January 7, 1999
1) Kimberly - Clark to Sell 529,000 Acres In the South
2) Montgomery Advertiser Calls for ADEM Changes
3) Alabama Wildlife Federation Releases Wildlife Book
4) Enviro - "E" Postcards Raises Money for WWF
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1. Kimberly - Clark (KC) To Sell Southeast Timberlands to
New York Investment
Company - According to a Mobile Register report, Kimberly
-Clark Corp.
intends to sell its Southeast timberland (529,000 acres mostly
located in
South Alabama) and woodland operations to Southstar Timber Resources,
a
company organized by ACI Capital Co. Inc. of New York. The timberlands
portion of the deal is estimated to be worth $300 million. Capital
for the
deal will be provided by ACI, along with Greenwich Street Capital
Partners
and Travelers Casulty and Surety Co. The sale is subject to regulatory
approval and the completion of the financing.
Several consortiums made bids on the KC lands including the
state's Forever
Wild Program who committed up to $25 million toward purchasing
approximately
63,000 acres of the biologically significant delta lands. (* As
a Board
member of Forever Wild, I will report as soon as possible in BEN
the status
of the Forever Wild proposal - PB.)
2. Montgomery Advertiser - "ADEM Changes Long Overdue"
- A December 26th
Montgomery Advertiser editorial cited recent calls for ADEM reform
by Senator
Tom Butler of Huntsville and Representative Bill Fuller of Lafayette
as "long
overdue". Both Butler and Fuller are making reform proposals
that include
changing the Director of ADEM position from a Commission appointment
to a
cabinet level position appointed by the Governor (Butler's proposal)
to
changing the ADEM's commission to include members of the general
public and
environmentalists, and renaming the agency to the Alabama Department
of
Environmental Protection (Fuller's proposals).
After pointing out several recent ADEM controversies, the Advertiser
concluded it's editorial stating, "ADEM has needed an overhaul
for a long
time. Butler's proposal is a good starting point for accomplishing
that."
3. Alabama Wildlife Federation Releases Wildlife Book
- The Alabama Wildlife
Federation (AWF) has recently published one of the most comprehensive
books
ever written on Alabama's wildlife. Titled "Managing Wildlife"
this 588 page
hardbound book took 4 years to produce and involved 58 people
dedicated to
research, review, edit and produce the publication. Dan Dumont,
former
Executive Director of AWF and now director of the Alabama Forest
Resources
Center lead the team. Subjects in the book include managing game
and
non-game wildlife, conservation ethics, backyard wildlife and
endangered
species. The book, which is written by Greg K. and Deborah T.
Yarrow can be
found at local Books a Million stores for $69.95. You can also
order the book
through AWF by calling 1-800-822-9453.
4. Enviro E-Postcards On the Internet - Erin Englebrecht,
the Southeast
regional coordinator for GREEN sent me over the holidays an environmental
e-mail postcard. It was a wonderful gift, which was paperless
and free.
Here is a definition of "e-cards" : They are postcards
on the internet. You
can send an e-card to anyone with Web access and an e-mail account.
According to the E-Card company Erin sent me, every E-Card you
send enables
them to contribute to the World Wildlife Fund (they do this through
groups
who sponsor them). The cards are beautiful, address every occasion,
and are
free. If you would like to try sending out an e-card, here 's
their address:
http://www.e-cards.com/site/home.pl
Please share BEN with friends and fellow conservationists.
If you have any questions about BEN, contact Pat Byington at
205-226-7739 or pkbyington@aol.com
