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August 15, 1999
1) Madison County Violates Ozone Clean Air Standards
2) Alabama State Parks In Desperate Need of Repairs
3) AEC Recycling Center Closes Temporarily After 27 Years
4) Magazines Profile Bama's Environmental Community
5) Little River/Ruffner Mountain Activities
6) Environmental Education Job Openings
7) Special BEN Notes
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1. Madison County Violates Ozone Air Standards - Madison
County will not meet
new EPA standards for clean air by July 2000, according to government
officials last week. Under the new standards for measuring ozone
air
pollution, Madison County has exceeded the limit enough times
this summer to
be declared as a "non-attainment area" which means the
air quality is
unhealthy several times during the summer months.
The negative effect of becoming a non-attainment area includes
restrictions
on new or expanding industry and potential stoppage of new road
building
projects. Other counties in Alabama with ozone air quality problems
include,
Jefferson and Shelby counties (they have been violating the less
stringent
old standard for nearly 10 years) in central Alabama and Mobile
and Baldwin
Counties in the south. Limestone County, which is adjacent to
Madison
County may also be added to the non-attainment list.
2. Alabama State Parks In Desperate Need of Repairs
- In the August 8th
Sunday edition of the Montgomery Advertiser, a front page/3 full
page story
ran on the state of Alabama State Parks. Written by Bob Johnson,
the article
describes how our State Parks became one of the best systems in
the nation
under Gov. Lurleen Wallace, but has since fallen into deep disrepair.
Despite having passed a state bond authority referendum by
an overwhelming
majority of Alabama voters (over 75%) in 1998, the Alabama legislature
failed
to enact legislation in 1999 to fund the bonds and start repairing
our parks.
Gov. Don Siegelman, in the Advertiser article hinted that he would
place
State Parks funding legislation in the "call" for the
next special session.
3. AEC Recycling Center Closes Temporarily After 27 Years
- I have always
considered Larry Crenshaw, former President of the Alabama Environmental
Council (AEC) and VP for Recycling, as the "Cal Ripken Jr."
of the
environmental movement. For more than 12 years, Larry found a
way to keep
AEC's downtown Birmingham recycling center running 7 days a week,
24 hours a
day. When I was Executive Director of the Alabama Conservancy
(AEC's name
back then) in 1990, I can still remember a fire that occurred
at the center
one evening, burning bins and completely destroying the wooden
structure/roof
that was erected to prevent rain from falling into the bins. The
center
didn't stop taking recyclables that next morning, because Larry
somehow found
a way to continue to operate the center. From funding the center
to managing
the staff, and maintaining at times antiquated machinery, Larry
made sure the
center remained open. He did all of this as a volunteer. Now that's
pretty
special.
On May 28th after 27 years, the AEC Recycling Center closed
because of
staffing and funding problems. The streak ended. But what a legacy.
The Alabama Conservancy/AEC recycling center has a unique place
in Alabama's
environmental history. In 1972, it was the first non-profit comprehensive
recycling center in Alabama. In the early years volunteers kept
the center
opened a few hours a day. In the late 80's and 90's the center
was fully
staffed and became a "incubator" for new, innovative,
"first of their kind"
recycling projects in Alabama. For example, the center helped
start one of
Alabama's first curbside recycling programs. It also started office
recycling, phonebook recycling (with BellSouth) and even Christmas
tree
recycling (along with Alabama Power and Brunos). At its peak the
center was
taking in 3.5 to 4 million pounds of recyclables a year. As an
ADEM Soild
Waste chief once told me a few years ago, "the Alabama Conservancy's
Recycling Center is the granddaddy of them all."
Along with Larry Crenshaw, the Center had two other heroes,
Craig Legg, the
indispensible manager of the center and the city of Birmingham,
who helped
fund the center. Despite the Center's recent closure, there is
still a
chance that it may be revived. AEC has created a Recycling Center
task
force, chaired by AEC Board member Keith Johns. Keith played a
major role in
Knoxville Tennessee's recycling program in the early 90's. If
you care
about recycling in the Birmingham Metro area and want to help
bring back this
legendary downtown recycling center please contact Keith Johns
at
205-822-8220 or kjohns@ensafe.com
4. Magazines Profile Environmental Community - This
month the environmental
community has been blessed with two very special profiles in prominent
magazines. Here is a description of the articles.
Birmingham Magazine - "The Cahaba - The Nature of Birmingham's
Favorite
Waterway" is Birmingham Magazine's August 1999 cover story.
Inside the
publication is an 8 page lay-out with beautiful photos and well
written
stories. Three of my favorite local enviros are profiled - Randy
Haddock of
the Cahaba River Society, Jennifer Fairley, a local activist and
Beth Maynor
Young, THE nature photographer of the Cahaba. The wonderful articles
are
written by Mac Logue. Folks can buy the magazine, which is on
newstands now,
or check out Birmingham Magazine's website at http://www.bhammag.com
Alabama Alumni Magazine - "Fresh Water for the World's
Future" is the title
of the 5 page article/photos that appears in the August/September
Alabama
Alumni Magazine. The article profiles the University of Alabama's
Center for
Freshwater Studies and water resources research at the Capstone
. If you
would like a copy of the magazine contact the National Alumni
Association at
205-348-5963.
5. Little River Canyon/Ruffner Mountain Schedules -
If you would love to
learn more about nature, the Little River Field School (which
is operated out
of Jacksonville State University) and Ruffner Mountain Nature
Center in
Birmingham are offering a wide variety of nature programs this
fall. Here is
a sampling of their scheduled events.
Little River Field School - Call 256-782-5697 for more info.
August 21 - The SSSpectacular SSSnake, DeSoto State Park Nature
Center,
8:00-9:00 P.M.
August 28 - Trees and Shrubs of Little River Canyon, DeSoto State
Park Nature
Center, 1:00-4:00 P.M.
September 4 - Medicinal Plants of Little River Canyon, DeSoto
State Park
Nature Center, 1:00-4:00 P.M.
Ruffner Mountain - Call 205-833-8264 for more info
September 11 - Reptile Program, 10:00-11:30
September 18 - Wine, Cheese & Sunset Hike, 5:00
September 25 - Bug Hunt, 10:00 -11:30 A.M.
6. Environmental Education Job Openings - The Cahaba
River Society (CRS) and
Legacy each have one job opening for an environmental educator.
Here are
some details.
Cahaba River Society - CRS is seeking an Environmental Educator
to conduct
on-the water educational field trips, restoration projects and
workshops for
students, teachers, community leaders and members of CRS. For
more detailed
information contact CRS at 205-32-CLEAN.
Legacy - Seeks applications for the position of Training Coordinator.
The
Training Coordinator will be responsible for coordinationg teacher
trainings
and workshops, summer institutes, the teacher ambassador program
and managing
educators working on a contractual basis with Legacy. For questions
regarding the position contact, Paige Connell 334-270-5921/800-240-5115.
7. Special BEN Notes - As Summer starts to wind down,
people seem to always
be making "changes" in their lives... some joyful and
some sad. Here is a
list of "transitions" that have occurred this month
and will happen this fall.
"Joyful" An Environmentalist is Born! - Danielle
Dunbar, former Executive
Director of Scenic Alabama, along with her husband Rob, welcomed
their
daughter Hayden Margaret into the world on August 10th.
"Sad" Environmental Star Leaving Alabama - Rebecca
Falkenberry, whom many
consider the "Mother of the Alabama Chapter of the Sierra
Club", is leaving
for St. Petersburg, Florida in mid-September. Rebecca served on
the National
Sierra Club Board for 6 years and was one of the founders of the
Alabama
Chapter. If you wish to contact Rebecca - here are the details
: Phone -
205-591-2931 or e-mail rebeccaf@uab.campus.mci.net - Alabama will
truly miss
Rebecca - an environmental champion.
"Sad" Two Educators Leaving - We will also be missing
two incredibly
talented environmental educators Jan Penders of Legacy and Christine
Rodick
of CRS this fall. Jan will be moving to North Carolina this fall,
while
Christine will be going to graduate school in January (she will
be staying
with CRS until Dec.).
"Joyful" Welcome! - The Wilderness Society's TWS
Southeast Office in Atlanta
has hired George Gay as their new regional director. TWS's Southeast
office
does encompass Alabama. Please welcome George (his past position
was
Director of the Native Earth Alliance, a Vermont group that assisted
Native
American tribes) to the Southeast and Alabama! Contact him at:
404-872-9453
or ggay@tws.org
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
