ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY by "Ocklawahaman" Paul Nosca Sunday, 21 June 2015 [THREE YEARS AGO] 17,000-YEAR-OLD GEM The Ocklawaha River is special -- set it free By Paul Nosca Special to the Star-Banner The Ocklawaha River runs in my blood. I paddle along its braided stream and explore its hammocks and swamps. Manpower — not motorized horsepower — propels me against or with the 1-mile-per-hour current, or while hiking on the luxuriantly forested floodplain. I photograph its scenic beauty and its varied wildlife. I eat of its naturally reproduced fish, game and plants. I can receive a cool drink from a few of its crystalline pure springs, and occasionally, for my morning awakening, I brew boiling-hot coffee from its running waters. Its big old trees comfort me with shade, and their remains fuel my campfires. Dipping or swimming in the river is a summertime pleasure. Yes, it has black bears, wild hogs, coyotes, bobcats, foxes, Rhesus monkeys, raccoons, alligators, snapping turtles, coral snakes, cottonmouth moccasins, rattlesnakes, hornets, wasps, scorpions and maybe even some other creatures to cautiously avoid at times. Ticks latch on to me once in a while. Also, warm to hot weather sometimes brings on the blood-thirsty horseflies, yellow flies, mosquitoes and sand gnats. But I survive them! Any catfish that I catch is handled carefully. And unlike bringing a largemouth bass into the canoe, I don’t grab a bowfin, gar or pickerel by the bottom jaw. I have to endure its violent thunderstorms and torrential rains and then bail out my canoe afterwards. Somebody else (the original author’s name is unknown to me) once described humid, jungle-type, steam-bath weather such as that of North Central Florida’s Ocklawaha River basin from May to October as, “When it’s hot, you can’t get wet enough, and when it’s wet, you can’t get dry enough!” I reckon that I certainly can agree with his assessments. If at all possible, I make an honest attempt to properly dispose of at least some of the trash left by those who don’t appreciate this 17,000-year-old outstanding example of the real Florida. And I try to honor this old Ocklawaha and its creator by tirelessly advocating for the breaching of Rodman Dam to set this river free and make it swift-flowing again for its entire 56-crooked-mile run from Silver Springs to the St. Johns River estuary. Rodman Dam — as it exists today — amounts to being an insurmountable fish-stopping obstacle that prevents desirable species of the St. Johns River and the lower Ocklawaha from traveling upstream past the spillway and on to the middle Ocklawaha River and beyond. Anglers at the tailrace in Putnam County are catching river fish blocked from going upriver — these fishermen are not catching Rodman Reservoir fish. Good news for bank and pier fishers, those Rodman public access fishing areas will still be usable after the dam is breached and with both downstream and upstream fishes available for the taking. Marion County, Florida’s Ocklawaha River should once again contain plentiful amounts of migratory channel catfish. In addition — as archived news articles of the 1950s and 1960s reported — there should be seasonal supplies of Atlantic-race striped bass from the St. Johns River traversing the Ocklawaha River seeking suitable spawning habitat in the late winter and/or early spring and cool-water refuge in the hot summer. Channel catfish and striped bass can both weigh more than 30 pounds each. They used to be caught by river fishermen on the Ocklawaha in Marion County and were tourist attractions at the Silver Springs of the past. Silver Springs State Park should be known for observing large quantities of Florida manatees, just like Orange City’s Blue Spring State Park already is. How about a Silver Springs Manatee Festival? --------------------------------------------------- A June 22, 2018 update from "Ocklawahaman" Paul Nosca; The "FREE THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER BY THE BREACHING OF RODMAN DAM" online petition now is very close to 2,400 signatures. Let's get to 2,400 before its 2-year anniversary (6/24/18). When you join with the "Ocklawahaman" to "FREE THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER BY THE BREACHING OF RODMAN DAM" by signing the online petition FOR-FREE $$$ it costs you NO $$$. "Ocklawahaman" has NO lawyers or staff for you to payroll! YOU get to buy a backpack, BBQ dinner, canoe, or kayak with your own DOUGH $$$ and enjoy the remaining segments of the free-flowing Ocklawaha River and its superbly forested jungle-like corridor. "Ocklawahaman" Paul Nosca is NOT a member of ANY of the "alphabet soups of environmental groups" nor do I endorse ANY of them in particular. Ocklawahaman" Paul Nosca is a totally non-commercial & NON-NOT-FOR-PROFIT, retired, private citizen and does not seek $$$ and does not accept any $$$ contributions for the administration and promotion of his own individually-created petition! The State of Florida and the United States governments -- that provide me retirement benefits (for my past services to them) -- OWN almost all of the Ocklawaha River's water and its submerged and corridor lands and collect taxes from MOST all of us. Lets FOR-FREE $$$ encourage the State of Florida and the U.S.A. to wisely follow the principals of ecology and FREE THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER BY THE BREACHING OF RODMAN DAM! YES, The Ocklawaha River runs in my blood! Most sincerely, "Ocklawahaman" Paul Nosca