Georgia Wildlife Federation

The untamed Alcovy River, with its unique wild swamps, is a national treasure which fascinates both scientists and sportsmen alike. Scientists believe the swamps are thousands of years old and hide important scientific secrets. Sportsmen know the area as an excellent fishery and producer of record white-tailed deer. For many, the river swamps are some of the last truly wild places in the Southeast and must be preserved if only for that reason.

Dr. Charles Wharton, a biologist who has produced a great deal of work on the Alcovy, has written much about the area: "The Alcovy River is clean and unpolluted compared to other Piedmont streams. It is perhaps unique among Piedmont rivers in the vastness of its swamps, the nature of the swamps, and in having an accessible and central location (for educational uses)."

To understand what makes the Alcovy River so special, you must first look at the bigger picture. Georgia's river systems are unique. Except for the tributary headwaters of the Savannah River, no river flows into Georgia from outside the state. Most of the rivers in the state are formed from runoff from the northern mountains and upper Piedmont. Georgian rivers are born in Georgia. Because of Georgia's location in the southeastern U.S., it receives as much or more rainfall than any other state in the U.S., with 50 to 60 inches of rain a year. (Seattle, the West Coast city with the reputation, receives on average ten inches less.) All this rain has to go somewhere and it does. In general, the state's geography runs downhill from the mountains to the Florida border and Georgia coast. Simplifying matters, rain that falls on Georgia soil ends up in either the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean. North of Atlanta, most Georgia mountain rivers work their way west to the Gulf. South of Atlanta, a major watershed running south to Florida approximately along Interstate 75 splits drainage between the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.

The largest single river drainage in the southeastern U.S. -up to 100,000 cubic feet per second- comes from Georgia's Altamaha River. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near St. Simons Island. Its headwaters are located in the upper Piedmont. The Alcovy is one of these upper Piedmont headwaters, with its water flowing into Lake Jackson, an impoundment lake that drains into the Ocmulgee. The Ocmulgee joins the Oconee in the coastal plain to form the Altamaha.

The Alcovy has its headwaters in Gwinnett County north of Lawrenceville. It flows south into western Walton County, past Monroe and into eastern Newton County. It flows past eastern Covington to the south end of the county into Lake Jackson. The total length of the river is approximately 80 miles, with a watershed that encompasses a total of 168,072 acres with 41,761 in Gwinnett, 87,540 in Walton, and 38,771 in Newton.

Piedmont river swamps are relatively scarce in Georgia, especially when compared to the more extensive swamps found on the coastal plain. And because the Alcovy River flows through sparsely developed areas, the river and swamps are generally unpolluted. This makes them excellent examples of what these environments should look like, which makes scientific study of these areas even more important.

Geologically, like much of the Piedmont, the area is underlain by metamorphic rock of granite gneiss, brotite gneiss, and schist. (In some places there are granite outcrop communities which harbor sensitive and specialized plants such as the threatened quillwort, Isoetes melanospora.) In Newton County, the topsoil usually is classified into five different soil associations, or five basic different types of soils. Soil type has an extremely important effect in shaping an ecosystem. In the uplands, the soils are well-drained and have a loamy surface layer and a clay subsoil. Soils on the steep hillsides have less thick subsoils. The floodplain soils range from well-draining to poorly draining, and are mostly loamy. One can find silty loam or sandy loam soils in the bottomland hardwood swamps. Researchers say that the Alcovy River floodplain soils are generally classified in the Chewacla-Wehadkee Association, which are poorly drained sandy and clay loams. These various soil types, along with other factors such as degree and duration of wetness, support a variety of different plant communities.

Flying over these counties, one easily finds the Alcovy River, because even from the window of a plane it is easy to notice the broad, fertile green belt of the hardwood swamps. It is very unusual indeed that an unspoiled, natural beauty like the Alcovy could be found just minutes from one of the larger cities of the world.

Inspected on foot, even a casual observer feels like they've traveled back in time to a primeval world that evolution forgot. Or perhaps a world where evolution started. Writes Wharton: "The Alcovy swamp is symbolic of those ancient environments that spawned the life that colonized the land and came to rule the world," he says. "In the summer swamp there are depressions, channels and pools in various stages of desiccation, annually recreating a type of environment which, 300 million years ago, may have urged certain fish equipped with primitive lungs to crawl out upon the mud in search of deeper water and, in this quest, to become the first creatures to walk on the land."

Salamanders represent this transitional stage of life, and they are abundant in the cool moistness of the swamp, writes Wharton. At least 11 different species of salamanders have been found in the Alcovy river swamps, which is a species-diverse, fertile greenway, especially when compared to the relatively sterile pine forest communities that now dominate the state.

Other small vertebrates found in the Alcovy river swamps include many species of frogs including the bull, green, cricket, leopard, spring peeper and bird-voiced; a variety of mice including the golden, meadow and white-footed and the rare southeastern shrew. The short-tail and long-nose shrews are also found scampering across the forest floor. The most common reptile is the box turtle, but painted, mud and musk turtles are found as are river coolers. The brown water snake is said to be the dominant snake species, but also found are the common banded water snake and the queen snake. These smaller vertebrates live off the rich insect and worm fauna found swarming in pools in the river swamp even during winter. Larger vertebrates often found in abundance are deer, raccoon, otter, beaver, mink, muskrat, swamp rabbit and squirrel. The abundance of different species of crayfish supports many of these species. Many species of fresh water mussels have been found in these clean waters.

Birdlife in the swamps is indicative of an older growth forest with nesting wood ducks, red-bellied and pileated woodpeckers, and barred owls. Others at home in the Alcovy greenway are blue herons, waterfowl, and red shouldered hawk. Fish species in the Alcovy have yet to be fully documented, but one finds typical Georgia species such as large-mouth bass, red-bellied sunfish, and catfish.

The need for description and classification of the various types of river ecosystems has created problems for scientists who study these areas. Many generic and not so generic schemes have been developed by researchers without general agreement on one particular system. The main problem has been that the amount and duration of "wetness" changes quite a bit from wetland to wetland. Also, the "wetness" of a particular wetland itself changes from season-to-season and year-to-year, making classification difficult.

Wharton describes these river and floodplain ecosystems more generally as either river swamp or bottomland hardwoods, depending on how long an area is wet and what that wetness will support. The river and floodplain ecoysystems will be described generally as either river swamps or bottomland hardwoods.

River swamps usually have standing water and are composed of highly water-tolerant trees, such as the tupelo gum, Nyssa aquatica. Bottomland hardwoods are drier than river swamps and are mainly composed of less water-tolerant hardwoods such as oaks, maples, ash, sweetgum, and ironwood.

The river swamp community type, in general, are closed canopy forests with little understory growth. The more water that flows through the river swamp, the fewer the species. These intact river swamps, which act as natural wildlife corridors provide refuge for wildlife.

The idea that these swamps are leftover - or relict - from Georgia ecosystems thousands of years ago is supported by unexpected discoveries of coastal plain plant and animal species in the Alcovy river swamps. "Stable and equithermal swamplands have allowed penetration of Coastal Plain plant and animal species deep into the Piedmont," writes Susan Crow, a landscape architect who analyzed the Alcovy river swamp to determine a site for an educational center. That these species were stranded in Newton County from thousands of years ago is a fascinating concept.

Georgia hasn't always looked like it does today. For example, more than 225 million years ago in the Permian Period, Georgia was located below the equator. It was in this period that the first frogs and first evergreens emerged on the planet. Continental drift during the Jurassic period 185 million years ago moved Georgia north. For the next 110 million years, through the Cretaceous period, sediments eroded south from the Appalachian Mountains forming the Coastal Plain and Continental Shelf. During this period, the seashore was located at the fall line below Macon. Also during this period, dinosaurs came and went, and birds, mammals and snakes evolved. Approximately 100 million years ago, waters receded making real estate below Macon a swamp purchase. Florida was still under water and remained so for the next 99 million years. In the last two million years, the continental ice sheet advanced then retreated, causing sea levels to fluctuate several hundred feet. It's only in the last million years that Florida emerged and our Georgia barrier islands and beautiful golden marshes were born. All these changes to Georgia over the last half billion years have created an interesting state.

During the last several thousand years in Georgia, some scientists believe, the river swamp has remained more or less like it is now. After the seas dropped back to their present levels, some coastal plain species were left in river swamp communities that normally wouldn't be found outside the coastal plain.

So what are some of these stranded species? One is the tupelo gum tree, a coastal species. The northern most pure stand of tupelo gum in Georgia is located in Newton County above Interstate 20 where Cornish Creek meets the Alcovy River. The land was recently purchased by the Georgia Wildlife Federation for the purpose of protecting it. Two other coastal plain species, the bird-voiced tree frog and the mole salamander, make their home in the Alcovy river swamps in what is called a disjunct population, or a population isolated from its usual territory. Some have argued that these species were introduced by man or other means, but Wharton doesn't believe so. "The tupelo could have been carried in the gut of a bird, but not a mole salamander, a bird-voiced tree frog,"he says. "It's not very likely that they could have become established populations in the last 200 years."

The second community type in the Alcovy river and floodplain, the bottomland hardwoods, is found in the floodplain at an elevation only a foot or so higher than the river swamps. Bottomland hardwoods are adapted to high water tables but they can't survive constant inundation. Generally, they are wet less than six months a year and have a higher species diversity.

Bottomland hardwoods are found in river floodplains on old channels, depressions, oxbows, terraces and levees. One finds different plant communities in the bottomland hardwoods depending on degree and duration of wetness and the soil type. There are overcup, swamp, chestnut, willow oaks and swamp red maple on the wet silt loam; on the slightly drained terrace over silt loam are beech, southern sugar maple, sweet gum, bitternut hickory, and loblolly pine. On the best-drained sandy loam grow water oak-green ash and pawpaw. It is from the pawpaw tree that the Alcovy gets its name the Muskogee Indians called it Ulcofauhatchie, or River among the Pawpaw trees. On the river banks overhanging the stream are river birch and green ash.

Bottomland hardwoods, the meeting place for aquatic and terrestrial environments, are highly productive, diverse and dynamic communities.

The Alcovy river and floodplain are very valuable to man. They play an important role in maintaining the health of the river system. They act as effective filters, depositing silt over a large area which helps clean the river . They act as natural settlement and oxidation basins which help purify the river of pollution. It is a highly efficient water treatment facility with no fossil fuel costs, reducing the amount of phosphorus and bacteria in the water without oxygen depletion.

They also perform the valuable role of minimizing flood and erosion damage by dissipating the excess energy of increased water flow. This occurs as floodwaters move through numerous side channels, overbanks, and across the floodplain in a sheet flow, which drains excess energy by the resistance of the vegetation and soil, preventing excess damage to the river. "Man seems never to have really learned that the floodplain of a river was built by the river, and it is the river's channel in times of excess water," says Wharton. "Rivers that overflow their flood plains are as common as flood plains that await the overflow of their rivers ... Overbank flow, then, is a natural phenomenon."

The river and floodplain is an important source of food and recreation. During high water, bass, bream, and other fish leave the channel and forage among the oaks and hickories on the floodplain floor. The floodplain also functions as a spawning and nursery grounds for fish. Many sportsmen fish in its waters and deer hunters seek some of the legendary record deer found in these swamps. Hikers and campers also appreciate the Alcovy's natural beauty.

The Alcovy River swamp, an important educational and research resource, is located only one hour away from the largest population center in the southeast, making it convenient for field trips and other educational uses. The Georgia Wildlife Federation has started the Alcovy River Fund, for the purpose of protecting this valuable resource and building an educational facility for wetlands ecology education.