February 9, 1999
1) Forever Wild Acquires 2 More Pieces of Land
2) Forever Wild Land Purchases 1993-1999
3) ADEM Commission Meets Next Tuesday With Diverse Agenda
4) Earth Day 2000 Gearing Up
5) Interesting Stats From Aububon's Flicker Flashes
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1. Forever Wild Acquires Two More Pieces of Land - Last
Friday (Feb. 5th),
the Forever Wild Board of Directors met in Rogersville, Alabama
at Joe
Wheeler State Park. At the meeting, Forever Wild staff announced
the
acquisition of 2 new tracts that have become a part of the Forever
Wild
system. These tracts include:
Pocosin Tract of Pike County (190 acres) - Located near Troy
State
University, this tract contains rare "pocosin" habitat.
Eagle Roost in Marshall County (17 acres) - This tract affords
2,000 feet of
frontage on Highway 227. Historically, this spot provides a view
of Town
Creek Canyon and one of the travel corridors for wintering bald
eagles at
Guntersville State Park.
Also at the meeting, the Board directed the staff to continue
the
process/negotiations of acquiring Ruffner Mountain, Mobile Delta
Lands,
Sipsey Sullivan, Barton Beach/Cahaba, Tenneco/Champion, and Skyline
Addition
Properties.
2. Forever Wild Land Purchases 1993-1999 - Ever wondered
where all the
Forever Wild lands have been purchased? It's pretty spread out.
Here is a
listing of all the Forever Wild purchases since 1993, and their
designated
"catagory", ie.. nature preserve (NP), wildlife management
(WM), recreation
(R) or state park (SP.
1. Monsanto in Marshall County (209 acres) - NP
2. Wehle in Bullock County (1505 acres) - WM & R
3. Coon Creek in Tallapoosa County (320 acres) - R
4. Grand Bay Savanna in Mobile County (2734 acres) - NP
5. Riggins in Lowndes County (624 acres) WM
6. Fort Toulouse in Elmore County (254 acres) SP
7. Indian Mountain in Cherokee County (514 acres) R
8. Blakely Addition in Baldwin County (420 acres) SP
9. Blowing Spring Cave in Lauderdale County (60 acres) NP
10. Big Cats Creek in Madison (197 acres) SP
11. Ghee Nature Preserve in Calhoun County (3924 acres) R
12. Pocosin Tract in Pike County (190 acres) NP
13. Eagle Roost in Marshall County (17 acres) R & SP
Totals: 10,968 acres in 12 different Alabama counties (Marshall
having the
honor of 2 tracts)
3. Packed Agenda: ADEM Commission to Meet Feb. 16 -
The Alabama Environmental
Management Commission will be meeting Tuesday February 16 at 1:30
in ADEM's
Montgomery office. This meeting has a particularly diverse agenda,
that
includes consideration of new hazardous waste regulations, the
proposed
adoption of new Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) rules,
and the
consideration of a case between Families Concerned About Nerve
Gas
Incineration and Serving Alabama's Future Environment vs. the
U.S. Army and
various governmental groups. Surprisingly, CBS Corporation is
also
intervening on the Nerve Gas case on behalf of the Army. Most
people don't
know that the same folks that bring you "60 Minutes"
and "Touched by an
Angel" are linked with Westinghouse, the same people building
the incinerator
in Calhoun County.
4. Earth Day 2000 Fast Approaching - On April 22, 1970,
20 million people
gathered together across the U.S. for the first Earth Day celebration.
The
modern environmental movement was launched. Stronger environmental
laws
including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and the Endangered
Species Act
were all passed within 4 years after Earth Day 1970.
On April 22, 1990, 200 million people from 141 countries participated
in the
first international Earth Day. Where will you be April 22, 2000?
For more
information about Earth Day 2000 please visit their website at
http://www.earthday.net or
call them at 206-264-0114.
5. Statistics From the BAS's Flicker Flashes - Check
out some of these
statistics that appeared in "Flicker Flashes" the Birmingham
Audubon
Society's newsletter.
* In 1991, $5.2 billion was spent by birders on goods and services
related to
bird feeding and watching, and more than 24 million Americans
reported they
traveled to watch birds.
** According to figures from Southwick Associates, in that
same year, $53.6
million in retail sales were generated in Alabama by non-consumptive
bird use.
*** According to Fortune magazine more Americans prefer birding
over golf
when asked how to unwind on a vacation.
To learn more about the Birmingham Audubon Society and birding
in Alabama,
visit their website at:
http://bmewww.eng.uab.edu/BAS
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
