CELEBRATING THE BICENTENNIAL OF THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER, FLORIDA 1824-2024!
APPROACHING SOON: The 8th Anniversary of the 2016-06-24 creation of this "FREE THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER BY THE BREACHING OF RODMAN DAM" sign-for-FREE-$$$ online petition = 8 YEARS AGO, AS OF 2024-06-24 MONDAY!
NOTE: THIS sign-for-free-$$$ PETITION WAS THE CATALYST FOR THE 2021-09-23 ST. JOHNS RIVER WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT'S RODMAN RESERVOIR / KIRKPATRICK DAM ONLINE PUBLIC SURVEY -- WHICH WAS THE FIRST TIME ANY OFFICIAL FLORIDA GOVERNMENT AGENCY SOUGHT MASS PUBLIC INPUT ON THIS CONTENTIOUS OCKLAWAHA RIVER vs. RODMAN RESERVOIR ISSUE! https://www.sjrwmd.com/rodman/
DISSAPOINTING: Although this petition has the support of over 4,200 folks worldwide, only about 2,600 of them can be identified as residing in Florida and possibly being able to legally vote in Sunshine State elections.
SEARCH FOR YOUR NAME IN THE PETITION IF YOU ARE A FLORIDA RESIDENT AT: https://www.facebook.com/groups/381885503129660/posts/1159131845405018
ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY compiled by "Ocklawahaman" Paul Nosca
2016-06-24 FRIDAY (8 YEARS AGO, AS OF 2024-06-24 MONDAY): After 2 months of inaction to use the 2016-03-22 John Hendrickson SJRWMD "Effects on Lower St. Johns River Nutrient Supply and TMDL Target Compliance from the Restoration of a Free-Flowing Ocklawaha River" literature as a new and accurate initiative by the "non-profit" Ocklawaha River restoration groups, "Ocklawahaman" Paul Nosca created the SIGN-FOR-FREE-$$$ FREE THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER BY THE BREACHING OF RODMAN DAM online petition at CHANGE.ORG.
The 2016 Hendrickson SJRWMD paper was the first document / literature by an official Florida governmental agency that I had read since the year 2000 that actually seemed to endorse the idea of breaching Rodman Dam to restore a free-flowing Ocklawaha River / Silver River 56-mile-length river system.
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CELEBRATING THE BICENTENNIAL OF THE OCKLAWAHA RIVER 1824-2024!
In 1992 the United States Board on Geographic Names changed the official spelling of the river back to "OCKLAWAHA" which was the original traditional way that this river's name was spelled from 1824 until 1892. The United States (federal) government had officially decided in 1892 that the spelling should be "OKLAWAHA" and it was so for a century.
1824 to 1892 "OCKLAWAHA" (68 years) +
1892 to 1992 "OKLAWAHA" (100 years) +
1992 to 2024 "OCKLAWAHA" (32 years)
= 200 YEARS = BICENTENNIAL!
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3930.ct000731/?st=image&r=0.58,0.311,0.234,0.096,0
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3930.ct000731
From the LIBRARY OF CONGRESS: Map of Florida (1823)
Henry Schenk Tanner (1786-1858) with Charles Blacker Vignoles (1793-1875) created and published from 1823 to 1825 what may be the first maps of FLORIDA TERRITORY that actually show an "OCKLAWAHA RIVER" on them. See the PHOTO...
https://www.ocala.com/story/news/2005/11/20/forests-shady-past-moonshine-and-murder/64274040007/
Ocala Star Banner newspaper:
"In another corner of the forest, some folks still sizzle over the return of the "c" in Ocklawaha.
"The same-named river is one of the forest's boundaries. It was named in 1824 after an American Indian word believed to mean 'crooked river, muddy river.'"
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"Ocklawahaman" Paul Nosca celebrates the OCKLAWAHA RIVER, FLORIDA BICENTENNIAL by experiencing those wilderness parts of the Ocklawaha River basin's subtropical jungle hammock and swamp forests that even still in this year 2024, look pretty much the same as they probably did 200 years ago back in 1824! I first experienced the Ocklawaha River basin in 1973 (51 years ago), so I have known the Ocklawaha for 1/4th of its bicentennial!
From the rivers that flow from our sister states of Alabama and Georgia to the rivers that originate in our own Green Swamp, real experience in the Florida outdoors matters!