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Livable Cities
April 11th, 8:00 to Noon
Southern Environmental Center at Birmingham-Southern College

The Southern Environmental Center will be hosting the 4th Annual Livable Cities Conference on April 11, 2003, at Birmingham-Southern College (BSC). The main goal of the event is to raise awareness about sustainable lifestyle choices that we face in our urban environments. This year's keynote speakers include Michael Kinsley with the Rocky Mountain Institute, Fred Kent with People for Public Spaces, Andy Clarke with American Bicycle and Pedestrian Association, and Jim Charlier with Charlier Associates, a renowned transportation planning company in Boulder, Colorado.

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1. Wilderness Society Unveils Alabama's Mountain Treasures Report - Currently, only about 10% of the Bankhead National Forest and the Talladega Division of the Talladega National Forests is permanently protected - 41,447 acres in three Wilderness areas.

The Wilderness Society released last month a plan called "Alabama Mountain Treasures." The plan calls for additional protective measures and special designations to be placed upon 24 different areas within the Bankhead and Talladega National Forests. Some of these proposed designations include Cultural Heritage Areas, Scenic Areas, Wild, Scenic and Recreation River, Viewshed Management, Botanical Area and Wilderness. The use of these special designations will enable the Forest Service to be more flexible in its management and more importantly target specific areas that require unique and special protective measures.

If enacted, the Wilderness Society's "Alabama Mountain Treasures" plan would provide additional protection to 139,651 acres and 75 river corridor miles within the Bankhead and the Talladega National Forests. For more information about this plan and to receive a copy, contact the Wilderness Society's Southeast Office at 404-872-9453.

2. USPIRG Profiles Sauta Cave In "Take Refuge" National Wildlife Refuge Report - Over 100 years ago, Theodore Roosevelt created the National Wildlife Refuge System. The United States Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG) celebrated this achievement by releasing a new report called "Take Refuge: Celebrating 100 Years of Threatened and Endangered Species Protection Through the National Wildlife Refuge System."

Featured in the report is a chapter profiling the 264 acre Sauta Cave National Wildlife Refuge in Jackson County, Alabama. The cave/wildlife refuge, which is home to the endangered and threatened Indiana and gray bats, was recognized as a National Wildlife Refuge and habitat success story in the report. According to the report, before the creation of the refuge in 1978, as a result of habitat disturbance, the Sauta Cave (the area is an important maternity site for bats) had declined in population from a historical high of half a million bats to 128,000 in 1976. Since the establishment of the refuge more than 250,000 bats now live in the cave during peak season.

The cave is also becoming a "wildlife watching " destination with over 5000 people visiting the site a year. The attraction ... to witnessing at dusk and into the evening, thousands of bats exiting the cave for a night of foraging.

3. "WildPaths" : AWF Partners with Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind - The Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB) and the Alabama Wildlife Federation (AWF) has teamed up to improve wildlife habitat and aesthetics while providing job training opportunities for adults with disabilities.

Through a new program called "WildPaths", adult clients at AIDB's E.H. Gentry Technical Facility are handcrafting a line of bluebird and wood duck boxes as well as bird feeders. Once manufactured, the boxes and feeders will then be marketed through a partnership between AIDB and AWF.

The WildPaths program will give adults with special needs an opportunity to develop work skills for transition into the competitive workplace. Seed money for WildPaths came from AWF and the Alabama Power Foundation. That money will used to purchase materials and provide marketing support.

WildPaths will sell the cypress wood duck boxes for $40 each, assembled pine bluebird boxes for $10, unassembled bluebird boxes for $8 and bird feeders for $13. The products will available for purchase online at http://www.wildpaths.org . Every dollar raised through this program will be used to provide additional job training opportunities for people with disabilities.

4. Crab Trap Collection Day Hauls in Over 1000 Obstacles - Last month, more than 100 volunteers from numerous environmental and civic organizations turned out Saturday to help recover derelict crab traps, most of which had been blown loose during storms.

Although taking crab traps is usually illegal, cages within 500 yards of the shore were declared "marine litter" by the Alabama Marine Resources Division for that one day. Unused or defective crap traps can come loose from their anchors and cause severe damage to boats and harm and kill marine wildlife. Nearly 1000 obstacles and traps were collected by volunteers.

5. Southern Environmental Center Featured in Southern Living Gardens Guide-Want to check out Alabama's first EcoScape? This month, the Southern Environmental Center at Birmingham-Southern College (SEC) Ecoscape is featured in the Spring edition of Southern Living Magazines' Garden Guide (pages 76-77). Photographs of SEC Director Roald Hazelhoff showing off large sunflowers and leading children through the "EcoScape Garden Maze" are just part of this wonderfully written article.

You can learn more about the SEC at http://www.bsc.edu/sec or of course check out the EcoScape in this Spring's Garden Guide.

6. BEN Notes: AWF Opens New Office, National Forest Public Meetings Schedule, Jefferson County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day, Urban Forestry Grants, Earth Day Events Next Week

AWF Opens New Office - The Alabama Wildlife Federation has opened up its new headquarters at Lanark, in Millbrook, Alabama. The homes and property of Lanark were donated by Isabel and Wiley Hill on 340 acres just 10 miles north of Montgomery. Stunning woods, beautiful gardens and attractive lakes adorn the property. Of course, with a new location comes a new address and phone number.

AWF's new contact numbers are: 3050 Lanark Road, Millbrook, Alabama 36054 and 334-285-4550.

National Forest Public Meetings Schedule - Three National Forests in Alabama public meetings and discussions have been scheduled for this month.

Two meetings have been scheduled to provide information and discussion of the "Draft" Revised Land and Resource Management Plan. The first meeting will be held on April 8th from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Hilton Hotel (off Hwy. 280) in Birmingham. The second meeting is scheduled for April 30th, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Forest Supervisor's Office in Montgomery. There will be a 30 minute power point presentation and time for questions and one on one discussions with National Forests team members who helped write the plan. For additional info visit http://www.southernregion.fs.fed.us/alabama or call Rick Morgan at 334-241-8166.

The third meeting is being held by the Talladega National Forest Oakmulgee District. The topic will be a discussion about Longleaf Pine and Forest Health Restoration. The meeting will be held April 14th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Contact the Forest Service at 205-926-9765 or e-mail lchism@fs.fed.us to RSVP (there is an April 10th deadline) and receive additional details about the location.

Jefferson County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day - Jefferson County will be holding a Household Hazardous Waste Day April 26 from 8:00 a.m. to noon. There will be 4 sites countywide sites, where citizens of Jefferson County can dispose of their household hazardous waste. These sites are: the Hoover Met, Watermark Place in Bessemer, the Center Point Courthouse and the Alabama State Fairgrounds in Birmingham.

The Jefferson County Commission Department of Environmental Protection is seeking participants and volunteers. For information about the program, contact Mike Higginbotham at 205-325-8712.

Urban Forestry Grants - Like to learn how your community or organization can apply for Urban and Community Forestry Financial Assistance grants? Auburn University will be holding three workshops across the state to assist interested groups in the application process. Each meeting will start at 10 and end by noon. The meeting location and dates are:

April 8th - Hoover Lake House, Municipal Drive in Hoover, Alabama
April 9th - Alabama Forestry Commission Office in Montgomery
April 11th - Mobile Government Plaza Complex, Mobile, Alabama.

The deadline for the grant program is May 23rd. For further information contact Neil Letson at 334-240-9360 or visit the U&CF website at http://www.aces.edu/ucf.

Earth Day Events Next Week - There will be several big Earth Day events next week. Here are the details and contacts.

April 13 - "Earth Day at the Gardens" - Birmingham Botanical Gardens - 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. - Jennifer Fairley, 205-437-1273 or http://www.fairley.biz/earthday.htm.

April 13 - "Bay Area Earth Day Celebration" - Fairhope Municipal Park and Beach - Marcy Gerhart, 251-990-8520 or Lee Yokel, 251-431-6409.