August 2, 2002
#183
1) State Secures 30 Year Lease On TVA Lands
2) Sierra Club Names Tuscaloosa Bypass "Wrong
- Way" Project
3) Black Warrior-Cahaba Rivers Land Trust To Purchase
175 Acres
4) Ruffner Mountain Nature Center Included In Federal
Appropriation
5) Tennessee River Swimmer Makes a Big Splash
6) BEN Notes: AWF Annual Award Winners, Point Clear
Trail Work Begins, Return the Great Alabama Forest Campaign, Alabama
Disabilities Action Coalition Candidates Forum
**********************************************************
"It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again
to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know
the sense of wonder and humility."
- Rachel Carson
***********************************************************
1. State Secures 30 Year Lease On TVA Lands -
Last week, the Department of Conservation announced that they
had secured new 30 year land leases with the Tennessee Valley
Authority (TVA).
TVA and the Alabama Department of Natural Resources and Conservation
have operated under leases for more than 50 years. The new leases
give the state the right to oversee more than 45,000 acres of
TVA lands. This action will enable the state to manage the lands
and create and improve recreational opportunities. More importantly,
the new agreement will bring all the properties under a 30 year
plan. Previously, the leases for various TVA properties were secured
for different lengths of time.
2. Sierra Club Names Tuscaloosa Bypass "Wrong
- Way" Project - On Tuesday (July 30), a report was released
by the national Sierra Club, listing the Eastern Bypass in Tuscaloosa
County as one of the 26 "wrong-way" projects nationwide.
The bypass received it's low marks from the group because of the
impact the highway will have on the cliffs of Hurricane Creek.
According to the Tuscaloosa News, two years ago, Friends of Hurricane
Creek (FOHC) and the West Alabama Sierra Club joined forces to
convince the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) officials
to move the bypass corridor 1500 to 1800 feet northeast of the
current proposal. If accepted, the Sierra Club/FOHC endorsed bypass
proposal would avoid damaging wildlife along the M Bend, known
among local environmentalists as the "crown jewel of Tuscaloosa."
According to ALDOT, the planned bypass is intended to reduce traffic
on McFarland Boulevard. The Sierra Club report, which is titled
"Smart Choices, Less Traffic" highlights the best and
worst local plans for alleviating traffic and air pollution. To
read the Sierra Club's report on Sprawl 2002, visit their website
map at http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/report02/
3. Black Warrior-Cahaba Rivers Land Trust To Purchase
175 Acres - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded a $682,000
grant to the Black Warrior-Cahaba Rivers Land Trust (Land Trust)
which will allow the group to purchase at least 175 acres of land
for the Turkey Creek Nature Preserve in Pinson, Alabama, located
in Jefferson County. The grant was endorsed locally by Republican
Congressman Spencer Bachus and supported by the Department of
Conservation and the Siegelman Administration.
In addition to the pending 175 acre purchase, the Land Trust earlier
this year completed the purchase of 160 acres from Pat O'Sullivan
to create the Turkey Creek Nature Preserve. Presently, the Land
Trust is getting ready to close on an additional 200 acres owned
by Jefferson County. Within a year, the Turkey Creek Nature Preserve
will have more than 500 acres within it's boundaries.
Efforts to create the nature preserve started several years ago
after residents near Pinson successfully defeated a proposed prison
that was to be built in the area. A local grassroots group called
the Society To Advance the Resources of Turkey Creek (START) was
formed to defeat the plan and has continued work to preserve the
creek's watershed.
To read more about the USFWS grant, view Governor Don Siegelman's
news release on the project at http://www.dcnr.state.al.us/Press%20Release.htm
4. Ruffner Mountain Nature Center Included In
Federal Appropriation - A proposed state of the art nature science
center for Ruffner Mountain in Birmingham has been included in
the U. S. Department of Transportation appropriations bill for
FY 2003.
The $500,000 appropriation, which comes from the Transportation
and Community and System Preservation Pilot Program in the TEA-21
section of the Transportation Department's budget, was secured
by U.S. Senator Richard Shelby.
Currently, Ruffner's new nature science center is in its conceptual
stage, pending the completion of a formal land use master plan.
The 1000 acre nature preserve in eastern Birmingham is the second
largest urban preserve in the country. The group just celebrated
it's 25th anniversary last month. To learn more about Ruffner
Mountain visit their website at http://www.ruffnermountain.org
5. Tennessee River Swimmer Makes a Big Splash
- Mimi Hughes, a mother of four children, states it simply. "The
Tennessee River is the lifeblood of the Tennessee Valley."
She should know.
Over the past ten days Mimi Hughes has been swimming a stretch
of the Tennessee River to highlight the river's polluted condition.
"The Tennessee is a river at risk," Hughes stated in
recent Huntsville Time article. "The point of my swim is
to challenge people, to make them stop and think about what we're
doing to the river. Each of us is responsible for the shape it
is in."
Hughes, who calls her pilgrimage the "Tennessee Riverswim,"
intends to swim the entire 652 mile length of the Tennessee River
in multiple stages. To learn more about her remarkable story and
journey and to follow her progress, visit her website at http://www.riverswim.com
.
6. BEN Notes: AWF Annual Award Winners, Point
Clear Trail Work Begins, Return the Great Alabama Forest Campaign,
Alabama Disabilities Action Coalition Candidates Forum
AWF Annual Award Winners - Last week, the Alabama Wildlife Federation
announced this year's Governor's Conservation Achievement Awards
winners. Here is a listing of the honorees: Legislative Conservationists
of the Year - Rep. Jack Venable and Sen. Jim Preuitt Conservation
Organization of the Year - Alabama Public Lands Association Conservation
Educator of the Year - The Project CATE Foundation Air Conservationist
- Phifer Wire Products - Tuscaloosa Wildlife Conservationist of
the Year - Grady Hartzog - Eufaula Conservationist of the Year
- Daniel Powell - "Friend of the Bear" To learn more
about the Governor's Conservation Achievement Awards visit AWF's
website at http://www.alawild.org
Point Clear Trail Work Begins - Residents of Point Clear, Alabama
may notice some increased activity along Scenic 98 in the coming
weeks. That's because consultants contracted by the Baldwin County
Commission will begin design and engineering work for the development
of a 5.5 mile pedestrian and bike trail that will connect the
historic Grand Hotel and the existing Jill Hall Aerobic Trail
and Mullet Point Park. The new trail is part of the larger Eastern
Shore Trail which hopes to eventually link hiking and biking trails
between Battleship USS Alabama on the Causeway and Weeks Bay National
Estuarine Research Reserve in Fairhope. For more information about
these trail projects, contact Hank Burch, Baldwin County Environmental
Planner at 251- 580-1655 or hburch@co.baldwin.al.us
.
Return the Great Alabama Forest Campaign - The Southern Appalachian
Forest Coalition will be hosting "Envisioning Our Future:
A Conservation Vision for Alabama" August 8th, 8:00 until
5:00 pm at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. On the agenda is
a presentation highlighting conservation areas in northern Alabama
and a panel discussion of Alabama Constitution Reform and how
it can help in the conservation of Alabama's natural heritage.
To register, call 205- 592-4352 or
e-mail jason@wildalabama.org
.
Alabama Disabilities Action Coalition Candidates Forum - On August
8th, 9:00 a. m. to noon, the Alabama Disabilities Action Coalition,
a nonpartisan coalition promoting the rights of people with disabilities,
will be hosting it's 2002 Candidates Forum. The forum will be
held at the Lakeshore Foundation Recreation Fitness and Education
Center in Homewood, Alabama. Candidates for governor and the U.S.
Senate have been invited to participate. For more information
about this event, contact Judy Roy at 205-251-2223.
********************************************************
Please share BEN with friends and fellow conservationists. If
you have any questions or comments about this publication or would
like your address to be removed from the BEN e-mail list, contact
Pat Byington, the author and publisher of BEN at 205-226-7739
or pkbyington@aol.com
. To receive back issues of BEN, please go to our website at:
http://www.BamaNews.com
*****************************************************************