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REVIEW AND APPROVALS OKEFENOKEE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE FOLKSTON, GEORGIA ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT Calendar Year 2000 Refuge Manager ^ / Date Refuge Supervisor, Area HI / Date Chief of Refuges Date TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION iii HIGHLIGHTS iv CLIMATIC CONDITIONS v MONITORING AND STUDIES 1 l.a. Surveys and Censuses 1 l.b. Studies and Investigation 18 HABITAT RESTORATION 24 2.a. Wetland Restoration: On-refuge 24 2.b. Upland Restoration: On-refuge 24 2.c. Wetland Restoration: Off-refuge 24 2.d. Upland Restoration: Off-refuge 24 HABITAT MANAGEMENT 25 3.a. Water Level Management 25 3.b. Moist Soil Management 29 3.c. Graze/Mow/Hay 29 3.d. Farming 29 3.e. Forest Management 29 3.£ Fire Management 40 3.g. Control Pest Plants 52 FISH AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT 53 4.a. Bird Banding 53 4.b. Disease Monitoring and Treatment 53 4.c. Reintroductions 53 4.d. Nest Structures 53 4.e. Pest, Predator and Exotic Animal Control 53 COORDINATION ACTIVITIES 54 5.a. Interagency Coordination 54 5.b. Tribal Coordination 54 5.c. Private Land Activities (excluding restoration) 54 5.d. Oil and Gas Activities 58 5.e. Cooperative/Friends Organizations 58 -i- RESOURCE PROTECTION 60 6.a. Law Enforcement 60 6.b. Wildfire Preparedness 61 6.c. Permits & Economic Use Management 61 6.d. Contaminant Investigation and Cleanup 62 6.e. Water Rights Management 62 6.f Cultural Resource Management 62 6.g. Federal Facility Compliancy Act 62 6.h. Land Acquisition 62 6.L Wilderness and Natural Areas 62 6.j. Threats and Conflicts 62 ALASKA ONLY 63 PUBLICEDUCATION AND RECREATION 64 8.a. Provide Visitor Services 64 8.b. Outreach 73 PLANNING AND ADMINISTRATION 77 9.a. Comprehensive Conservation Planning 77 9.b. General Administration 78 9.c. Training and Travel 85 9.d. Energy 94 9.e. Funding 95 9.f. Safety 95 9.g. Volunteers 96 9.h. Computers and Communication 99 -11- INTRODUCTION The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is situated in the southeastern Georgia counties of Ware, Charlton and Clinch and northeastern Florida's Baker County. The refuge was established by Executive Order in 1937 and consists presently of 395,080 acres. The primary purpose of the refuge is to protect the ecological system of the 438,000-acre Okefenokee Swamp. Approximately 371,000 acres of the Okefenokee Swamp wetlands are incorporated into the refuge, and 353,981 acres within the swamp were designated as wilderness by the Okefenokee Wilderness Act of 1974. In 1986, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge was designated by the Wetlands Convention as a Wetland of International Importance. Okefenokee's natural beauty was first threatened in the 1890's, when attempts were made to drain the swamp to facilitate logging operations. The Suwannee Canal was dug 11.5 miles into the swamp from Camp Cornelia. After the failure of this project, known as "Jackson's Folly," other interests acquired the swamp and began removing timber in 1909, using a network of tram roads extending deep into the major timbered areas. When logging operations were halted in 1927, more than 423 million board feet of timber, mostly cypress, had been removed from the swamp. The establishment of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge on March 30,1937, marked the culmination of a movement that had been initiated at least 25 years earlier by a group of scientists from Cornell University who recognized the education, scientific and recreational values of this unique area. The Okefenokee Preservation Society, formed in 1918, promoted nationwide interest in the swamp. With the support of state and local interests and numerous conservation and scientific organizations, the Federal Government acquired most of the swamp for refuge purposes in 1936. The Okefenokee Swamp is a vast peat bog filling a huge saucer-shaped sandy depression that was perhaps once part of the ocean floor. The upper margin of the swamp, or the "swamp line," ranges in elevation from 128 feet above sea level on the northeast side to 103 feet on the southwest side. The shallow, dark-stained waters of Okefenokee flow slowly but continuously across the swamp toward the two outlets--the famed Suwannee River on the southwest side and the historic St. Marys River on the southeast. The eight predominant habitat types on the refuge include prairies (freshwater marsh), scrub-shrub, mixed cypress forests, blackgum forests, bay forests, pure cypress forests and managed upland pine forests. Three primary entrances and two secondary entrances exist on the refuge. Access via Suwannee Canal, the east entrance, located 11 miles southwest of Folkston, Georgia, is the location of the refuge headquarters and is managed solely by the Fish and Wildlife Service. The Stephen C. Foster State Park is located at the refuge's west entrance 18 miles northeast of Fargo, Georgia. This state park is operated on refuge lands under the provisions of a long-term agreement with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The refuge's north entrance is via the Okefenokee Swamp Park which is located about 13 miles south of Waycross, Georgia. This park is administered by a nonprofit organization on refuge and state forest lands. Kingfisher Landing located between Folkston and Waycross and the Suwannee River Sill area on the west side are considered the secondary entrances into the refuge. -111- HIGHLIGHTS Drought conditions persisted throughout the year. (Climate Conditions) Knowledge of red-cockaded woodpecker status on interior wilderness island was expanded (Section l.a.) Northwest forestry compartments were enhanced through timber harvest, longleaf pine planting, road improvements, and establishment of red-cockaded woodpecker recruitment stands. (Section 3) Despite drought conditions, no major fires occurred on the refuge. (Section 3.e.) An amphitheater is proposed four miles from the refuge's east boundary. (Section 5.c.) Visitor Center exhibits were replaced and a new refuge audio-visual program was produced. (Section 8) Ronald Phernetton and Nellie (Snowden) Johns retired after over 30 and 23 years of service. (Section 9.b.) Volunteer numbers increased at Okefenokee NWK (Section 9.b.) -IV- CLIMATIC CONDITIONS Climatic conditions are recorded at several locations surrounding the swamp and also within its interior. The records of longest duration dating back to 1945 are from a manual National Weather Service station located at Camp Cornelia at the refuge's east entrance. Since 1999, the data from a Forestry Technology System (FTS) fire weather station has replaced the manual station. The refuge also uses weather data from an FTS weather station located on Jones Island. Stephen C. Foster State Park continues to maintain the manual National Weather Service station near their facilities. There are also FTS weather stations at Eddy Fire Tower and Waycross airport. The following six FTS water monitoring stations were installed in 1999. Suwannee Canal Water level and water quality Jones Island Water level (addition to Fire Weather Station) Suwannee Creek Water level and precipitation Kingfisher Landing Water level and precipitation Gannet Lake Water level, precipitation, and water quality Durdin Prairie Water level and water quality In 2000, several stations had various communication problems and shaft encoder failures. Communication problems were the result of poorly manufactured antennas and have been replaced. The shaft encoder failures have not been resolved and will be replaced with pressure transducers in 2001. Correcting the problems has been slow due to low water levels that have made it impossible to reach some sites. Platforms for the following stations have been constructed and now wait for the equipment to be installed: Chase Prairie Water level and precipitation Narrows Water level Cypress Creek Water level and precipitation Sapling Prairie Water level, precipitation, and water quality All the FTS stations can be remotely accessed making them useful for the refuge's fire program and other activities that are water level dependent. Precipitation during 2000 resulted in a total of 41.48 inches falling at Camp Cornelia on the east side of the swamp (Table 1). Rainfall was less than the 55-year average of 52.73 inches. April and September were the only months that rainfall exceeded the average on the east side of the swamp. The last three months of 1999 brought us into drought conditions which remained throughout the year. By June, water levels were at their lowest (Section 3.a.). -v- We primarily gauge the condition of the swamp by the east side's historical records; however, rain distribution varies over the swamp. Jones Island received a total of 43.16 inches of rain through the year with greater amounts than on the east side falling in January, June, July, and November (2.81, 7.25, 7.55 and 1.86 inches). On the northwest side at Suwannee Creek, total rainfall was 42.54 inches with greater amounts faffing in January, February, June, July, and November (2.63, 3.17, 6.70, 7.86, and 2.89 inches). Temperatures ranged from 19°F to a high of 103°F (Table 2). Lightning was the cause of several small fires on the refuge during the year; however, no large swamp fires occurred (Section 3.f). Table 1. Monthly precipitation (inches) for 2000 compared with the 55-year monthly average at Camp Cornelia. Month 2000 Average 1945-1999 January 2.24 3.56 February 2.17 3.51 March 4.01 4.17 April 4.64 3.32 May 0.21 3.80 June 4.84 5.76 July 4.32 7.57 August 6.81 7.25 September 7.59 5.38 October 0.37 3.32 November 1.55 2.21 December 2.73 2.88 TOTAL 41.48 52.73 -VI- Table 2. Mean and absolute minimum and maximum monthly temperatures (°F) recorded at Camp Cornelia.

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