Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Encyclopedia
The Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge is a 4,049 acre (16.4 km²) National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the world's premiere system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife and plants...
located in Lanier County, Georgia
Lanier County, Georgia
Lanier County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of the Valdosta, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2009, the population was 8,423. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 7,847. The county seat is Lakeland. Lakeland is Lanier County's only incorporated...
. Banks Lake is a natural pocosin or sink
Sink (geography)
A geographic sink is a depression within an endorheic basin where water collects with no visible outlet. Instead of discharging, the collected water is lost due to evaporation and/or penetration...
of ancient geologic origin. The refuge was established in 1985 for the protection and conservation of this unique environment as well as migratory and resident wildlife.
An estimated 20,000 people visit the refuge each year. There is no dedicated budget or staff for the refuge; it is administered completely by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is a 402,000 acre National Wildlife Refuge located in Charlton, Ware, and Clinch Counties of Georgia, and Baker County in Florida, United States. The refuge is administered from offices in Folkston, Georgia. The refuge was established in 1937 to protect...
.
History
Banks Lake is a natural PocosinPocosin
Pocosin is a term for a type of palustrine wetland with deep, acidic, sandy, peat soils. Groundwater saturates the soil except during brief seasonal dry spells and during prolonged droughts...
or Mill Pond
Mill pond
A mill pond is any body of water used as a reservoir for a water-powered mill. Mill ponds were often created through the construction of a mill dam across a waterway. In many places, the common proper name Mill Pond name has remained even though the mill has long since gone...
probably created by tidal action
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
of the ocean and shaped by a more temperate climate thousands of years ago.
In the mid-19th century, Joshua Lee built a low-level dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
across the drainage creek on his property and utilized the impounded running water to power a grist
Grist
Grist is grain that has been separated from its chaff in preparation for grinding. It can also mean grain that has been ground at a grist mill. Its etymology derives from the verb grind....
mill
Mill (grinding)
A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. There are many different types of grinding mills and many types of materials processed in them. Historically mills were powered by hand , working animal , wind or water...
to grind corn, wheat, and rice. The impounded lake and accompanying mill established the area as a trade center along the early stagecoach route between Waycross, Georgia
Waycross, Georgia
Waycross is the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Ware County in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 14,725 at the 2010 Census. A small portion of the city extends into Pierce County. According the U.S...
and Thomasville, Georgia
Thomasville, Georgia
Thomasville is the county seat of Thomas County, Georgia, United States. The city is the second largest in Southwest Georgia after Albany.The city deems itself the City of Roses and holds an annual Rose Festival. The town features plantations open to the public, a historic downtown, a large...
.
In the 1920s, the E.D. Rivers family attempted to develop the area around the lake for electric power
Electrical power industry
The electric power industry provides the production and delivery of electric energy, often known as power, or electricity, in sufficient quantities to areas that need electricity through a grid connection. The grid distributes electrical energy to customers...
and land development
Land development
Land development refers to altering the landscape in any number of ways such as:* changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing...
.
In the 1970s , the E.D. Rivers Estate threatened to drain the lake and harvest the "lightered stumps" and cypress tree
Taxodium
Taxodium is a genus of one to three species of extremely flood-tolerant conifers in the cypress family, Cupressaceae...
s.
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive....
purchased the land from the E.D. Rivers Estate on March 14, 1980. In April, 1980, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
entered into a lease agreement with The Nature Conservancy for management and operation of Banks Lake. On February 22, 1985, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service purchased Banks Lake from The Nature Conservancy and redesignated it as the Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
Topography
Banks Lake is a natural PocosinPocosin
Pocosin is a term for a type of palustrine wetland with deep, acidic, sandy, peat soils. Groundwater saturates the soil except during brief seasonal dry spells and during prolonged droughts...
probably created by tidal action
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
of the ocean and shaped by a more temperate climate thousands of years ago. Of the 4,049 acres (16.4 km²), approximately 1,000 acres (4 km²) is open water. The remainder consists of marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
, hardwood swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
, and uplands.
Facilities
Fishing is permitted year-round on the lake in accordance with Georgia State fishing laws. Sportfish most caught include largemouth bassLargemouth bass
The largemouth bass is a species of black bass in the sunfish family native to North America . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth...
, chain pickerel
Chain pickerel
The chain pickerel, Esox niger , is a species of freshwater fish in the pike family of order Esociformes. The chain pickerel and the american pickerel belong to the Esox genus of pikes.-Range:...
, crappie
Crappie
Crappie is a genus of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. The type species is P. annularis, the white crappie...
, bluegill
Bluegill
The Bluegill is a species of freshwater fish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. It is a member of the sunfish family Centrarchidae of the order Perciformes.-Range and distribution:...
, warmouth perch, flier, and catfish
Catfish
Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...
.
A short walking trail, boardwalk and platform are provided for wildlife viewing opportunities
A concession, the Banks Lake Outpost, rents canoes and kayaks and sells fishing and hunting licenses, bait and tackle, gifts and snacks.