane pipes

Delaware Riverkeeper again has standing to oppose fracked natural gas pipelines, as part of the recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling against frackers.

Andrew Maykuth wrote for philly.com 23 December 2013, What Pa. court’s ruling on gas-drilling law means,

…opponents of shale gas drilling say the court decision carries substantial symbolic and political weight. They hope it signals a reconsideration of state government’s love affair with fossil fuels.

“With this huge win, we will move ahead to further undo the industry’s grip of our state government,” said Maya van Rossum, executive director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, whose standing as a plaintiff in the case was restored by the Supreme Court’s decision.

The ruling may also revitalize the state’s Environmental Rights Amendment, a 42-year-old law that guarantees Pennsylvanians’ access to clean air and water.

Fracking backers of course say the ruling will harm business. Somebody remind me, why should big business get to destroy local property and watersheds to turn a buck?

Local governments in Pennsylvania made big fossil fuel think again: Continue reading →

Now at VSU: Aquifers, sinkholes, and ground scans –Don Thieme @ WWALS

Update 2019-04-02: Videos.

Moved to VSU, University Center, Dogwood Room! Prof. Don Thieme of VSU will speak about underground water issues at the October WWALS board meeting in Wednesday October 9th at 7:30 PM in Valdosta. Join the facebook event or come as you are.

Here’s the letter Prof. Thieme and two other VSU professors wrote to the Air Force about sinkholes and subsidence on the proposed Moody Family Housing in Lowndes County, which also turns out to be in an aquifer recharge zone.

Here’s VSU’s campus map and here’s a google map: Continue reading →