REVIEW and APPROVALS OKEFENOKEE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE FOLKSTON, GEORGIA ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT Calendar Year 1991 Acting
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REVIEW AND APPROVALS OKEFENOKEE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE FOLKSTON, GEORGIA ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT Calendar Year 1991 Acting P ject Leader Date Ass o ate Manager, Re 1iges & Wildlite Date I Regional Ottice Review Date INTRODUCTION The Oketenokee National Wildlife Refuge is situated in the southeastern Georgia counties of Ware, Chariton 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 Oketenokee Swamp are incorporated into the refuge, and 353,981 acres within the swamp were designated as wilder- ness by the Oketenokee Wilderness Act of 1974 . In 1986, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge was designated by the Wetlands Convention as a Wetland of international Importance . The refuge headquarters is located at Camp Cornelia, which is 11 miles southwest of Folkston, Georgia . Oketenokee'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 tramroads extending deep into the major timbered areas . When logging operations were halted in 1927, over 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 recog- nized the educational, 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 actually 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 Oketenokee flow slowly but continuously across the swamp toward the two outlets--the famed Suwannee River on the southwest side and the historic St . Mary's River on the southeast . The eight predominant habitat types on the refuge include swamp islands, prairies (freshwater marsh), shrub swamp, 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 . With access via the Suwannee Canal, the east entrance is located 11 miles southwest of Folkston, Georgia, and is managed solely by the Fish and Wildlife Service . The Stephen C . Foster State Park is located at the refuge's west entrance which is located 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 non-profit organization on refuge and state forestlands . Kingfisher Landing located between Folkston and Waycross and the Sill area on the west side are considered the secondary entrances into the refuge . INTRODUCTION TABLE OF CONTENTS A . HIGHLIGHTS 1 B . CLIMATIC CONDITIONS 2 C . LAND ACQUISITION 1 . Fee Title (Nothing to Report) 2 . Easements (Nothing to Report) • 3 . Other (Nothing to Report) D . PLANNING 1 . Master Plan (Nothing to Report) 2 . Management Plan (Nothing to Report) 3 . Public Participation 4 . Compliance with Environmental and Cultural Resources Mandates 4 5 . Research and Investigations 4 6 . Other (Nothing to Report) E . ADMINISTRATION 1 . Personnel 9 • 2 . Youth Programs 10 3 . Other Manpower Programs (No(Nothing to Report) 4 . Volunteer Program 10 5 . Funding 12 6 . Safety 12 7 . Technical Assistance 14 8 . Other 15 F . HABITAT MANAGEMENT 1 . General 20 2 . Wetlands 20 3 . Forests 23 4 . Croplands (Nothing to Report) 5 . Grasslands (Nothing to Report) 6 . Other Habitats (Nothing to Report) 7 . Grazing (Nothing to Report) 8 . Haying (Nothing to Report) 9 . Fire Management 29 10 . Pest Control (Nothing to Report) 11 . Water Rights (Nothing to Report) 12 . Wilderness and Special Areas 36 13 . WPA Easement Monitoring (Nothing to Report) G . WILDLIFE, 1 . Wildlife Diversity 38 2 . Endangered and/or Threatened Species 38 3 . Watertowl 41 4 . Marsh and Water Birds 41 5 . Shorebirds, Gulls, Terns, and Allied Species 43 6 . Raptors 43 7 . Other Migratory Birds 44 8 . Game Mammals 45 9 . Marine Mammals (Nothing to Report) 10 . Other Resident Wildlife 45 11 . Fisheries Resources 47 12 . Wildlife Propagation and Stocking (Nothing to Report) 13 . Surplus Animal Disposal (Nothing to Report) 14 . Scientific Collections 48 • 15 . Animal Control (Nothing to Report) 49 16 . Marking and Banding 49 17 . Disease Prevention and Control . (Nothing to Report) H . PUBLIC USE 1 . General 50 2 . Outdoor Classrooms - Students 51 3 . Outdoor Classrooms - Teachers 51 4 . Interpretive Foot Trails 51 5 . Interpretive Tour Routes 51 6 . Interpretive Exhibits/ Demonstrations 52 7 . Other Interpretive Programs 53 8 . Hunting 55 9 . Fishing 56 10 . Trapping (Nothing to Report) 11 . Wildlite Observation 57 12 . Other Wildlite Oriented Recreation 57 13 . Camping (Nothing to Report) 14 . Picnicking (Nothing to Report) • 15 . Ott-Road Vehicling (Nothing to Report) 16 . Other Non-Wildlite Oriented Recreation (Nothing to Report) 17 . Law Enforcement 57 18 . Cooperating Associations 59 19 . Concessions 60 I . EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES 1 . New Construction 61 2 . Rehabilitation 61 3 . Major Maintenance 63 4 . Equipment Utilization and Replacement 64 5 . Communication Systems 64 • 6 . Computer Systems 64 7 . Energy Conservation 65 8 . Other (Nothing to Report) J . OTHER ITEMS 1 . Cooperative Programs 66 2 . Other Economic Uses (Nothing to Report) 3 . Items of Interest (Nothing to Report) 4 . Credits 66 K . FEEDBACK . .(Nothing to Report) L . INFORMATION PACKET --- (inside back cover) 1 A. HIGHLIGHTS -- Six of twenty bridges scheduled for replacement on the Perimeter Road were completed . (Section t .2) . -- Near record rains after two severe drought years . (Section B) -- Swamps Edge Fire Break continued . (Section F .9) . -- Air quality monitoring initiated . (Section U .5) . -- Sill study began . (Section U.5) . -- Visitor Center renamed in honor of Richard Simpson Bolt, Jr . (Section H .6) . -- Radio and computer systems upgraded . (Section 1 .5 and 1 .6) . 0 B . CLIMATICCONDITIONS This year began with a very wet January . The swamp received almost twice the monthly average with 10 .52 inches of rainfall . June and July received 12 .25 and 13 .70 inches respectively, which was nearly twice the normal amount (see Figure 1) . By July, the fifty year average of 51 .64 inches had been surpassed . November was the driest month with only 0 .34 inches . Total precipitation for the year was 70 .49 inches which was 18 .85 inches over the normal amount (Table 1) . This annual total was the fourth highest since records began ; consequently, water levels remained slightly above normal for most of the year . Temperatures were relatively normal throughout the year . Okefenokee's climate can be best characterized as short hot humid springs, long hot humid summers with warm dry conditions into late tall and cool wet winters . Table 1 . Temperatures and precipitation during 1991 . Avg Temperatures Precipitation Month Minimum Maximum Total 10-yr avq JANUARY 44 .3 61 .2 10 .52 3 .52 FEBRUARY 46 .3 71 .0 0.91 4 .66 MARCH 51 .5 77 .9 8 .38 5 .22 APRIL 60.4 83 .2 4 .18 2 .38 MAY 66 .7 89 .5 6 .25 3 .34 JUNE 65 .0 84 .7 12 .25 5 .43 JULY 75 .1 93 .9 13.70 7 .35 AUGUST 95 .9 71 .7 7 .15 6 .64 SEPTEMBER 67 .5 89 .7 2 .11 3 .50 OCTOBER 57 .8 82 .1 3 .33 2 .82 NOVEMBER 47 .0 69 .9 0.34 2 .93 i DECEMBER 45 .2 68 .5 1 .37 2 .76 70 .49 50.55 3 Figure 1 . Near record rainfall tell for the tirst six months of 1991 atter two extremely dry years . 06/91 91-01 AD 0 4 D . PLANNING 4 . CompliancewithEnvironmental andCulturalResources Mandates Through drought severity funding provided as a result of the 1990 Short's Fire season, the refuge in consultation with the Georgia Forestry Commission planned construction of a "Swamps Edge Fire Break" completely around the northern forestry compartments of the refuge . In anticipation of this construction, a cultural resources survey was planned for 50 miles of fire break that would occur on refuge lands . Contracting and General Services in Atlanta issued a contract through Patricia Podriznik, Cultural Resources Coordinator, to the National Park Service, represented by Harry Scheele, for $10000 . The actual on-site work is to be completed by an archeologist and technician from the Southeastern Archeological Center in Tallahassee, Florida . The work is scheduled to be completed in early 1992 . 5 . ResearchandInvestigations EffectsofHydrologicAlterations ontheEcology of Oketenokee Swamp - University of Florida Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Cyndy Lottin, Ph .D . candidate, began the initial stages of this study in 1991 . The study precipitated from the need to address the future of the deteriorated Suwannee River Sill water control structures . The following are the objectives : 1) Document the vegetation changes which have occurred since the sill was constructed .