July 23, 1999
1) Nature Conservancy Gives $1 Million To Delta Purchase
2) Mobile Bay Watch Files Suit Over Sewage Violations
2) Pinhoti Trail Named State's Millennium Legacy Trail
4) Poll: Strong Support for Land Water Conservation Fund
5) Wildlife Center Seeking Interns
6) Two Adult Bears and a Cub Found In Mobile County
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"....Whenever you go over the twin bridges and you see
this clear-cutting in
such an environmentally pristine area, it just tears your heart
out, he said.
And we have successfully stopped that. You can't replace that
stuff - old
growth trees."
"We have successfully purchased some of the most environmentally
sensitive
lands in North America. But this is not all we're going to do.
There are
other issues that impact the Delta that we need to look at, examine
and work
toward resolutions"
- Excerpt from Governor Don Siegelman on the Delta. This quote
appeared in
the Mobile Register July 22nd.
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1. Nature Conservancy Gives $1 Million Toward Delta Tract
- The Nature
Conservancy of Alabama (TNC) presented Governor Don Siegelman
a $1 million
check on Wednesday (July 21) to assist in the purchase and to
ensure the
protection of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. The money will go toward
the Alabama
Forever Wild Land Acquisition Program. It is the one of the largest
single
private gifts ever given to the state of Alabama dedicated toward
preservation of lands.
TNC's gift was presented to the Governor during a media tour
of the recently
purchased Mobile-Tensaw Delta Tracts. On July 12th Forever Wild
and the
Alabama Wildlife Federation purchased on behalf of the state 47,416
acres of
land in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, known as the Delta and Clearwater
Tracts.
The land was appraised for more than $24 million, yet it was purchased
for
approximately $20 million.
In addition to giving Forever Wild one million dollars, the
Alabama chapter
of the Nature Conservancy has written a National Coastal Wetlands
Grant,
specifically for land acquisition in the Delta. The $960,000 grant
was
awarded last year to the Alabama Department of Conservation and
Natural
Resources Game and Fish Division. For more information about the
Nature
Conservancy's recent Delta activities please contact them at 205-251-1155.
2. Mobile Bay Watch Files Suit To Stop Sewage Overflows
- On July 14th,
Mobile Bay Watch followed through on its notice to sue Mobile's
water and
sewer board for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act. The
suit is based
on what Mobile Bay Watch claims are 1,053 violations of the Clean
Water Act
since 1994 involving sewer wastewater overflows that occurred
when the sewer
system malfunctioned or was inundated with stormwater.
The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Mobile seeks $26 million
in
penalties, in addition to forcing the water and sewer board to
spend whatever
is necessary to correct the problems. A similar suit in Jefferson
County
resulted in more than a billion dollars worth of repairs and upgrades
to that
area's sewer system, resulting in the protection of the Cahaba
River and the
surrounding watershed from sewage overflows. For more information
about
Mobile Bay Watch's suit, please contact Casi Callaway at 334-665-1385.
3. Pinhoti Trail Named State's Millennium Legacy Trail - This
week Governor
Don Siegelman submitted Alabama's Pinhoti Trail to the national
"Green
Ribbon" Panel for inclusion as one of our nation's fifty-two
(52) Millenium
Legacy Trails.
The Pinhoti meanders over 100 miles of the mountainous Talladega
National
Forest and Cheaha State Park. In the next few years the Pinhoti
will be
constructed as to link with the Chief Ladiga Rail-Trail, Georgia's
Benton
MacKaye Trail and the well known Appalachian Trail. The Pinhoti
will allow
hikers to walk from Maine to Alabama.
More than 40 trails competed in the Millennium Legacy Trails
catagory. The
Millennium Trails Committee recommended 4 trails to be named as
Legacy
trails, with the Governor being given the honor to select and
designate the
Millennium Legacy Trail to be submitted to the Green Ribbon Panel.
For more
information about the Alabama Millennium Trail Program please
contact Pete
Conroy at 256-782-5681.
4. Poll: LWCF Support Very Strong - According to an
Americans For Our
Heritage and Recreation (AHR) poll conducted by noted Conservative
pollster
Frank Luntz (he developed the Contract With America), Americans
are clamoring
for their elected officials in Washington to address their "Quality
of Life"
needs by protecting land , water and open spaces via funding mechanisms
such
as the Land Water and Conservation Fund (LWCF). Among some of
the poll's key
findings:
* 88% of Americans are concerned that many of the country's
special places
may be lost unless action is taken now to protect them.
** 89% of Americans support using a conservation trust fund,
such as the
LWCF, to protect wildlife habitat for native plants and animals.
*** Support for the concept of a "true" trust fund
for conservation of land,
water and open spaces beats highway and airport trust funds head
to head (45%
to 37% to 7% respectively).
**** The educational/social link to parks, recreation and conservation
programs is strong. For example, 9 out of 10 Americans think they
provide "a
place for children to learn new skills and values like teamwork
and respect
for nature." Three out of four think they "help prevent
juvenile crime and
delinquency", and 85% think "parks and open spaces contribute
to property
values and economic stability of neighborhoods". Women ,
parents of children
under 18, and minorities are even more likely to hold these views.
LWCF was created by Congress in 1964 for the acquisition of
public lands to
meet the outdoor recreation and open space needs for all Americans.
Funding
for the LWCF comes from revenues from offshore oil and gas receipts
(much
like Forever Wild). The LWCF is authorized to receive $900 million
each
year. However , since its inception, Congress has diverted a significant
percentage of the fund (this year nearly 75% of the fund was "raided")
for
purposes other than conservation and recreation. Despite the raid
on the
trust fund, over the years more than 700 parks and recreational
areas have
been developed in Alabama through LWCF support, and special places
such as
the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge and Little River Canyon
National
Preserve were created because of LWCF.
For more information about LWCF and what you can do, please
contact Americans
for Our Heritage Southeast Organizer Pat Byington at 226-7739
or e-mail
pkbyington@aol.com
5. Wildlife Center Seeking Interns - The Alabama Wildlife
Rehabilitation
Center in Birmingham, Alabama is currently offering paid internships
in the
fields of mammal and raptor rehabilitation. The positions will
begin
September 1. For more information about the internships, please
contact
Carol McWhorter at 205-871-0471.
6. Two Adult Bears and a Cub Found in Mobile County
- According to an "in the
field report" after three weeks of searching the Alabama
Black Bear Alliance
(ABBA) found this week a young male bear weighing 105 pounds and
a young
female (also weighing 105 pounds) , possibly with her first cub
and seemingly
in good health. Both adult bears have been collared and released
(the cub
was released with the mother). This finding is great news for
people who
care about black bears and want to bring them back to Alabama.
For more
information about ABBA contact the Nature Conservancy of Alabama
at
205-251-1155 or the Alabama Wildlife Federation at 1-800-822-9453.
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
