Riverkeeper Report

Compiled by Meaghan Gerard Communications & Administrative Director Ogeechee Riverkeeper meaghan@ogeecheeriverkeeper.org

The Satilla Riverkeeper held its annual River Wide Clean-Up on October 2. The Satilla Riverkeeper mobilized 43 volunteers over nine sites and picked up 2,648 pounds of trash from the Satilla River. They focused efforts at US 84 Landing, Burnt Fort Landing, 121 Landing, US 301 Landing, Jamestown Landing, Highway 64 Landing, and Highway 99 Landing. www.satillariverkeeper.org/

Savannah Riverkeeper is hosting Free Family Fishing Clinics throughout the fall. The most recent clinic brought more than 30 Augusta youth to the riverbank. With partners at the SCDNR and the Augusta Woman's Club, SRK got to see endless smiles on the faces of children who'd never held a fishing pole and learned the fundamentals of the sport. The clinics are open to anyone ages four and up.

For upcoming dates, visit www.savannahriverkeeper.org/ Volunteers from the St. Mary’s Riverkeeper joined students from the University of North Florida's Coastal and Marine Biology Program to work on a living shoreline coastal restoration project along the Old Town Fernandina waterfront on the Amelia River. Altogether, more than 70 refurbished crab traps have been installed into the shoreline next to the Fernandina Plaza Historic State Park, where the project can be viewed at low- to mid- tide. www. stmarysriverkeeper.org/

As the last remnants of the Golden Ray shipwreck are removed from St. Simon’s Sound, Altamaha Riverkeeper will keep the pressure on regulatory agencies. Fletcher Sams, executive director of the Altamaha Riverkeeper, fears the clock is running out before government agencies declare that there isn’t a need for a comprehensive investigation. “It’s a no-brainer in my book,” Sams said. “It’s just ensuring that the resources on the coast which contribute in very large parts to the economy are intact in the future. I really feel like without a full assessment, it’s going to be hard for the stewards of that resource, the state Department of Natural Resources, to tell the public that everything’s safe with a straight face.” altamahariverkeeper.org/

The Ogeechee Riverkeeper has launched the Protect the Vernon project to provide hands-on community awareness, immediate water quality benefits from reduced environmental hazard impacts (pathogens and litter), and restoration planning for long-term sustainability in the Vernon River and its tributaries. The multiyear project involves multiple stakeholders and will work to have the waterway “delisted” as impaired by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. www.ogeecheeriverkeeper.org/vernon/