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Okefenokee USA_National Geographic magazine_4/1992 101 images Created 1 Apr 2021

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  • An American alligator suns in the shallow, tannin-rich waters of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia. The mahogany-red hue of the water which, when reflective looks like black coffee, is caused by the acid released from decaying vegetation.<br />
<br />
An adult alligator can reach 8–12 feet in length and weigh 400 to 500 pounds. The primitive reptile was nearly hunted to extinction for sport and for its leathery hide, which is used for shoes and purses.The Okefenokee is home to an estimated 10,000-13,000 American Alligators.<br />
<br />
Established in 1937, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge protects the waters, wilderness, and wildlife of the 402,000-acre Okefenokee Swamp.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_110250.JPG
  • David Colson and his crew pull mullet out of their nets onto their airboat at the base of the Suwannee River in the Gulf of Mexico. They shine a light onto the water to attract the fish, then drive in circles dropping their net to trap the confused fish.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470856.JPG
  • Firefighters watch a controlled fire burn undergrowth that billows over a road on the edge of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The fires are set on a three-year rotation to prevent wildfires which often start from lightening strikes from frequent summer storms and threaten nearby homes and farm.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470844-2.JPG
  • A Florida panther (Felis concolor coryi) is one the endangered species found on White Oak that was established by the late Howard Gilman, then acquired by TWF Conservation.<br />
<br />
Since 1986, White Oak has rehabilitated and released 19 sick or injured Florida panthers. In 2018, White Oak rehabilitated and released a panther family back in the wild together for the first time.<br />
<br />
The panthers at White Oak are kept in large naturalistic enclosures and have very little interaction with people in order to maintain their wildness and natural instincts. <br />
<br />
Recovery efforts to save the endangered panther, which numbered at one time around 40 has grown to 200.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_110411.JPG
  • A boat cuts through reflections of clouds in the placid waters of the St. Mary’s River in Southern Georgia. The St. Mary’s forms a division between Florida and Georgia as it flows east to the Atlantic Ocean out of the Okefenokee Swamp.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_110252.JPG
  • An American alligator hunts at night in the shallow, tannin-rich waters of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia. The mahogany-red hue of the water which, when reflective looks like black coffee, is caused by acid released from decaying vegetation.<br />
<br />
An adult alligator can reach 8–12 feet in length and weigh 400 to 500 pounds. The primitive reptile was nearly hunted to extinction for sport and for its leathery hide, which is used for shoes and purses.The Okefenokee is home to an estimated 10,000-13,000 American Alligators.<br />
<br />
Established in 1937, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge protects the waters, wilderness, and wildlife of the 402,000-acre Okefenokee Swamp.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_110250-6.JPG
  • Aerial photo shows a smoke rising from a controlled fire burning undergrowth on Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The fires are set on a three-year rotation to prevent wildfires which threaten nearby homes and farm.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470844-5.JPG
  • Canoes stacked for the evening are mirrored in reflections in still waters of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia.<br />
<br />
Paddlers access the swamp through the Suwanee Canal dug in the 1890's by Atlanta lawyer Capt. Harry Jackson, who planned to drain the swamp for farmland before his company went bankrupt.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470845.jpg
  • Cooking dinner involves creative thinking on a wilderness canoe trip through the Okefenokee Swamp. This outdoorsman stands on seat cushions taken from his boat to keep his feet dry while boiling potatoes over a campfire.<br />
<br />
The Okefenokee Swamp is a deep bog of thick peat moss and fresh “blackwater” that is home to 440 species of birds, mammals, and reptiles, many of which are endangered. The 402,000-acre wetlands was designated a national wildlife refuge in 1937.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470847.JPG
  • William McKinley Crews, 81, looks out the door for his missing bull while feeding his 14 cats at the farmhouse where he has lived all his life. The house in Moccasin Swamp, northern Florida, has no electricity or running water. He is one of the last of the "old swampers" a reference to early settlers who lived in rural wetlands.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470841.JPG
  • An American flag is displayed on the front porch of a cabin on Floyd's Island. Campers play cards by lantern light while on a wilderness canoe trip in Okefenokee Swamp. This 4000 acre island is the second largest in the swamp and is only accessible by boat. The stop is a respite from camping outdoors with menacing yellow flies in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470846.JPG
  • Canoe floats in placid waters along the bank of the St. Mary's River as warm rays of sun fade after sunset. The river originates in the Okefenokee Swamp and flows toward the Atlantic Ocean forming a border between Florida and Georgia.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470845-5.JPG
  • Bald cypress tree reflections dance in Billy's Lake which also is the beginning of the Suwannee River in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Bald cypresses are long-lived and slow-growing native trees to the south adapting to wet, dry or swampy soil. Their heartwood is resistant to decay.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470840-3.JPG
  • Canoers paddle through a path cut though Chesser Prairie that is thick with water lilies and small islands in the Okefenokee Swamp. The wilderness trip seen in this aerial photo is located in remote parts of the swamp and takes three days to complete, planned so visitors see no one else on the trails.<br />
Established as a wilderness in 1937, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge protects the waters and wildlife of the 402,000-acre swamp.<br />
<br />
The Okefenokee Swamp wilderness is in southern Georgia, and commonly known as “Land of the Trembling Earth.” More accurately translated, “Okefenokee” means “waters shaking” in Hitchiti, an extinct dialect in the Muskogean language family spoken in the Southeast by indigenous people related to Creeks and Seminoles.<br />
<br />
The name refers to the gas that forms as submerged vegetation decomposes and bubbles up from the bottom of the swamp. Plants begin growing and clump together to form spongy little islands.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_110252-3.JPG
  • A summer evening blue sky is reflected in the waters of the St. Marys River estuary, creating a peaceful scene as the last light of the setting sun fades behind a building thunderstorm in the distance.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_110252-4.JPG
  • Three young girls rest in a hammock while on a camping trip along the sandy banks of the St. Mary's River.<br />
The river that creates a border between Georgia and Florida originates in the Okefenokee Swamp flowing toward the Atlantic Ocean.
    ThreeGirlsHammock copy.jpg
  • A juvenile alligator is born with a natural instinct to swim. They measure about 6 to 8 inches when newly hatched and live in small groups, called "pods." Although under the protective eye of their mothers who aggressively guard the nest, some 80 percent of juvenile alligators fall victim to predators such as birds, raccoons, bobcats, otters, snakes, large bass and larger alligators.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_110250-3.JPG
  • A young hatchling suns on a sunken log in the Okefenokee Swamp. Mothers aggressively guard the nests when until the juveniles begin hunting on their own. American alligators were once threatened from hunting but with protections have recovered although hatchlings are vulnerable to predators.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_110250-4.JPG
  • A glassy-eyed alligator that is blind in one eye glides through reflective waters of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia. This gator, frequently seen in the Suwanee Canal, is thought to have been injured during a fight with another alligator. <br />
<br />
The once endangered species hunts in the darkness of night. An adult alligator can live 30 to 35 years in the wild, growing 8–12 feet long and weighing from 500 to 1,000 pounds.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_110250-5.JPG
  • A Florida panther (Felis concolor coryi) is one the endangered species found on White Oak, established by the late Howard Gilman, then acquired by TWF Conservation.<br />
<br />
Since 1986, White Oak has rehabilitated and released 19 sick or injured Florida panthers.  In 2018, White Oak rehabilitated and released a panther family back in the wild together for the first time.<br />
<br />
The panthers at White Oak are kept in large naturalistic enclosures and have very little interaction with people in order to maintain their wildness and natural instincts. <br />
<br />
Recover efforts to save the endangered panther, which numbered at one time around 40 has grown to 200.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_110411-2.JPG
  • A Florida panther (Felis concolor coryi) is one the endangered species found on White Oak that was established by the late Howard Gilman, then acquired by TWF Conservation.<br />
<br />
Since 1986, White Oak has rehabilitated and released 19 sick or injured Florida panthers. In 2018, White Oak rehabilitated and released a panther family back in the wild together for the first time.<br />
<br />
The panthers at White Oak are kept in large naturalistic enclosures and have very little interaction with people in order to maintain their wildness and natural instincts. <br />
<br />
Recovery efforts to save the endangered panther, which numbered at one time around 40 has grown to an estimated 200.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_110411-3.JPG
  • Peering down from a tree, a Florida panther (Felis concolor coryi) is one the endangered species found on White Oak that was established by the late Howard Gilman, then acquired by TWF Conservation.<br />
<br />
Since 1986, White Oak has rehabilitated and released 19 sick or injured Florida panthers. In 2018, White Oak rehabilitated and released a panther family back in the wild together for the first time.<br />
<br />
The panthers at White Oak are kept in large naturalistic enclosures and have very little interaction with people in order to maintain their wildness and natural instincts. <br />
<br />
Recovery efforts to save the endangered panther, which numbered at one time around 40 has grown to an estimated 200.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_110411-4.JPG
  • Tree trunks wreathed in smoke and flames from a prescribed burn set in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Controlled fires in the swamp help reduce the thick undergrowth in the jungle-like environment. Lightening strikes from frequent summer storms cause wild fires, which can spread to private land.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470745.JPG
  • A controlled fire burns undergrowth of pine trees on Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The fires are set on a three-year rotation to prevent wildfires which threaten nearby homes and farm.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470844-3.JPG
  • Bruce Thompson wears a hat while he watches the rain from the porch of Shirley's Cafe in St. George, Georgia. The 85-year-old is a retired turpentine camp manager, in a town which produces turpentine. On average, the interior sections of central Florida receive the most thunderstorms with nearly 100 plus days per year.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470852.JPG
  • Hand and hat over his heart during prayer, a Confederate soldier in uniform honors his relatives that have passed at a family reunion.  The Tatum family at Waycross, Georgia, meets annually at the homestead and as many as a thousand blood relatives gather for a weekend of music, food, and socializing.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470842.JPG
  • A young princess walks down a hallway holding her mother's hand. She looks back while headed to the stage dressed in antebellum attire for the Mr. and Miss St. George pageant, a southern Georgia tradition.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470850.JPG
  • A boy rides his bicycles along the sandy bank of the St. Mary's River in Florida. Campers set up tents, hammocks and a large American flag to celebrate the Fourth of July.
    KidBikeFlag copy.jpg
  • Arial photo at night showing a controlled fire burning undergrowth on islands of peat floating in the marsh water of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The fires are set on a three-year rotation to prevent wildfires which threaten nearby homes and farm.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470844.JPG
  • Smoke rises from a controlled fire that burns undergrowth in a pine forest on Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The fires are set on a three-year rotation to prevent wildfires which threaten nearby homes and farm.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470844-4.JPG
  • A hot smokey controlled fire burns undergrowth in a pine forest on Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The fires are set on a three-year rotation to prevent wildfires which threaten nearby homes and farm.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470844-6.JPG
  • Aerial photo shows a smoke rising from a controlled fire burning undergrowth in a pine forest on Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The fires are set on a three-year rotation to prevent wildfires which threaten nearby homes and farm.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470844-7.JPG
  • National Geographic photographer Melissa Farlow with Mr. William McKinley Crews at his home in Moccasin Swamp.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_533136.JPG
  • William McKinley Crews, 81, pumps water into a bucket at the farmhouse where he has lived all his life in Moccasin Swamp in northern Florida. He has no electricity or running water. His only company are four cows and 14 cats.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470841-7.JPG
  • Wearing his paper sack morning hat, William McKinley Crews, 81, built a fire in the wood stove and made breakfast at the farmhouse where he has lived all his life. The house in Moccasin Swamp in northern Florida, has no electricity or running water. His brother died leaving him to find company with his 14 cats and four cows he calls his "nuns." He is one of the last of the "old swampers" a reference to early settlers who lived in rural wetlands.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470841-4.JPG
  • William McKinley Crews, 81, is reflected in the mirror as he shaves in the morning at the farmhouse where he has lived all his life. His hat collection hangs in his house in Moccasin Swamp, which has no electricity or running water. He keeps company with his 14 cats and four cows.He is one of the last of the "old swampers" a reference to early settlers who lived in rural wetlands.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470841-5.JPG
  • William McKinley Crews, 81, wears his morning hat checking his fences after hanging his laundry on the clothes line. The farmhouse in Moccasin Swamp is where he has lived all his life. The house in northern Florida, has no electricity or running water. He keeps company with his four cows and 14 cats.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470841-3.JPG
  • William McKinley Crews, 81, washes his face after eating breakfast at the farmhouse where he has lived all his life. The homestead in Moccasin Swamp, northern Florida, has no electricity or running water. Since his brother died, he keeps company with four cows and 14 cats. He is one of the last of the "old swampers" a reference to early settlers who lived in rural wetlands.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470841-6.JPG
  • Kittens wait at the back door for William McKinley Crews to bring food.  The "old swamper" has lived at the farmhouse all his life in Moccasin Swamp, northern Florida. He has no electricity or running water and his company consists of four cows and 14 cats.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470841-8.JPG
  • Paddlers endure oppressive heat, humidity and black flies while taking an overnight canoe trip through the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge wilderness. Students from Valdosta State College reserved a wilderness trip that takes three days floating in canoes through the prairies and portaging over an island where they camped.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470847-1.JPG
  • Paddlers cool off from oppressive heat in protected waters after enduring a day of  humidity and black flies in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge wilderness. Students from Valdosta State College reserved a wilderness trip that takes three days floating in canoes through the prairies and portaging over an island where they camped.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470847-3.JPG
  • Canoes stacked for the evening are mirrored in reflections in still waters of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia.<br />
<br />
Paddlers access the swamp through the Suwanee Canal dug in the 1890's by Atlanta lawyer Capt. Harry Jackson, who planned to drain the swamp for farmland before his company went bankrupt.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470845-1.JPG
  • A still life of a canoe with a paddle floating in still waters reflecting the prairie in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470845-2.JPG
  • Flat bottom boats tied at a dock on a foggy morning at Stephen Foster State Park west entrance to Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470845-3.JPG
  • Canoes are tied up for the night as paddlers camp on a wilderness trip through the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Summer storms build in the distance at sunset over the wetlands prairie.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470845-4.JPG
  • A lone boat of fishermen trolls through Billy's Lake in early morning fog in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. West entrance of the swamp's open water is also the origin of the Suwanee River that flows into Florida to the Gulf of Mexico.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470845-7.JPG
  • Bald cypress trees are reflected in the still water of Billy's Lake with surviving end of summer lily pads for fish to hide under in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge,  Georgia. The lake is also the origin of the Suwanee River the flows from from the west entrance of the swamp into Florida.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470840-2.JPG
  • Serene stillness surrounds bald cypress trees as morning sun rises over Billy's Lake in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge,  Georgia. The lake is also the origin of the Suwanee River that flows from from the west entrance of the Okefenokee Swamp into Florida.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470840-4.JPG
  • Bald cypress trees are reflected in Billy's Lake, also is the beginning of the Suwannee River in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Bald cypresses are long-lived and slow-growing native trees to the south adapting to wet, dry or swampy soil. Their heartwood is resistant to decay.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470840-1.JPG
  • Aquatic plants, seas of grasses and islands float among expanses of water creating a vast and serene wilderness at sunset in the Okefenokee's Chesser Prairie. Peat, water, plants and fire work together to create a swamp habitat in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470840-5.JPG
  • Aquatic plants, seas of grasses float among expanses of water creating a vast and serene wilderness after sunset in the Okefenokee's Chesser Prairie. A still-life pattern is reflected in water in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470840-6.JPG
  • Fishermen power through the fog and waters through Billy's Lake in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. West entrance of the swamp's open water is also the origin of the Suwanee River that flows into Florida to the Gulf of Mexico.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470845-9.JPG
  • A lone canoe is seen from the air in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The swamp's prairies are filled with a thick growth of aquatic plants where trails are cut for wilderness paddling trips.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_110252-1.JPG
  • Swimmers dive from a rope swing into the St. Mary's River that creates an idyllic childhood dream. The river that creates a border between Georgia and Florida originates in the Okefenokee Swamp flowing toward the Atlantic Ocean.
    RopeSwing copy.jpg
  • Swimmers take refuge under a bridge in a passing summer rain. Thunderstorms are frequent along the St. Mary's River and coastal areas which average 80 to 90 days per year.
    FeetRain copy.jpg
  • View of the St. Mary's River during a summer rain storm from a white, second floor, wooden, porch swing and rocking chair. Thunderstorms are frequent along the St. Mary's River and coastal areas which average 80 to 90 days per year.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470842-1-13.JPG
  • Campers shadows appear through a large American flag displayed on for the Fourth of July celebration along the St. Mary's River in Florida.
    ShadowsFlag copy.jpg
  • A silhouetted man push poles his boat away from shore into the St. Mary's River in Florida. Vibrant colors of sunset reflect in the water in the fading light.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470845-6.JPG
  • A submerged alligator is only visible with his armored back poking above placid waters as he  hunts on the muddy bottom of the Okefenokee Swamp. The reptiles skin has embedded bony plates called osteoderms or scutes.<br />
Alligator populations are considered to have recovered from overharvesting pressures through supplemental farming practices and protections placed on wild animals. However, the species is still federally listed as threatened because it looks like the American crocodile, which is endangered.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_110250-2.JPG
  • Robert Cowart wipes sweat away after felling a pine on White Oak Plantation. Pine forests are common in the southeastern Coastal Plain and Florida. Many forests are managed for timber production as pulp used for paper products can come from a wide variety of tree species including conifers. <br />
<br />
The vast majority of Florida’s over 17 million acres of forested land are comprised of pines or a combination of pines and hardwoods. Pine flatwoods are typically found on poorly drained, sandy soils intermediate in moisture content between wetter bottomlands and drier uplands. Overstory of these woodlands consists mainly of longleaf, slash, and loblolly pines, although pond pine and shortleaf pine do occur. The shrub layer of flatwoods forests often includes blackberry, dwarf huckleberry, fetterbush, gallberry, saw palmetto, and wax myrtle.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470848.JPG
  • A truck driver unties rope holding his cargo he hauled on a logging truck. Pine forests are cut for pulp wood and processed at paper mills. Timber harvesting is a lucrative business in southeast U.S.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470848-1.JPG
  • Aerial view showing billowing water vapor from timber processing obscures a paper mill on the North River off the extreme southeastern boundry river, the St. Mary's, in Georgia.<br />
In 2020 there are around 100 pulp mills operating in the United States, and each year they emit roughly 23 million pounds of hazardous air pollutants, including benzene, mercury, and the potent carcinogen dioxin.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470849.JPG
  • Billowing water vapor emits toxins into the air from a paper mill plant. The main gaseous pollutants hydrogen sulfides, sodium sulfide, methyl mercaptan, sulfur, and chlorine dioxide is reported for chronic, respiratory disorder and irritation to skin, eyes and cardiac problem along with nausea and headache.<br />
Pulp and paper generates the third largest amount of industrial air, water, and land emissions in Canada and the sixth largest in the United States.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470849-1.JPG
  • Rainbow colors from an oil spill float on top of the water seen from a dock in St. Mary's, Georgia. Commercial oil formulations usually contain a surfactant, an additive that causes the oil drops to spread out into a thin film atop the water.
    OilAndDock copy.jpg
  • Navy personnel check on a U.S. Navy ballistic missile nuclear submarine capable of being armed with Trident missile nuclear weapons. It surfaces the waters on the North River near St. Mary's. Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay is  located in Camden County, Georgia. It covers 16,000 acres of which 4,000 are protected wetlands that host a rookery.
    Submarine copy.jpg
  • Navy personnel check on a U.S. Navy ballistic missile nuclear submarine capable of being armed with Trident missile nuclear weapons. It surfaces the waters on the North River near St. Mary's. Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay is  located in Camden County, Georgia. It covers 16,000 acres of which 4,000 are protected wetlands that host a rookery.
    SubmarineTWO copy.jpg
  • Floating islands of bouyant peat carry grasses, sedges, and bald cypress trees in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in southern Georgia.<br />
A mysterious aura surrounds the Okefenokee, wilderness of a boggy, unstable land commonly known as “Land of the Trembling Earth.” More accurately translated, “Okefenokee” means “waters shaking” in Hitchiti, an extinct dialect in the Muskogean language family spoken in the Southeast by indigenous people related to Creeks and Seminoles.<br />
<br />
The name refers to the gas that forms as submerged vegetation decomposes and bubbles up from the bottom of the swamp. Plants begin growing and clump together to form spongy little islands.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470843.JPG
  • A teary-eyed young princess holds a second place trophy and a red rose. She is dressed in antebellum attire for the Mr. and Miss St. George beauty pageant, a southern Georgia tradition.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470850-3.JPG
  • A young princess walks down a hallway holding her mother's hand. She looks back while headed to the stage dressed in antebellum attire for the Mr. and Miss St. George pageant, a southern Georgia tradition.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470850-1.JPG
  • Boys and a young girl wait for the news in the hallway of the school in St. George, Georgia. Two are contestants in the Mr. and Miss St. George pageant, and are dressed in formal clothes as a young fellow who is not competing waits by the water fountain.
    HS Scene copy.jpg
  • Teenage girls wait back stage behind the curtain at the Mr. and Miss St. George pageant, a southern Georgia tradition. Dressed in formal gowns, two friends anticipate who will win the beauty contest.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470850-4.JPG
  • Nellie Reed reads the bible on the screened porch of her home in Toledo, Georgia, a town which produced turpentine. Her husband was an employee at the turpentine plant and after he died, she was allowed to spend her life there according to the owner of the property and the plant.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470851.jpg
  • Confederate re-enactors at an annual June reunion of the Tatum family at Waycross, Georgia, where as many as a thousand blood relatives gather for a weekend of music, food, and socializing.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470842-1.JPG
  • A couple of relatives greet each other at the annual family reunion of the Tatums at their homestead in rural Waycross, Georgia. As many as a thousand blood relatives gather for a weekend of music, food, and socializing.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470842-1-11.JPG
  • The memory table is a display of framed portraits of family members at the annual June family reunion of the Tatums at Waycross, Georgia. As many as a thousand blood relatives gather for a weekend of music, food, and socializing on front porch rocking chairs.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470842-1-10.JPG
  • A costumed woman shushes children during the prayer at the annual June reunion of the Tatum family at Waycross, Georgia. As many as a thousand blood relatives gather for a weekend of music, food, and socializing at their homestead.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470842-1-14.JPG
  • Music is a vital part of the annual June reunion of the Tatum family at their Waycross, Georgia homestead. A woman tuned her guitar then stopped to look at portraits on the "memory table" honoring deceased relatives. Red, white and blue flag decorates the front porch when as many as a thousand blood relatives gather for a weekend of music, food, and socializing.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470842-1-12.JPG
  • A bald cypress tree is warmed by setting sun over the Suwannee River in Florida.The Suwannee is a federally designated wild river that rises in the Okefenokee Swamp in southern George and meanders 238 miles south to the Gulf of Mexico.<br />
The river is well known because of Stephen Foster’s song “Old Folks at Home” where he immortalized the “Swannee River.” Native American tribes lived on the banks of the river prior to European settlement.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470840.JPG
  • A family of musicians walk along the banks of the Suwannee River. Elroyce Makley strums her Autoharp, while she and her daughters stroll through the Stephen Foster State Folk Culture Center, located in Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Florida.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_470853.JPG
  • A horse and rider stop to cool off in the shallow waters of the Suwannee River near the Florida Sheriff's Boys Ranch in Lake City.
    GuyHorseRiver copy.jpg
  • Sunday morning baptism of Bell Shoals Baptist Church members in the Suwannee River is a tradition near Bell, Florida. Outdoor baptisms were common in the South in the 1950s, but many Christian churches have indoor facilities today, so few believers gather at the water for submersion in a river to proclaim their belief in Christ.
    Baptism copy.jpg
  • Aerial photo showing morning fog lifting over the Suwannee River in Florida. The Suwannee is a federally designated wild river that rises in the Okefenokee Swamp in southern George and meanders 238 miles south to the Gulf of Mexico.<br />
Stephen Foster’s song “Old Folks at Home”  immortalized the “Swannee River,” however, Native American tribes lived on the banks of the river prior to European settlement.
    SuwanneRiverAerial copy.jpg
  • Aerial photo showing morning fog rising over the Suwannee River in Florida. The Suwannee is a federally designated wild river that rises in the Okefenokee Swamp in southern George and meanders 238 miles south to the Gulf of Mexico.<br />
Stephen Foster’s song “Old Folks at Home” immortalized the “Swannee River,” however, Native American tribes lived on the banks of the river prior to European settlement.
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  • Flooded swamp land for sale in Florida along the banks of the Suwannee River.
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  • Dairy cows stand in water holes to drink in the Suwannee basin in Florida. Concentrated dairy cow operations contribute high nitrate into the aquifer that has karst soil and nearby clear water springs. Waste from a total of 44,000 head of cattle helped ruin a thriving oyster industry in the town of Suwannee, downstream situated on the Gulf of Mexico.
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  • A house is hoisted up on supports above where high waters flood homes in wetlands near the Suwannee River.
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  • Aerial photo showing settling ponds after concentrates of phosphate ore is processed and is green with nutrients.<br />
Large quantities of phosphates to waterways accelerates algae and plant growth in natural waters; enhancing eutrophication and depleting the water body of oxygen. This can lead to fish kills and the degradation of habitat with loss of species.<br />
Decaying uranium from phosphate mines also releases radon, an odorless, radioactive gas that is linked to lung cancer.
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  • An oyster fisherman in a boat watches a storm build over Cat Island in Florida in the Gulf of Mexico.
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  • Suzanne Colson rests from her cleanup efforts in Suwannee Sound in the Gulf of Mexico. Once an oyster fisherwoman, now a water activist, she is trying to revive oystering on Florida's Suwannee River that was at one time a thriving oyster habitat, but now polluted by dairy cattle waste.
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  • Oyster fishermen attempt to revive oystering in the Gulf of Mexico. The waters of the Suwannee River flow into the Gulf which at one time was a thriving oyster habitat, but is now polluted by dairy cattle waste. Fishermen raise oysters by aquaculture by moving them into clean waters to harvest.
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  • David Colson and a crew load up a boat with nets and gear for mullet fish in the Gulf of Mexico. His family and dog watch him head to for the evening where they fish at night.
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  • A boy lies on a dock feeding fish in the Suwannee River.
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  • A young boy catches a fish on a hook at twilight near the mouth of the Suwannee River and Gulf of Mexico.
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  • Sturgeon head on a dock on the Suwannee River in Florida. The Gulf sturgeon is one of seven species found in North America. A prehistoric species that date back to time of dinosaurs, they are threatened yet a popular source of food for their caviar.  They have barbels on the underside of their snout and no teeth. They can exceed eight feet and weigh over 300 pounds. They live in saltwater and travel upstream to fresh water to spawn.
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  • Storm clouds are a backdrop for an osphrey nest in the top of a tree on the Suwannee River.
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  • Suwannee Cafe is a hub of activity day and night in the small community on the Gulf of Mexico.
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  • David Colson and his crew pull mullet out of their nets onto their airboat at the base of the Suwannee River in the Gulf of Mexico.  They shine a light onto the water to attract the fish, then drive in circles dropping their net to trap the confused fish.
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  • David Colson and his crew pull mullet out of their nets onto their airboat at the base of the Suwannee River in the Gulf of Mexico. They shine a light onto the water to attract the fish, then drive in circles dropping their net to trap the confused fish.
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  • Jake Colson makes a wish before blowing out the candles as he celebrates his fourth birthday with family at their home in Suwannee, Florida.
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  • Storm clouds build over Cat Island as rain rolls off the Gulf of Mexico into Suwannee Sound in Florida.
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