Tag Archives: WWALS

Protest Sabal Trail at Suwannee River Crossing 2016-09-13

Update 2016-09-24: Video from the river and pictures from the bluff.

You are invited to protest Sabal Trail and the Dakota Access Pipeline this Tuesday 5:30 PM! News media are invited. Walk with signs along the bluff to the proposed Sabal Trail Suwannee River HDD crossing, or paddle downstream and back.

Gathering at Sabal Trail proposed pipeline crossing 30.4071464, -83.1569366 We aim to get pictures and video of people on the bluff, beach, and river at the same time demanding the Army Corps re-evaluate its permit for Sabal Trail just like its permit for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Both pipelines should be canceled: keep it in the ground!

This WWALS Outing is part of the #NoDAPL Day of Action — Tuesday Sep. 13, tying the Dakota Access oil Pipeline to the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline through their ownership by the same companies. This outing is also a followup to Continue reading →

Same owners, DAPL and Sabal Trail

Update 2016-09-23: Not quite: Energy Transfer backed out of buying Williams Co..

DAPL and Sabal Trail: now part of the same pipeline companies.

DAPL owners Energy Transfer, Enbridge, own Williams and Spectra of Sabal Trail The pipeline companies behind the Sabal Trail fracked methane boondoogle through Alabama, Georgia, and Florida are now owned by the companies behind the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) that wants to pump oil through North Dakota where the Standing Rock Sioux have attracted an encampment of thousands of people who have successfully and nonviolently stopped pipeline construction at least for the moment. WWALS was one of 93 Waterkeeper organizations worldwide that co-signed a letter from Waterkeeper Alliance in support of the Standing Rock Sioux. Opponents of these pipelines, including native Americans in Florida and Georgia as well as North Dakota, are no longer just fighting the same industry: they’re fighting the same companies.

The pipeline companies behind DAPL are Continue reading →

Cleanups at Berrien Beach on the Alapaha and on the Suwannee River 2016-09-10

This weekend, it’s Rivers-Alive Cleanup at Berrien Beach Launch on the Alapaha River, 4PM Saturday September 10th 2016; follow the link for details.

And a group out of Gainesville, Florida, Current Problems, has an annual Great Suwannee River Cleanup 2016:

It’s time to register for the Great Suwannee River Cleanup! This is number 7! You may schedule your cleanup for anytime in September, October, or November. The first week of December is okay, too. We hope river conditions will be good this year and encourage lots of you to join in. Our goal this year is to pass the 100,000 pound mark. We’re close enough we can do it!

-jsq

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

No new Florida electricity needed, says FPL, so why Sabal Trail?

FPL admits Florida needs no new electricity, so why should Sabal Trail get eminent domain?

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Hahira, GA, September 6th 2016 — Two Georgia brothers are stuck with paying almost ten times as much in Sabal Trail’s legal fees as they spent defending their property against that invading fracked methane pipeline, even though FPL apparently admitted this year that all three of its 2013 excuses for that pipeline are no longer valid. Two federal agencies and numerous state agencies issued permits based on those excuses. Sabal Trail used those permits to get eminent domain, including to drill under rivers in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama and through the fragile limestone containing our drinking water in the Floridan Aquifer. It is time for this unnecessary, destructive, and hazardous boondoggle to be shut down and its $3 billion in FPL ratepayer money to be used for solar power in the Sunshine State.

James Bell, one of the brothers stuck with having to pay Sabal Trail attorney fees, says:

"First and foremost, this is a multi-billion dollar company that is for profit. In my personal opinion I don’t see how a private for-profit company should be allowed eminent domain. I don’t understand that. That makes no sense to me. I might could understand it if it was for the greater good of the country but this is not. And it is certainly not the federal government or the state government building some road or highway."

Florida Power & Light claimed Continue reading →

Roline Redoux is on for Monday on the Suwannee River 2016-09-05

“We’re on for Monday morning! River excellent condition,” Roline Launch says expedition leader Phil Hubbard, reporting from the Suwannee River just now. “Maybe 2 feet higher. Flow is perfect,” he added.

Earlier he said helpfully, “I’m stopping at Hardee’s in Jasper to grab a biscuit around 9:15 if anyone needs help finding the launch site.”

About an essential outing ingredient, Gretchen Quarterman says: “I just baked bon-bons!”

For outing details, see the original post, Redoux Suwannee River Roline to Cypress Creek.

-jsq

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Continue reading →

Delay Roline Redoux as Suwannee River rises after Hurricane Hermine 2016-09-05

Update 2016-09-04: “We’re on for Monday morning! River excellent condition,” says expedition leader Phil Hubbard.

With water still coming downstream from Hurricane Hermine and storms following, USGS WSPF1 at White Springs expedition leader Phil Hubbard says:

I’m thinking looking at the weather forecast, the only safe call we can make today is to delay till Monday pend river level. The rain probability is actually higher on Sunday but looks good for Monday.

So we’re rescheduling Redoux Roline for 10 AM Monday morning September 5th 2016, still at Roline.

At lest now now we know the Suwannee River won’t be too low!

Hoping to see you there. Details are still in the first blog post.

-jsq

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Continue reading →

Tropical Storm Hermine and Roline Redoux 2016-09-03

It looks like Hermine will have moved along east by Saturday, or at least by Sunday, which is the fallback date for the WWALS paddle outing this weekend from Redoux Suwannee River Roline to Cypress Creek. We won’t be able to tell for a day or so what the situation will be, but so far we’re still planning on Saturday morning. Expedition leader Phil Hubbard will make a determination before then.

-jsq

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Hike to Dead River Sink from Alapaha River 2016-11-06

An easy hike following Alapaha River as it flows into the Dead River and disappears into the Dead River Sink: you don’t see this just anywhere!.

Update 2016-10-15: Be aware the path does get steep and rough towards the sink, and there are mosquitoes and chiggers.

Bring water, a snack, and bug repellent.

No boat required. Really: you don’t want to try to boat up the Dead River. But you do want to see the Dead River Sink.

When: 10AM Saturday November 6th 2016

Duration: 2-3 hours

Where: Jennings Bluff Landing, 30.579864, -83.039308

Event: facebook, meetup.

This outing is Free! But we encourage you to join WWALS today to support our fun outings and important work: /donations/. Continue reading →

WWALS Outings, Rivers, and Pipeline on Chris Beckham drive-time radio WVGA 105.9 FM 8:00 7:30 AM 2016-09-02

8AM Friday morning WWALS will be on Chris Beckham’s drive-time radio show. WWALS president John S. Quarterman will be talking about Saturday morning’s Suwannee River paddle outing and other outings upcoming on the Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers, along with other developments on the Alapaha River Water Trail and the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail, along with many other things WWALS does. Plus what you can do about the FERC rubberstamp of the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline drilling under the Withlacoochee and Suwannee Rivers.

When: 8:00 7:30AM Friday September 2nd 2016

Where: Continue reading →

Alapaha River Wildlife Management Area

Update 2017-04-28: Sandhills and wildlife at Alapaha WMA
WWALS is gratified that people are contacting us about the WMA, but we’re just reporting on it, we do not run it.
Contact information for the Alapaha WMA:
Greg Nelms, Wildlife Biologist, Game Management, Wildlife Resources Division, GA-DNR
(229) 426-5267 | M: (404) 985-6424

Update 2016-10-20: WMA check-in hunt does not count towards Georgia bag limit.

Update 2016-10-18: Video of Deserter Lake in the Alapaha WMA and hunting dates and bag limits.

Halfway between Tifton and Ocilla on the Alapaha River in Irwin County, apparently announced only by a public hearing in July about hunting reglations: Line Map: Alapaha River WMA the new 7,000-acre Alapaha River Wildlife Management Area (WMA). There’s an information kiosk off of US 319. , with the sign-in kiosk and campground across the WMA: from Ocilla take US 319 S, left onto Hawthorn Ln, right onto Palm Rd, right onto Farm Rd.

Update 2016-08-30: According to Greg Nelms, Wildlife Biologist, DNR, the main entrance will be off of US 319; there is already a WMA sign there. It’s not quite open yet; they’re still working on roads. A ribbon cutting is scheduled for September 30th. The first hunting season will be an archery hunt on October 1st; hunters can go in at noon the previous day to set up stands.

Here’s the announcement of the public hearing: GA DNR/Wildlife Resources Division/Game Management, 6 July 2016, Proposed Regulations for Alapaha River WMA; Public Hearing Scheduled,

The new regulations, probably adopted unchanged, and which seem to consist of dates and conditions for hunting seasons for various game animals, are online here.

Several maps are linked in for Continue reading →