My wife Sandy and I retired in 2004 and spent our first two winters on the road in our motorhome. We visited Florida (grandchildren and friends), Mexico and Belize (birds) and the US southwest (one must go to Quartzsite, right?). For the winter of 2006/7, we decided to stay put and volunteer for the season at a National Park, Wildlife Refuge or State Park. The main selection criteria were that it be a natural area and be within an hour on Jacksonville, FL where our grandchildren live with their parents.
We prepared volunteer resumes and contacted the parks and refuges near Jacksonville. In December 2005, we visited several facilities and met with their Volunteer Coordinators. In the end we selected Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge near Folkston, GA and fortunately, they selected us. This refuge was established in 1936 to preserve the rare and beautiful Okefenokee Swamp. The refuge includes 402,000 acres(about 650 square miles). The swamp which extends 38 miles north to south and 25 miles east to west, is one of the most well preserved freshwater areas in America.
Okefenokee is a vast bog inside a huge saucer-shaped depression that was once part of the ocean floor. The word Okefenokee is derived from a native American phrase for “land of the trembling earth”. Floating peat layers up to 15 feet thick cover much of the swamp. These peat layers are so unstable in spots that one can cause trees and surrounding bushes to tremble by stomping on the surface.
The slow moving waters of the Okefenokee ate tea colored due to the tannic acid released from decaying plants. The swamp is not one continuous habitat, islands, lakes, cypress forests, scrub-shrub areas and open, wet “prairies” form a mosaic of habitats on which wildlife depend. Fire and water define the swamp’s habitats. Lakes and prairies are created after long droughts when fire burns out vegetation and the top layers of peat. That “burn-out” process was under way in part of the swamp while we were there.
We arrived in mid-December and settled in. At Okefenokee, we would have a full hookup pad plus propane and access to free laundry facilities in exchange for working 24 hours per week each. We parked our coach at the “Volunteer Village”, a set of four RV pads for people with their own coachs and six permanently mounted travel trailers for folks without their own rigs. Following an all day orientation we got our assignments. Sandy would spend most of her time greeting folks at the Visitor Center and I would spent most of my time giving tours of the historic Chesser Island Homestead.
A typical day for Sandy included greeting visitors, explaining the various things to do on the refuge and pointing out wildlife within view of the Visitor Center. This often included alligators, river otters, great blue herons, red shouldered hawks, various warbler species and little brown bats roosting in the rafters just outside the door of the Visitor Center. She also helped prepare materials for school and elder hostel educational programs and provided introductory presentations to visiting groups.
My work days began with a slow cruise down Swamp Island Drive. I would stop to pick up litter and clear downed branches from the road. I also kept an eye out for wildlife and would later report their locations to the Visitor Center staff so they could tell visitors more specifically where to look. After checking the trash and recycle bins and tidying up the restrooms, I’d hike the ¾ mile boardwalk picking up litter and clearing downed branches and overhanging vines. Once again I’d watch for wildlife to report and just to enjoy. I regularly saw alligators, river otter, deer, wild turkey, sandhill cranes, great blue herons and white ibis. At the end of the boardwalk, I’d climb the 50 foot observation tower for an expansive view of the swamp. This is work? I would later joke that on the days I worked, I walked the trails looking for litter and incidentally looking for wildlife. On my days off, I walked the trails looking for wildlife and incidentally picking up litter. A wonderful experience either way.
Back from the tower, I spent most of my day at the Chesser Island Homestead, a traditional “Swamper Cabin” built in 1927. I explained the history of the family and gave tours of the house and grounds. On a busy day, 100 to 150 people visited the homestead. On the slowest day, my last day in fact, I saw more than twice as many bird species as I saw visitors (10 vs. 4!).
We did this for three days a week with occasional extra days to fill in for unavailable volunteers or work special projects like Earth Day. We were flexible and occasionally Sandy worked at the refuge headquarters answering phones and helping in the office. I spent a day working out in the swamp canoe trails cutting brush and downed trees to keep the trails open. On another day I went with three other volunteers to judge the Folkston Elementary School Science Fair for 5th and 6th graders. Although we typically worked Sunday through Tuesday there was ample flexibility so we could visit friends in West Palm Beach for New Years and Passover and attend Birding Festivals and RV conventions in nearby communities.
On
some of our days off, we explored other sections of the Okefenokee. We worked at
the East Entrance near Folkston, GA. There is also access to the west side of
the swamp through Stephen Foster State Park near Fargo, GA. We visited there one
day, did some hiking, took a boat tour and explored Billy’s Lake and Billy’s
Island. At the north end of the swamp near Waycross, GA there is Okefenokee
Swamp Park. This park, run by a non profit foundation, has zoo like displays of
typical swamp animals, replicas of a swamper cabin and a short train ride
through the swamp.
On other days off, we visited our kids and grandchildren. It was wonderful being so close and we got to see things like soccer games and Cub Scout Pinewood derby races that we would have never seen when we were thousands of miles away.
We also took advantage of Jacksonville shopping. Folkston is a lovely little city but 4,000 people do not support major retail outlets. We also had the opportunity to attend two birding festivals, Space coast in Titusville and First Coast in St Augustine. Lots of good bird watching and informative seminars.
We originally thought we would have lots of free time in the refuge to explore the trails and canals. Though we did lots of exploring, we found that we filled much of our “off-duty” time with soccer games, RV conventions and birding festivals. We also took time out to buy a new motorhome. We sold our 34 foot gas coach and bought a Tiffin Phaeton 35DH a beautiful motorhome with twice the cargo carrying capacity of our, by now, overweight gas coach.
The
managers and staff at the refuge were wonderful. We were thanked by someone
nearly every day for our volunteer efforts. In a discussion of ways to increase
visitation at the refuge, we suggested a booth at RV shows and seminars
describing the refuge. We drafted a proposal for booths at four of the big
winter RV shows in Florida and Georgia and agreed to staff the booths next year
if they got sponsorship for the proposal. We hope to spread the word about this
beautiful refuge to other RV’ers interested in visiting or volunteering.
Sound interesting? Is this something you might be interested in doing? For more information, contact the Okefenokee Refuge Volunteer Coordinator, Gracie Gooch
912-496-7365 x224
*details of refuge excerpted from FWS brochure on the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.