Ichetucknee River

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Tubing the Ichetuckee

The Ichetucknee River is a spring fed, pristine river in north central Florida. Thousands of people visit the river and springs each year. Activities include hiking, wildlife viewing, picnicking, swimming, tubing, canoeing, snorkeling and cave diving (scuba). The entire 6 miles of the river average 20 feet wide, 8 feet deep and lie within the boundaries of the Ichetucknee Springs State Park.

The name is derived from a Native American language, possibly Creek wa (water), echas (beaver), and toka or tomeka (because of, or caused by), meaning "beaver pond" (beaver remains are common in the riverbed). A Hitchiti informant to anthropologist John R. Swanton pronounced the name "Oetcotukni", and translated it as "where there is a pond of water", likely referring to a defunct beaver pond.^[1]

The water in the river is crystal-clear and is 72°F (22°C) year-round. There are nine named springs within the Ichetucknee Springs group with an average total flow of 233 million gallons per day. The group includes: Ichetucknee Springs, Cedar Head Spring, Blue Hole Spring, Roaring Springs, Singing Springs, Boiling Spring, Grassy Hole Springs, Mill Pond Spring, and Coffee Spring. The Ichetucknee is a tributary of the Santa Fe River, which in turn flows into the Suwannee River before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. The park restricts launch and end points along the river, permitting a tube/raft excursion of 1.5 or 3 hours. A variety of commercial vendors, located outside the entrance to the park, rent tubes and rafts for a modest fee.

Park wildlife includes: Otter, beaver, turtle, ibis, wood stork, egret, great blue heron, cormorant, anhinga, kingfisher, limpkin, wild turkey, wood duck, white-tailed deer, raccoon, armadillo, water snakes and juvenile alligators. The fish are primarily bream, bluegill, largemouth bass, alligator gar, mullet and catfish. Manatees have been seen in the winter months.

1 History
2 The State takes control
3 Current Threats
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

The river and springs were used consistently by early cultures of Native Americans, dating back thousands of years. Teeth and bones of mastodon and other extinct megafauna have been found in the river. A 17th century Spanish mission site has been identified in the park, next to a short tributary connecting Fig Springs to the Ichetucknee River, about one mile downstream from the headspring of the river. San Martín de Timucua, built in 1608, was one of the major interior missions serving the important Spanish settlement of St. Augustine and flourished through most of that century. Plans to reconstruct the mission and open it to the public as an interpretational site were dropped.^[2]

The Seminole Wars of the early to mid-1800s drove those natives from north Florida. In the late 1800s, William Henry Collins owned the Mill Pond store and Gristmill on the Ichetucknee to grind corn into cornmeal and grits for the booming population of nearby Fort White, Florida. For a short while Ichetucknee even had a post office at the Mill Pond store. With the gradual decline of Fort White between 1895 and the first world war, the population of Fort White plunged from 2000 to several hundred, resulting in the closure of the mill and store.

The locals have always known of and enjoyed the Ichetucknee River & Springs. It was the perfect place to cool off at the end of a long, hot day in the fields. However, before 1970, the existence and location of this natural wonder were something of a secret, known only to local residents. The road to the spring was not paved, nor was it marked. The spring was on private property and the owners mostly ignored it. During the late 1960s, the area was overrun with students from the nearby University of Florida. ^[3] Food wrappers and drink containers littered the area because there were no trash receptacles and no garbage pickup. Broken glass was occasionally found on the rocks and in the water. After a swimmer was injured, the absentee property owners threatened to fence the area and curtail public access. Loncala looked for an opportunity to find an “ecologically minded” buyer. ^[4]

[edit] The State takes control

The State of Florida purchased the property from the Loncala Phosphate Corporation in 1970 for $1,850,000 and a much needed cleanup took place. The springs became a state park, and Columbia County built a paved road, number 238, for easier access. In 1972, the head spring of the river was declared a National Natural Landmark by the U. S. Department of the Interior. Now everybody knew about Ichetucknee. The main tributary flowing from Ichetucknee Springs soon became the most popular tubing river in the world, attracting over five thousand people daily during the peak summer months. Hundreds of others came to swim and picnic at the headspring, scuba dive in the caves of the famous "blue hole", and walk the nature trails that wind through the park's hammocks and longleaf pine forests. [1] Not surprisingly, it wasn't long before Ichetucknee Springs began showing the obvious signs of over-use. Underwater plants were uprooted, wildlife disappeared, and bank erosion increased. To rectify these problems, the Park Service implemented a "carrying capacity", limiting the number of people on the river at any one time. The effect on the spring ecosystem was both positive and immediate. Vegetation began to reappear, wildlife returned, and the turbidity disappeared. To curb littering, the Park Service prohibited food, drinks and tobacco on the river, which has helped return the area to a natural, pristine beauty.

[edit] Current Threats

In the early 1990s, the springs were showing signs of an even more disturbing degradation: a progressive decline in water quality. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection commissioned studies which showed that nutrient levels were steadily increasing. Additionally, some swimmers and tubers began to report strange skin rashes, possibly caused by algae fed by nutrients introduced into the aquifer. [2]

[edit] See also

Ichetucknee Springs State Park

[edit] References

^ Simpson, J. Clarence (1956). in Mark F. Boyd: Florida Place-Names of Indian Derivation. Tallahassee, Florida: Florida Geological Survey.
^ Weisman, Brent R. 1993. "Archaeology of Fig Springs Mission, Ichetucknee Springs State Park", in Bonnie G. McEwan. ed. The Spanish Missions of La Florida. University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-1232-5
^ Florida Springs.org-Science Helps Protect a Springshed
^ [http://www.authorsden.com/categories/story_top.asp?catid=30&id=16333 Authors Den.com: Patricia C Behnke-Skinny Dipping in the Ichetucknee]