Mammals of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
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• (Left to right) Lloyd Culp, Vicky Chapman (YACC ) Cecile Davis, John Eadie and Dartha Pittma n (Staff ) • (Left to right) William Kent, Terry Lindsay , Jim Burkhart and Tom Worthington . (Staff ) t N (Left to right) Kneeling : Barcus Hamilton and Tony Gooch ; Standing : Omer Bowen, Ron Phernetton, Virgil Crews and Jay Burc h (Staff) 0 (Left to right) : Douglas Huss and Royce Hube r (Staff) • (Left to right) Nell Snowden, Ralph Davi s and Vannie Hickox (Iva Chesser is not shown) . (Staff ) r t PERSONNE L 1 . John R. Eadie (EOD 08/07/72) Refuge Manager (GS 13/7, PFT ) 2 . Timothy Wilkins (EOD 06/04/78 ) Asst . Refuge Manager transferred to Yazoo NWR (GS 11/3, PFT ) 12/28/80 3 . Lloyd A . Culp, Jr . (EOD 12/04/78) Asst . Refuge Manage r (GS 9/2, PFT ) 4 . Royce R . Huber (EOD 12/30/79) Asst . Refuge Manage r (GS 9/2, PFT ) 5 . Ronald A . Phernetton (EOD 01/09/74) Forester (CS 11/4, PFT ) 6 . Tony R . Gooch (EOD 08/18/80) Forestry Technician (GS 4/1 , • Career-Seasonal ) 7 . Steve Taylor (EOD 11/04/79 ) Forestry Technician (GS 4/1 , terminated 05/02/80 Temporary Appt . ) 8 . James A. Burkhart (EOD 06/11/78) Chief Outdoor Recreation Planne r (GS 11/3, PFT ) 9 . William C . Kent (EOD 06/03/79) Outdoor Recreation Planne r (GS 7/1, PFT ) 10 . Norman T . Lindsay (EOD 04/23/79 Outdoor Recreation Planne r (GS 7/1, PFT ) 11 . Thomas Worthington (EOD 10/07/79) Outdoor Recreation Planner (GS 7/1, PFT) 12 . Douglas E . Nuss (EOD 01/16/77) Biological Technician (GS 8/3, PFT ) 13 . Augustus H . Saville (EOD 04/12/65 ) Biological Technician transferred from Lake Woodruff NW R (GS 7/7, PFT ) to Okefenokee NWR on 7/27/80 14 . Omer L . Bowen (EOD 03/11/63) Biological Technician (GS 8/6, PFT ) 15 . Cecile Davis (EOD 10/16/72) Administrative Clerk (GS 6/4, PFT ) 16 . Dortha Pittman (EOD 12/06/76) Clerk-Stenographe r (GS 5/2, PPT ) 0 17 . Jay Burch (EOD 12/07/61) Maintenance Mechani c (WG 9/5, PFT) 18 . Virgil Crews (EOD 01/05/69) Engineering Equipment Operato r (WG 8/5, PFT ) 19 . Barcus Hamilton (EOD 01/23/69) Maintenance Worke r (WG 6/2, PFT ) 20 . James Dixon (EOD 07/15/79) Carpentry Worke r termination of appointment (WG 7/3, Temporary Appt . ) on 7/11/80 21 . Donald Phillips (EOD 07/15/79) Carpentry Worke r termination of appointment (WG 7/3, Temporary Appt . ) on 7/11/8 0 22 . Danny Bolt (EOD 04/23/79) Laborer termination of appointment (WG 2/2, Temporary Appt . ) on 4/18/80 23 . Iva Lee Chesser (EOD 10/08/79) Laborer (WG 2/1, Intermittent ) 24 . Vannie Hickox (EOD 07/14/78) Labore r (WG 2/1, Intermittent ) 25 . Ralph Davis (EOD 03/30/76) Laborer (WG 2/2, Intermittent ) 26 . Nell Snowden (EOD 07/14/77) Laborer (WG 2/1, Intermittent ) YCC STAF F FOLKSTON CAMP June 16 - August 8, 1980 • 27 . Steven McQueen Camp Director (GS 7/1 ) 28 . Irwin Grant, Jr . Environmental Awareness Coordinato r (GS 5/1 ) 29 . Kara K . Bragg Group Aid (GS 4/1 ) 18 Enrollees YCC STAFF FARGO CAMP June 16 - August 8, 1980 30 . Norman J . Tillman Camp Director (GS 7/1 ) r 31 . George B . Wyne Environmental Awareness Coordinato (GS 5/1 ) • 10 Enrollees NON-PAID RECREATION AND WILDLIFE INTERN S 32. Mark Modica Clemson University, South Carolin a 33. Roger Chapman Clemson University, South Carolina REVIEW AND APPROVAL S ~~. k4`& M/i/ 96$4, . 6.‘1,, itted By Date Area Office ,om Dat e Regional Office Date TABLE OF CONTENTS • I . GENERAL Page A . Introduction 1 B . Climatic and Habitat Conditions 1 C . Land Acquisition 4 D . Systems Status 4 II . CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE A . Construction 8 B . Maintenance 11 C . Wildfire 1 3 III . HABITAT MANAGEMENT A . Croplands 1 6 B . Grasslands 16 C . Wetlands 16 D . Forestlands 16 E . Other Habitat 26 F . Wilderness and Special Areas 26 G . Easements for Waterfowl Management 2 7 IV . WILDLIFE A. Endangered and/or Threatened Species 2 8 B . Migratory Birds 3 0 C . Mammals and Non-Migratory Birds and Others 31 V . INTERPRETATION AND RECREATION • A . Interpretation and Environmental Education 3 5 B . Recreation 5 3 C . Law Enforcement 5 5 VI . OTHER ITEMS A . Field Investigations 5 7 B . Cooperative Programs 6 0 C . Items of Interest 6 2 D . Safety 6 3 E . Banks Lake 65 Appendix A . Introductio n Okefenokee has been introduced in many narrative reports since it s establishment as a National Wildlife Refuge in March 1937 . In 1980 , the refuge acreage remained unchanged at 396,315 acres (353,981 acre s in the National Wilderness Preservation System) . Approximatel y 15,500 acres of this great resource area remain in private ownership . The refuge is located in three Georgia counties, Ware, Charlton, Clinch , and one Florida county, Baker . As has been the case since its establishment, the main headquarters fo r the refuge is in Waycross . Subheadquarters units are established a t Camp Cornelia 11 miles south of Folkston and on Jones Island (Stephe n C . Foster State Park) which is 18 miles northeast of Fargo . A total of ten managers have enjoyed a tour of Okefenokee . The y include : 1. John M . Hopkins 1937-1945 (8 years ) 2. Walter P . Schaefer 1945-1946 (1 year ) 3. William R . Edwards (Acting ) 1946-1951 (5 years ) 4. Roy Moor e 1951-1955 (4 years ) 5. Verlon E . Carter (Acting ) 1955-1956 (1 year ) 6. Gerald D . Bake r 1956-1957 (1 year ) 7. Joe Morto n 1957-1965 (8 years ) 8. John P . Davi s 1965-1967 (2 years ) 9. Larry L . Calver t 1967-1972 (5 years ) 10. John R . Eadie 1972- ? (8 years ) The current manager intends to set a new tenure record so he has t o remain at Okefenokee at least one more year . S B . Climatic and Habitat Condition s 1 . Climat e Generally dry weather, with short periods of wetness, continue d throughout 1980, and the year ended with only .04 of an inch o f rainfall in November and December . Compared to the expected average, the average 1980 water level i n Okefenokee was twelve inches low . That is a huge deficit in a n area where a foot of water in the swamp would have the same impac t as five or more feet of water in a deep reservoir . It is interestin g to note that the twelve-inch water level deficit relates well to th e eleven-inch rainfall deficit . • 2 The summer of 1980 was a very, very, hot, dry period . Maximum average temperatures ranged from 91 - 97 degrees in June, July , • August, September and October . The lowest average minimum wa s only 38 degrees recorded in February and December . RAINFALL (Inches ) 1980 20-year averag e January 3 .88 2 .8 5 February 2 .62 3 .26 March 5 .87 3 .74 April 4 .68 4 .0 7 May 3 .9 7 3 .8 7 June 3 .65 5 .54 July 4 .10 8 .0 3 August 4 .40 6 .8 8 September 1 .9 7 6 .40 October 6 .64 3 .59 November .04 1 .7 2 December .00 2 .6 8 TOTAL 41 .82 52 .6 3 SUWANNEE CANAL WATER LEVEL S (feet M .S .L . ) 1980 High Low 1966-1975 averag e January 121 .49 121 .15 121 .3 1 February 120 .45 120 .28 121 .5 5 • March 120 .86 120 .41 121 .5 4 April 121 .05 120 .82 121 .4 8 May 120 .94 120 .76 121 .1 7 June 120 .80 120 .33 121 .1 6 July 120 .70 120 .14 121 .35 August 120 .55 119 .99 121 .7 1 September 120 .21 119 .77 121 .86 October 120 .08 119 .43 121 .55 November 120 .22 119 .90 121 .30 December 120 .19 120 .00 121 .44 AVERAGE 120 .63 120 .25 121 .45 O 3 Grand Prairie as it appeared in Apri l when water levels were normal . (LAC ) 1-OKE-8 0 2 . Habitat Condition s Except for a short period in April, water levels in the swamp wer e below normal throughout 1980 . Are we rapidly heading towards a situation similar to that in 1954-55 when Okefenokee last burned ? We think we hope so because all authorities agree that hot wildfires have given life to Okefenokee throughout its history . It ' s extremel y difficult to hope for a wildfire ; but it is an obvious fact that th e swamp is rapidly growing up, and the open water area is becomin g smaller and smaller . The only problem is that no one wants to be here when the next fire comes because the last one was around fo r two long years . Why don ' t we set it on fire? I really don' t know except to express concern as to what people reaction migh t be . If it catches on fire, our fire management plan says to le t it burn provided private property isn't threatened . As the vegetative patterns of the swamp change, wildlife us e patterns also change ; and in some cases, wildlife use decrease s substantially . Quite frankly, Okefenokee is such a complex eco- system that it is difficult to determine just what is going on . Habitat changes and wildlife changes are obvious, but little i s known about the good or the bad or the indifference of these changes .