Peacock

[Shocky]

Can anyone tell me why Peacock is not open to diving at this time?

[tflaris]

Visibility.


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[Kelly Jessop]

Can anyone tell me why Peacock is not open to diving at this time?

Because visibility the last two times it was checked was below park minimums,and there is still an active boil that is blowing out river water. The plans are a team will go in the beginning of this week,and check conditions. South Georgia received a record rain fall for late February,and with depleted aquifer,the reversal was rather rapid,and absorded a lot of river water. Characterisitic signs are not only debris that was carried in,but the changes to bottom topography. Source tunnels are spewing large quantities of river water,and this has caused the system to be poor for a prolonged period of time. There are some positive signs that we have received,and encouraged by the signs,but also noteworthy is that south Georgia has gotten several rain events since the closure which has slowed the clearing process. For many cave divers who received training during this era of a drought,it is frustrating that a site has prolonged closure,when normally it is open. But,I recall a rainy season in the mid-90s where Peacock was closed for over 3 months,and some of the earlier cave divers had told me about a time that Peacock was closed for 6months due to localized rains. Cross your fingers and lets hope we get some good news,because trust me,we want to see the park open because number of visitors per annum is very important for determining if the park is in the red or balck.

[Kelly Jessop]

PS-something to me of greater concern is the amount of land north of Peacock that was being used for timber,has been clearcut,and now prepared for row crop.

[gschaut]

If Peacock is going to be in any danger from lack of visitors, can we take a collection?

I'd send money to Cave Excursions, if they would drive it down the street, and put it in the Iron Ranger. Just to keep the head count inflated.

[Jerry]

PS-something to me of greater concern is the amount of land north of Peacock that was being used for timber,has been clearcut,and now prepared for row crop.

Was it clearcut for timber or gainesville's new biomass power plant? Gainesville sold everybody on the fact that it would run on yard waste; now they're cutting every tree they can. Note all the clearcuts on CR340 (aka Poe Springs Road) and the old truss mill is now a collection point for biomass.

[allen]

I hope the state counts cars in the parking lot rather than money in the iron ranger. I buy an annual pass mostly to use at Peacock, but I purchase the pass wherever I happen to be when the old one expires (usually John Lloyd or Pennekamp).

[Kelly Jessop]

Was it clearcut for timber or gainesville's new biomass power plant? Gainesville sold everybody on the fact that it would run on yard waste; now they're cutting every tree they can. Note all the clearcuts on CR340 (aka Poe Springs Road) and the old truss mill is now a collection point for biomass.

YOu may be right Jerry,but along the road to Peacock and north of Peacock on hwy51,these areas have been clearcut,land cleared with heavy equipment,and what looks like it is being prepped for row crop. The good news at this point is I don't see irrigation.

[Diverlee]

I will be buying a new annual pass when they reopen.

[Kelly Jessop]

I hope the state counts cars in the parking lot rather than money in the iron ranger. I buy an annual pass mostly to use at Peacock, but I purchase the pass wherever I happen to be when the old one expires (usually John Lloyd or Pennekamp).

That is something we pointed out. Most parks get a majority of their visitors by paying at a ranger station versus passes,so tracking numbers is very easy. Many cave divers use the annual recreational passes,so counting deposits in the iron ranger is statistically skewed. Park management took this observation under advisement,and was looking how to get a better statistical handle on number of park visitors. Also,the formula suggests that each park visitor generates $45 expended per visitor in the community to show economic benefit to the community ie. jobs,but for cave divers this number is too low as noted in a study by Bill Huth.