Update 2022-11-09: Refuge fee tickets and start a hour earlier.
This is primitive, wilderness camping and paddling at its best.
To come on this outing be sure that you are comfortable paddling your loaded boat for 9 miles against a moderate current with only 1 stopping point to get out for a break. Minnie’s Lake platform is the 4 mile lunch stop, then 5 more miles to Floyd’s Island.
Yes, there will be alligators in the heart of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
Continue readingA dozen people, neighbors and new-found friends, paddled in the coral dusk to see bats fly and the Full Harvest Moon rise through clouds, at Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge, our mini-Okefenokee west of Lakeland, Georgia.
![[Banners, boats, sunset, bats, moonrise, shore]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-09-10--full-harvest-moon-banks-lake-pictures/many.jpg)
Banners, boats, sunset, bats, moonrise, shore
Thanks to Elizabeth Brunner for leading this outing, and most of the other Full Moon paddles this summer. If you want to help organize WWALS outings, you can apply to join the Outings Committee.
The WWALS Water Quality Testing Committee was well-represented, with Elizabeth and Michael and Jacob Bachrach. Continue reading
Update 2022-09-19: Ashburn sewage problem and Moultrie 2022-09-16.
Good news: all clean in all the WWALS water quality tests on the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers for Thursday. Happy fishing, swimming, and boating!
Maybe see you tomorrow morning on the Roline to Hunter Creek Suwannee River paddle. The Suwannee River is usually clean upstream anyway.
Thanks to WWALS tester Elizabeth Brunner for her usual three GA 122 sites, on the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers, all results good. Thanks to WWALS testers Michael and Jacob Bachrach for testing their usual three downstream Withlacoochee River sites at Knights Ferry, Nankin, and State Line Boat Ramps.
There’s no update from Valdosta after its dire Monday results for GA 133 and US 84. But first Continue reading
Update 2022-09-24: Rescheduled: Chainsaw Cleanup Withlacoochee River, 2022-10-16.
We need volunteers with boats to pick up trash while a few people chainsaw some deadfalls.
We aim to collect the trashjams we didn’t have room for last time, and to chainsaw the remaining Withlacoochee River deadfalls between Sugar Creek and the Little River Confluence. Then we’ll paddle up the Little River to take out at Troupville Boat Ramp.
Unlike last time, we’re scheduling seven hours for the shuttle, for chainsawing and trash collecting, and for the four-mile paddle. With luck, nobody will get stuck this time.
All dependent on the weather, of course. Could be hurricane season finally by then, or could be plenty low to make this easy.
When: 9 AM, Sunday, September 25, 2022
Put In: Meet at the back of the Salty Snapper parking lot, 1405 Gornto Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602.
![[Trashjam, deadfall, chainsaws]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-09-25--chainsaw-withlacoochee/many.jpg)
Trashjam, deadfall, chainsaws,
2022-07-30; Photos: John S. Quarterman.
Update 2022-08-20: Videos: Suwannee Riverkeeper about Songwriting Contest on Scott James Radio 2022-08-18.
Thursday (tomorrow) at 8:30 AM, Suwannee Riverkeeper will be on Scott James Talk 92.1 FM radio, about the
Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, coming up this Saturday evening, 7-11 PM at the Turner Center Art Park in Valdosta, Georgia.
https://wwals.net/pictures/2022-08-20–songwriting/
No doubt we’ll also talk about the trash situation and how you can help stop a strip mine far too near the Okefenokee Swamp.
We may also talk about water quality testing, and who knows what else.
![[Movie: Sen. Ossoff got U.S. Army Corps to resume oversight of mine site next to Okefenokee Swamp]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-07-19--scott-james-radio-videos/MVI_0319-15-14-sen-ossoff-got-u-s-army-corps-to-resume-oversight-of-mine-site-next-to-okefenokee-swamp.jpg)
When: 8:30 AM, Thursday, August 18, 2022
Where:
Talk 92.1 FM radio, Scott James drivetime show
http://talk921.com/
Listen: Over the air, or through the radio show’s own website, or through any of several online listening services.
Event: facebook
For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see Continue reading
Sometimes paddlers bring dogs. To be sure the WWALS insurance covers such pets, we have added a dog waiver form.
![[WWALS Pet Sign In and Waiver]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-05-31--event-sign-in/WWALS-Event-Sign-In-and-Waiver-2022-includes-pet-waiver-0002.jpg)
WWALS Pet Sign In and Waiver
PDF
I attest that my dog can swim, or will wear an approppriate sized animal personal flotation device. My dog is up to date on vaccinations. My dog will be on a leash at all times when not on the water (either on my boat or swimming). My dog is not known to have bitten any person or other animal and has not been deemed a dangerous dog.
Quite a few people pay the $10 non-member outing fee in cash at outings, and others pay at outings to become WWALS members, so there’s a Paid Today column on the Event Sign In and Waiver. Continue reading
Update 2022-07-29: Good Water Quality, Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha Rivers 2022-07-28.
Well, I missed this one. FDEP says it was reported on July 7th, but it wasn’t in their 30-day map last time I looked, so I’m not sure when it showed up.
![[FDEP report, aerial, WWALS map]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-07-07--high-springs-spill/many.jpg)
FDEP report, aerial, WWALS map
At only 500 gallons, 200 of that recovered, it probably didn’t have much effect on the Santa Fe River or its springs.
The address given seems to be a typo. The real address appears to be Continue reading
It was standing room only, as presenters from India, Bangladesh, Colombia, and the U.S. (me) discussed different approaches to rights to clean water and problems such rights might solve, in a panel at the Waterkeeper Alliance Global Conference 2022, Saturday, June 11, 2022, in Washington, DC.
Update 2022-06-16: Fixed typo (Colombia, not Ecuador).
Many thanks to Rodrigo de la O, Maule Itata Coastkeeper, Chile, for using my phone to video the session.
And congratulations, Rodrigo, on winning the Terry Backer award!
Below are the videos of each presenter and some questions. First a video playlist, then individual videos with a few more pictures.
Here’s a WWALS video playlist:
Continue readingUpdate 2022-06-01: Chainsaw cleanup again, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-05.
Some chainsawed, others cleaned up, on the chainsaw cleanup at the Withlacoochee River.
We met at the Salty Snapper parking lot, but we did not actually go to Sugar Creek. We headed straight for the biggest Withlacoochee River impediment, the infamous NSRR Deadfall, a stack of deadfalls (downed trees) across the river downstream of the Norfolk Southern Railroad Bridge.
That took the allotted time of nine to noon. We’ll probably do it again next Sunday; stay tuned.
![[Logjam, Sawing, Cleanup, Banners]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-05-29--chainsaw-cleanup-pictures/many.jpg)
Logjam, Sawing, Cleanup, Banners
Thanks to Phil Hubbard for sawing and Jan Krysa for helping in the boat and in the water. Thanks to Elizabeth Brunner and family for cleaning up.
Also, we did not see much trash actually in the big deadfall, presumably because Continue reading
Let’s clear some more of the deadfalls blocking the Withlacoochee River between Langdale Park Boat Ramp and Troupville Boat Ramp. We will probably float around right near Sugar Creek, although if we get everything there, we might paddle down towards the Little River.
This is a cleanup, so there’s plenty for everyone to do. You do not have to use a chainsaw, and we recommend you do not unless you have experience with them. Everyone near a chainsaw please wear safety eyeglasses.
Yes, Valdosta has ordered a trash boom for Sugar Creek, but we do not yet know when it will arrive and get installed. We want to go ahead with the deadfall clearing while volunteers are enthusiastic, so once the trash is more contained there can be more paddling on the Withlacoochee River.
When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 12 PM, Sunday, May 29, 2022
Put In: Salty Snapper parking lot, 1405 Gornto Road, Valdosta, GA 31602.
GPS: 30.8625, -83.31875
Bring: Chainsaw or sawzall if you are experienced with using them. Everyone bring the usual personal flotation device, boat, paddles, snacks, drinking water, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags. If you do not have a boat, there will probably be plenty to pick up along the shore, and we may have extra spots in boats.
Free: This outing is free because it is a cleanup.
We recommend you support the work of WWALS by
becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations
Event: facebook
![[Movie: Phil Hubbard sawing a log in a kayak, 09:36:09, 30.8632605, -83.3193490 (71M)]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-05-07--pictures-cleanup-sugar-creek-withlacoochee-river/20220507_093613.jpg)
Phil Hubbard sawing a log in a kayak, 2022-05-07 30.8632605, -83.3193490
![[Gator and kayak]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-11-19--floyds-island-camping-okefenokee/big/676x380.jpg)
![[Chart, Rivers, Map]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-09-15--wq/many.jpg)
![[Presenters and Questions]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-06-11--rtcw-wka-videos/many.jpg)