Posted on Fri, Oct. 08, 2004
on
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/l...er/9869208.htm
Hurricanes force Okefenokee's snakes and furry creatures to higher ground
ELLIOTT MINOR
Associated Press
ALBANY, Ga. - Rainfall from three recent hurricanes has recharged the Okefenokee Swamp, lifting water levels to their highest level in years, only three months after officials had to close some wilderness canoe trails because the swamp was too dry.
The swamp's snakes, bears and other furtive creatures have responded by heading for higher ground, offering visitors a better chance of spying the animals, said Shawn Gillette, a ranger at the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
"High water is forcing a lot of game into drier spots, so we're getting a general increase in wildlife sitings throughout the refuge," he said. "Most snakes are not water species. A lot of the land where they have their holes is flooded out."
The swamp, which has endured floods and periods of drought for centuries, now has water in places that have been dry for a decade, Gillette said.
"We're taking advantage of the high water to improve our canoe trails," he said.
During recent drought years, workers could only trim foliage along the 120-miles of wilderness trails with chain saws, but now they can float a larger trail-cutting machine into previously inaccessible areas, he said.
The area has seen 17 to 20 inches of rain from a series of hurricanes beginning with Bonnie, which brushed the coast in August, and continuing last month with Frances and Jeanne.
The Okefenokee Swamp Park, on the north side of the swamp near Waycross, closed when the park lost power for 24 hours during Frances and for another 36 hours during Jeanne. Both times, the storms' high winds blew trees down on electrical lines.
But no buildings were flooded and now the park can run its boat tours into areas that were previously inaccessible, said manager Martin Bell. With slightly cooler temperatures this week, alligators are climbing out to bask in the sunshine, he said.
The state visitor center at Fargo on the west side of the swamp remained closed Tuesday, its access road taken over by the bloated Suwannee River, an important outlet for the Okefenokee's tea-colored water.
The Stephen C. Foster State Park, located near the center of the swamp 18 miles northeast of Fargo, also remained closed because of high water that visitors would have to wade through to reach the office or cabins, said Kim Hatcher, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Natural Resources' state parks division.
The National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1937 to preserve 438,000 acres of the swamp. In 1974, the inner 353,981 acres were designated a National Wilderness Area to provide additional protection for the unique ecosystem that is considered one of the best preserved freshwater wetlands in the United States.
Stretching 38 miles north and south and 25 miles east and west, the swamp is a large bog located in a depression that was once the seabed. It is known as "The Land of the Trembling Earth" because floating islands made of peat and covered with vegetation tremble with touched. Thick peat covers most of the swamp floor.
Because it is a national wildlife refuge, the animals are supposed to prevail during encounters with humans.
"If they find a snake on a trail, even a rattlesnake, that rattlesnake has the right of way because this is a wildlife refuge," Gillette said.
With higher water levels, Gillette said it's an ideal time to visit the Okefenokee.
"We've had just a ton of water," he said. "Now that the low lands are filling up, we're seeing everything that would normally live in the low lands - everything from bear to deer to snakes. The turtles kind of love it."
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Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge:
http://okefenokee.fws.gov/
Okefenokee Swamp Park:
http://www.okeswamp.com/
Stephen C. Foster State Park:
http://gastateparks.org/info/scfoster/
