Getting It Right - Progress Report: Mill Pond On Road To Recovery

May 29, 2008


Local Natural Treasure Recovering From Period of Mismanagement
This weekend my wife Judy and I were fortunate enough to be invited by Harry and Vicky Fuqua to a pontoon boat ride on the Mill Pond. The Fuqua’s have a beautiful home on the West shore of the lake, so that was the starting point of our lake excursion.
When we accepted the invitation I was sure I would leave the experience sickened by the sight of muck and moss clogging the surface and making the once beautiful waterway into a stinking cesspool of decaying vegetable matter. After all, that has been the story since the State repeatedly drew down the lake several years ago. That action killed most of the fresh water snails that forms the basis of the ecology of the unique lake.
However I am pleased to report that my expectations were unfounded. It appears that due to the combined efforts of man and Mother Nature (probably mostly nature), the lake is on the road to recovery.
The beautiful lake was much as I remember it being thirty five years ago. The water was pure and clear, exposing beautiful patterns of eel grass and sand where fish darted and played. Even though the water was over ten feet deep you could count the grains of sand on the bottom.
Ducks played and nested in the cypress stumps while rows of turtles sunned uncaringly on protruding logs. Osprey swooped by overhead to perch masterfully in the top of cypress trees. Even more impressive was huge clumps of fresh water snail eggs clinging just above the water to the root wads of most of the cypress groves. The snails are coming back!
The lake was full of boating families enjoying the treat of the water. On this particular day every cave opening site was occupied by visiting divers from the international diving convention that was underway that weekend. It was interesting to visit and talk to them and sense their appreciation of this unique lake that borders Marianna.
The only negatives I saw was the presence of a few spots where muck still floated on the surface. Fishermen can not take shell crackers from the lake unless they are over 10 inches in length, so they might as well have put up signs saying "No Shell Cracker Fishing", but that is ok since this lake needs gentle treatment right now, and there are plenty of other places to fish. This instance was trivial compared to the beauty that surrounded us as we traversed the full length of the lake.
At the spring swimming area, lifeguards were working to be sure the paddle boats and other park gear were ready for Monday’s opening day crowd. Divers were busy over the spring opening, going for underwater adventures in the amazing network of caves starting at the spring opening.
As we returned to the Fuqua’s boat dock after the three hour trip, I could not help but feel elated about what I had seen. It appears that Jackson County has recovered a lost treasure….we need to never lose it again.
Rudiments- Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning:
♦ Last week I stated that in my opinion the State was wasting over four million dollars in building a new Emergency Operations Center building when plenty of empty buildings are available for the new government function. County Administrator Ted Lakey has informed me that I misstated the cost of the new facility. Thus I stand corrected and will amend that statement to be "The State is only wasting two million tax dollars on our new Emergency Operations Center building.
♦ I was given information that the new parking lot at Spring Creek is full of trash and beer cans…..and that the banks and bottom of Spring Creek is again becoming littered and ugly. I encourage one of the civic groups to take advantage of the Spring Creek clean up program by sponsoring working with Bear Paw to reduce rental charges by $1.00 if the group will return a club provided trash bag full of trash as they exit the trip. This way the people floating the creek, some of whom are littering would also be the group of people helping keep the waterway clean.
♦ Price of gasoline around the world at this time:
Oslo Norway ($6.82), Hong Kong ($6.25), Brussels Belgium ($6.16), London UK ($5.96), Rome Italy ($5.80), Tokyo Japan ($5.25), Sao Paulo Brazil ($4.42), New Delhi India ($3.71), Sidney Australia ($3.42), Johannesburg South Africa ($3.39), Mexico City ($2.22), Buenos Aires Argentina ($2.09), Riyadh Saudi Arabia ($ .91), Kuwait ($ .78), Caracas Venezuela ($ .12), Marianna Florida ($3.95)
♦ There are only 89 days left until our local elections, and 139 until our national elections. If you are not ready to make a meaningful decision, you need to begin preparing for that day when you step into the voting booth and the curtain is closed behind you.
♦ The County Commissioners have gone into hibernation regarding the need to get rid of all of the scattered and costly lease arrangements in order to consolidate the county functions into one facility…..possibly the old Wal-Mart facility.
Another week has whizzed by….please keep on reading and support what you believe is right and fair. Do these things and you will be "Getting It Right".