The Okefenokee Swamp is a shallow, 438,000 acre (1,770 km²), peat-filled wetland straddling the Georgia-Florida border in the United States. The acre is a unit of Area in a number of different systems including the imperial and U Peat is an accumulation of partially Decayed Vegetation matter. The State of Georgia ( is a state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A majority of the swamp is protected by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and the Okefenokee Wilderness. The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is a 395080 acre (1598 km² National Wildlife Refuge located in Charlton, Ware, and Clinch Okefenokee Wilderness is an 353981 acre (14325 km² US Wilderness Area located in southeastern Georgia in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The Okefenokee Swamp is considered to be one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia. The Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia are today generally acknowledged to be Amicalola Falls Okefenokee Swamp Providence Canyon
A wildfire which began with a lightning strike near the center of the Refuge on May 5, 2007 eventually merged with another wildfire which began near Waycross, Georgia on April 16 due to a tree falling on a power line. A wildfire, also known as a wildland fire, forest fire, brush fire, vegetation fire, grass fire, Peat fire, Events 553 - The Second Council of Constantinople begins 1215 - Rebel Barons renounce their allegiance to King John Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Waycross is the county seat of and only incorporated city in Ware County in the U Events 1178 BC - A Solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom By May 31, more than 600,000 acres (2,400 km²) had burned in the region, or more than 935 square miles (2400 km²), "an area greater than the State of Rhode Island. Events 1279 BC - Rameses II (The Great (19th dynasty becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. Rhode Island ( officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the United States " [1] [2]
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Location and history
The name comes from the Hitchiti okifanô:ki, meaning "bubbling water",[1] or alternatively "trembling earth" [2], a reference to its spongy bogs. The Mikasuki language (also Miccosukee or Hitchiti-Mikasuki) is a Muskogean language spoken by around 500 people in southern Florida. The swamp was formed over the past 6,500 years by the accumulation of peat in a shallow basin on the edge of an ancient Atlantic coastal terrace, the geological relic of a Pleistocene estuary. The swamp is bordered by Trail Ridge, a strip of elevated land believed to have formed as coastal dunes or an offshore barrier island. The St. Marys River and the Suwannee River both originate in the swamp. The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River) is a major River of southern Georgia and northern Florida in the United States. The Suwannee River originates as stream channels in the heart of Okefenokee Swamp and drains at least 90% of the swamp's watershed southwest towards the Gulf of Mexico. The St. Marys River, which drains only 5 - 10% of the swamp's southeastern corner, flows south along the western side of Trail Ridge, through the ridge at St. The St Marys River (sometimes spelled as the St Mary's River) is a river approximately 90 mi (144 km long in the southeastern United States. Marys River Shoals, and north again along the eastern side of Trail Ridge before turning east to the Atlantic. The Suwanee Canal was dug across the swamp in the late nineteenth century in a failed attempt to drain the Okefenokee. The Suwanee Canal was an attempt to drain large portions of the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia via a Canal. After the company's bankruptcy, most of the swamp was purchased by the Hebard family of Philadelphia, who conducted extensive cypress logging operations from 1909 to 1927. Several other logging companies also ran train tracks into the swamp until 1942, remnants of which can still be seen crossing swamp waterways. On the west side of the swamp, at Billy's Island, logging equipment and other artifacts remain of a 1920's logging town of 600 residents. Most of the Okefenokee Swamp is included in the 403,000 acre (1630 km²) Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is a 395080 acre (1598 km² National Wildlife Refuge located in Charlton, Ware, and Clinch
There are four public entrances or landings to the swamp:
- Suwannee Canal Recreation Area at Folkston, Georgia
- Kingfisher Landing at Race Pond, Georgia
- Stephen C. Foster State Park at Fargo, Georgia
- Suwannee Sill Recreation Area at Fargo, Georgia
In addition,a private attraction, Okefenokee Swamp Park, provides access near Waycross, Georgia
State Road 2 passes through the Florida portion between the Georgia cities of Council and Moniac. The City of Folkston is the County seat of Charlton County Georgia, United States. Stephen C Foster State Park is an 80 Acre (032 km² State park located in the Okefenokee Swamp in Charlton County, Georgia. Fargo is a City in Clinch County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2000 Census, the city had a total Population Fargo is a City in Clinch County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2000 Census, the city had a total Population Waycross is the county seat of and only incorporated city in Ware County in the U State Road 2 is the designation of two east-west highways each having at least one terminus at the Sunshine State's border with Georgia. Moniac, an unincorporated settlement situated along the St Mary's river in southern Charlton County, is the southernmost named settlement in the U
Swamp Perimeter Road, as well, is a road that outlines the swamp from around all sides.
Tourism
Many visitors enter the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge each year. The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is a 395080 acre (1598 km² National Wildlife Refuge located in Charlton, Ware, and Clinch The swamp provides an important economic resource to southeast Georgia and northeast Florida. About 400,000 people visit the swamp annually, with many guests from such distant locations as Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, China and Mexico. Service providers at the Refuge entrances and several local outfitters offer guided tours by motorboat, canoe and kayak.
Dupont titanium mining operation
A 50-year titanium mining operation by DuPont was set to begin in 1997, but protests and public/government opposition over the possibly disastrous environmental effects throughout 1996-2000 caused the company to abandon the project in 2000 and retire their mineral rights forever. Titanium (taɪˈteɪniəm is a Chemical element with the symbol Ti and Atomic number 22 Mining is the extraction of valuable Minerals or other geological materials from the earth usually (but not always from an Ore body E I du Pont de Nemours and Company (,) is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a Gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée Protest expresses relatively overt reaction to events or situations sometimes in favor though more often opposed In 2003, DuPont donated the 16,000 acres (65 km²) it had purchased for mining to The Conservation Fund, and in 2005, nearly 7,000 acres (28 km²) of the donated land was transferred to Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The United States' Land and Water Conservation Fund ( LWCF) is a Federal program that was established by Act of Congress in 1964 to provide monies and matching
Wildlife
The Okefenokee Swamp is home to many wading birds, such as herons, egrets, ibises, cranes and bitterns, though populations fluctuate with water levels. Birds ( class Aves) are bipedal endothermic ( Warm-blooded) Vertebrate animals that lay eggs. The herons are wading Birds in the Ardeidae family Some are called Egrets or Bitterns instead of herons This is an article about a type of bird For the EGRET satellite mission see Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope. The ibises (pronounced /ˈaɪbɪsɪz/ are a group of long-legged wading Birds in the family Threskiornithidae. Cranes are large long-legged and long-necked Birds of the order Gruiformes, and family Gruidae. Bitterns are a classification of wading birds in the Heron family Ardeidae Okefenokee is famous for its amphibians and reptiles such as toads, frogs, turtles, lizards, snakes as well as the abundance of American alligators and it is a critical habitat for Florida black bear. A toad can refer to a number of Species of Amphibians in the order Anura. This article is about the block cipher algorithm For the ultrafast laser pulse measurement technique see Frequency-resolved optical gating. Turtles are Reptiles of the Order Testudines (all living turtles belong to the Crown group Chelonia) most of Lizards are a large and widespread group of Reptiles of the order Squamata, with nearly 5000 species and ranging across all continents except A snake is an elongate Reptile of the suborder Serpentes Like all reptiles snakes are covered in scales. for differences between alligators and crocodiles please see Crocodilia An Alligator is a Crocodilian in the Genus The American Black Bear ( Ursus americanus) is the most common Bear Species native to North America.
Recent events
More than 600,000 acres (2,400 km²) of the Okefenokee region burned from April to July of 2007. The Bugaboo Scrub Fire was a Wildfire which raged from April to June in 2007 and ultimately become the largest fire in the history of both Georgia and Essentially all of the swamp burned, though the degrees of impact vary widely. Smoke from the fires was reported as far away as Atlanta and Orlando. Orlando is a major City in central Florida, USA and is the County seat of Orange County Florida.
History of the Okefenokee in Pop Culture
- In Walt Kelly's comic strip Pogo, the characters made their home in the Okefenokee Swamp. Walter Crawford Kelly Jr ( August 25, 1913 – October 18, 1973) known as Walt Kelly, was a Cartoonist notable for his A comic strip is a sequence of drawings that tells a story Currently in the Western world, most comic strips are written and drawn by a Comics artist Pogo was the title and central character of a long-running (1948-75 daily Comic strip created
- In Piers Anthony's Xanth novels, the fantasy realm of Xanth is a parallel universe of Earth's Florida, and includes a mirror of the Okefenokee, called the Ogre-fen-ogre Fen. Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob (born August 6, 1934 in Oxford England) is an English American writer in the Science fiction Xanth is a Fantasy world created by author Piers Anthony for a series of novels Parallel universe or alternative reality is a self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own An ogre (feminine ogress) is a large cruel and hideous Humanoid Monster, featured in mythology folklore and fiction
- The Okefenokee Swamp is considered to be one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia. The Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia are today generally acknowledged to be Amicalola Falls Okefenokee Swamp Providence Canyon
- The fictitious 1947 Roger Rabbit cartoon, The Wet Nurse, is supposedly set in the "OkeyDokey Swamp", as a tribute to the Okefenokee Swamp. The following is a list of characters from the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
- A track called '3 AM at the Border of the Marsh from Okefenokee' is included on the 1976 album Stratosfear from electronic music pioneers Tangerine Dream. Stratosfear is an Electronic music album released in 1976 by the German group Tangerine Dream. Tangerine Dream is a German Electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese.
- Over the 11 years M*A*S*H was on the air, the script made several references to the Okefenokee Swamp.
- On the original Scooby Doo cartoons they showed the "Oke-Fu-noke Swamp"(as they spelled it)on several shows.
- On August 24, 1959 Freddy Cannon had a Top 100 hit with the song "Okefenokee;" it Peaked at #43. Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar 's General Gaius Scribonius Curio is defeated in the Second Battle of the Bagradas River The year 1959 ( MCMLIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
- The theme song for the motion picture Gator, sung by Jerry Reed, was titled "The Ballad Of Gator Mcklusky" which is about the "Okefenokee Swamp". Gator is a action film starring and directed by Burt Reynolds.
- Some of T. C. Boyle's novel "East is East" is set in the Okefenokee Swamp.
- An episode of the original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" had the Shredder sending a canister of mutagen ooze to the Okefenokee Swamp, mutating four frogs into superhuman creatures.
- On episode #144 of Cash Cab the video bonus question at the end of the show was about the Okefenokee Swamp. Cash Cab is a Game show, devised by Adam Wood which originated in the United Kingdom. (the couple answered the question correctly and doubled their money)
- The David Allan Coe song, Just to Prove My Love to You, has a line that says the singer would "rustle alligators in the Okefenokee. "
References
- ^ Afable and Beeler (1996:191)
- ^ U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Refuge Overview, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, . pdf, URL retrieved June 15, 2006
Bibliography
- Afable, Patricia O. Events 763 BC - Assyrians record a Solar eclipse that will be used to fix the Chronology of Mesopotamian history Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. and Madison S. Beeler (1996). "Place Names", in "Languages", ed. Ives Goddard. Vol. 17 of Handbook of North American Indians, ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D. C. : Smithsonian Institution.
External links
- Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
- Okefenokee Swamp and National Wildlife Refuge
- Okefenokee Adventures home page
- Okefenokee Pastimes home page
- Current Events On The Okefenokee, Dupont, and Bruce Babbitt (as of May 27 1997)
- Natural History of the Okefenokee Swamp
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