It’s that time of year again when North Central Florida serves as host to migrating sandhill cranes. Floridians are very familiar with the loud, squawking sounds of these tall birds with wing spans as wide as 6 feet as they circle above and fly to favorite feeding grounds around the Gainesville area, especially Payne’s Prairie and the shoreline and marshes of Orange and Lochloosa Lakes in Alachua County. The father of Florida folk, the late Will McLean (1919-1990), was inspired by the “dancing and prancing” of the cranes and penned the song called, “The Courtship Dance of the Florida Sandhill Cranes.” McLean is accompanied in this 1985 live recording by Kate Kennedy on bowed psaltry and David Beede on hammered dulcimer.
Cover photo of CD recorded in 1985 at the historic Thomas Center of Florida’s Black Hat Troubadour Will Mclean
Sandhill cranes flying over Watson Prairie near Cross Creek, FL.
In the news video below produced by Donna Green-Townsend on nesting ecology of Sandhill Cranes in Florida, you will hear the melody of McLean’s song performed by Melrose singer-songwriter David Beede and Kate Bostrum. The nesting ecology research was a cooperative effort between the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Wildlife and Range Sciences Department at the University of Florida. (this report originally aired statewide on the IFAS program Florida File in 1990)
Click to hear the 2000 Edward R. Murrow Award-Winning documentary on “Apalachicola Doin’ Time” produced by WUFT’s Donna Green-Townsend, Bill Beckett, Daniel Beasley and Josh Azriel.
“This lawsuit will be targeted toward one thing – fighting for the future of Apalachicola. This is a bold, historic legal action for our state. But this is our only way forward after 20 years of failed negotiations with Georgia. We must fight for the people of this region. The economic future of Apalachicola Bay and Northwest Florida is at stake,” he said in a statement.
The suit will be filed in the U.S. Supreme Court and will seek to limit the amount of Apalachicola headwaters Georgia can use.
Florida State Senator Bill Montford
A five-minute audio interview by Donna Green-Townsend with State Sen. Bill Montford (D-District 6) can be heard below. He discusses how the Apalachicola Bay will be a priority in the state legislature and his hopes for the federal government to take a stronger interest in the Tri-State Water War involving Alabama, Florida and Georgia over the river system they all share. Montford also addresses the criticism of those who say besides the drought in 2012, oysters were overharvested just after the BP oil spill.
Original story: There was much emotion Tuesday at the congressional field hearing scheduled to examine the lack of water flow into the Apalachicola Bay.
Due to decreasing levels of water flow into the bay from the Apalachicola watershed, the town’s once-thriving oyster industry has collapsed. The town of Apalachicola, known for its oysters, has reported that this season has found an insignificant amount of the mussels to be harvested from the bay.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection calls the Apalachicola one of the most productive bays in the nation, providing approximately 90 percent of the oysters consumed in Florida. In addition to oysters, the bay supports extensive shrimping, crabbing and commercial fishing. Only 20 percent of the river lies in Florida, according to FDEP. The Apalachicola River headwaters, which actually begin in Georgia’s Chattahoochee River, becomes the Apalachicola where it crosses the Florida-Georgia line.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio scheduled the field hearing at the Franklin County Courthouse in Apalachicola to hear evidence concerning the oyster collapse. Speakers blamed the collapse on last year’s drought and poor water conservation practices in Georgia along the Chattahoochee river.
Senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio headed the field hearing because Congress has the authority to direct the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide the freshwater flows necessary to save the Apalachicola Bay.
(pictures from the day’s hearing below: Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Full Committee Field Hearing on “Effects of Water Flows on Apalachicola Bay: Short and Long Term Perspectives.” August, 13, on August 13th, 2013 2013, Franklin County Courthouse Annex Bldg.
It’s that time of year again when North Central Florida serves as host to migrating sandhill cranes. Floridians are very familiar with the loud, squawking sounds of these tall birds with wing spans as wide as 6 feet as they circle above and fly to favorite feeding grounds around the Gainesville area, especially Payne’s Prairie and the shoreline and marshes of Orange and Lochloosa Lakes in Alachua County. The father of Florida folk, the late Will McLean (1919-1990), was inspired by the “dancing and prancing” of the cranes and penned the song called, “The Courtship Dance of the Florida Sandhill Cranes.” McLean is accompanied in this 1985 live recording by Kate Kennedy on bowed psaltry and David Beede on hammered dulcimer.
