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Ogeechee Riverkeeper®

Newsletter
October 2023

Barred Owl by William Harrell

Whoo-oo is ready for the photo contest?

Submissions are due by November 6, 2023. Winners receive a free membership to the organization and ORK merchandise. Winners will be announced early December 2023.

Ogeechee Riverkeeper (ORK) is soliciting the best photographs from across the 5,500 square mile watershed. ORK’s watershed is home to an incredible diversity of ecological features, and it provides an important habitat for more than 160 rare species of plants and animals. Judges will be looking for images that highlight what makes the Ogeechee and Canoochee Rivers, and the surrounding areas, remarkable.

Photographers can enter in multiple categories: Landscape, portrait, wildlife, plant life, underwater, aerial, black and white, and funny wildlife. Since this will be an annual event each December, ORK requests that any images submitted be taken within the same calendar year. ORK hopes to see entries from across the 21 counties encompassing the watershed.

Photo contest information

A few remaining tickets for Oyster Roast

We’ll have all-you-can-eat freshly steamed oysters, plus delicious barbeque and sides from Barnes Restaurant. Your ticket also includes unlimited beer and wine. You won’t want to miss the exclusive Ogeechee Riverkeeper ale from Moon River Brewing!

Get tickets now

View survey

New flooding survey tool

ORK has developed a survey tool for citizens to report flooding connected to increased development in coastal Georgia counties. This survey will use crowdsourced reports to monitor localized flooding after rain events. The goal is to document flood events to aid in public comments and improve developmental planning.

ORK Fellow: Electrofishing

Molly did some research using electrofishing and wrote more about it. Electrofishing is a process that uses electrotaxis, which is a method that temporarily stuns the fish for capture. This process and recovery is easy for the fish.

Read the fellow's blog

Watch the story

ORK on Bloomberg News

ORK was interviewed for a piece about the warehouse and factory boom happening in our watershed. The reporter visited Bryan County and talked with ORK and One Hundred Miles about the impacts.

Flathead catfish

The invasive species Flathead catfish has been identified in the Ogeechee River. If you see one, please catch and keep it. To report a sighting, contact Georgia DNR Fisheries at 706-557-3305 or submit a sighting at GeorgiaWildlife.com/ans. Learn about more ways encourage responsible hunting and fishing.

About invasive species

Creature feature

Trick-or-treating wildlife

Spooks and goblins and monsters come out to play in October. Creatures from our watershed are going trick-or-treating. Can you identify them in their Halloween costumes? Enjoy the original artwork by Caroline Rose.

Blackwater Barons

ORK has teamed up with local artist Juliana Smith to create a custom artwork entitled “Blackwater Barons” featuring the plants and wildlife in the Ogeechee River watershed. Juliana designed the piece, carved the linocut by hand, and pulled a limited number of prints. Each print is signed and numbered by the artist.

Limited edition prints

View ORK's official comments

Legal advocacy

One of ORK's roles is to provide expert comments on applications regarding water quality impacts. Recently, ORK has written official responses to the following:

City of Pembroke Water Pollution Control Plant NPDES permit, Georgia EPD
North Bryan Water Reclamation Facility NPDES permit, Georgia EPD
New Hampstead Planned Unit Development wetlands fill, US Army Corps of Engineers
Simmons Cortes Industrial Park wetlands fill, US Army Corps of Engineers
Coastal Marshlands Protection Act rule amendment, Georgia DNR - Coastal Resources Division

All are available online.

Tons of fall events!

Join the Ogeechee Riverkeeper for events and cleanups throughout fall.