1) Forever Wild Preserves Additional 1933 Acres In the Delta
2) New Federal Roadless Policy Protects 13,000 Acres In Alabama
3) Christmas Tree Recycling in Alabama: A Decade of Success
4) How Much Does It Cost To Pick Up Alabama's Litter?
5) Civil Rights Group To Study Landfills and Illegal Dumping
6) BEN Notes: Children's Environmental Summit, Ducks Unlimited Honors Tuck
Stone, New Forestry Group and Website

1. Forever Wild Preserves Additional 1933 Acres In the Delta - As a result of a $1 million grant awarded to the Alabama Conservation Department on behalf of the Forever Wild Program and monies from the Forever Program, the 1933 acre Bayou Canot tract, located adjacent to Forever Wild's 47,000 acre Mobile Delta tract, was purchased this winter.

The Bayou Canot tract contains undisturbed cypress and tupelo hardwood forests, streams and bayous, grass and sege beds and numerous rare or uncommon species of plants and animals. The $1 million grant came from the North American Wetlands and Conservation Act (NAWCA) program. In a competitive process, the Bayou Canot tract ranked third in comparison of 46 grants evaluated by NAWCA nationwide.

The Bayou Canot purchase is featured in this winter's "Outdoor Alabama" the Conservation Department's magazine. The article is written by Greg Lein of the State Lands Natural Heritage Section. To receive a copy, contact the department at 334-242-3484.

2. New Federal Roadless Policy Protects 13,000 Acres In Alabama - One of the biggest national stories of 2000 was President Bill Clinton's proposed rules to prevent logging on 58.5 million acres of America's most pristine lands, including Alaska's Tongass National Forest. After receiving hundreds of thousands of public comments nationwide, President Clinton approved the new rules on January 5th.

In Alabama, the new rules will protect 13,000 acres of roadless areas in the 665,000 acre Alabama National Forest system. The designated areas are all within the Talladega National Forest - they are: 6,080 acres at Oakey Mountain; 4,797 acres in the Blue Mountain area; 627 acres at Reid Brake, and 945 acres at Mount Cheaha. The new rules prohibit road building, ban logging except when it is deemed to help maintain or improve areas, and seek to improve habitats for threatened and endangered species.

3. Christmas Tree Recycling in Alabama: A Decade of Success - In 1989, Alabama Power, Brunos, the Alabama Conservancy (now the Alabama Environmental Council (AEC)), and various waste companies started Alabama's first statewide Christmas tree recycling effort. More than 10 years later, over 462,000 trees have been recycled saving approximately 100,000 cubic yards of landfill space. Last year, more than 45,000 trees were collected from selected Bruno's stores (this includes Food World and Food Fair stores) with about 16,000 coming from the Birmingham area.

Most of the trees will be weighted and sunk into lakes such as Jordan, Mitchell, Smith and Weiss to provide havens for fish. Some of the trees are also ground into mulch. This year's participants in the statewide program include, Alabama Power, Bruno's BFI, Waste Management, Superior Waste Services, Boy Scouts, Bass Anglers Sportsman Society and the AEC. The deadline to drop off trees is Jan. 13.

4. How Much Does It Cost To Pick Up Alabama's Litter? - In a December 27th Associated Press story, the cost of littering in Alabama was examined. According to the story, state workers spent more than 300,000 hours worth $6 million picking up trash along state and federal highways. In addition there are 1,800 private organizations who have adopted 2,600 miles of Alabama's 11,000 roadway miles to keep clean.

5. Civil Rights Group To Study Landfills and Illegal Dumping - State Senator Charles Steele of Tuscaloosa announced this week the formation of a Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Task Force to study landfill problems in Alabama. Steele is the state president of the SCLC.

According to Albert Turner, a member of the task force, dozens of household wells in Perry County have become contaminated by bacteria from solid waste dumped into ditches and fields. "Right now, 71 household wells have been closed and people who had used them have to buy their drinking water from stores," stated Turner in a recent Montgomery Advertiser interview.

Recent controversial landfill proposals in Macon and Lowndes counties along with a growing illegal dumping problem were cited as reasons for the task force.

6. BEN Notes: Children's Environmental Summit, Ducks Unlimited Honors Tuck Stone, New Forestry Group and Website, Thank for the Notes

Children's Environmental Summit - The Greater Birmingham Children's Environmental Health Initiative and the Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity (JCCEO) is sponsoring the Greater Birmingham Children's Health Summit on Friday, January 26th from 8:30 to 3:00 pm, at the JCCEO Headquarters (across from Legion Field). Registration is free, with a deadline of Jan. 20th. If you care about reducing environmental health risks for children in our community - please register today. To sign up, contact Anne Turner-Henson 205-975-2044 or email her at turnhena@uab.edu

Ducks Unlimited Honors Tuck Stone - In a well deserved honor, Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge manager Tuck Stone was honored by Ducks Unlimited for his commitment and efforts to enhance wintering habitat for waterfowl that migrate south to the Tennessee Valley.

This past year, Stone steadfastly denied a proposed industrial barge canal project that would breach the Refuge. The honor given to Tuck Stone by Ducks Unlimited is a great tribute to true environmental champion.

New Forestry Group and Website - Last week, WildLaw, Wild Alabama, Wild South and the Dogwood Alliance announced the formation of the Southern Sustainable Forests Alliance. Together they have developed the Southeast Forestry Project. The project will provide private forest landowners information and free legal and forestry assistance to help them make informed choices about how they manage their forests. The Alliance is developing brochures, videos and landowner guidebooks to help forest owners protect their land while making money.

The group has created a new website to provide landowners with sustainable forestry information. The website is at: http://www.southernsustainableforests.org For more information about this new organization and website, contact Ray Vaughan at WildLaw, 334-265-6529.

Thank You For the Notes - I want to thank everyone who sent e-mails wishing me a quick recovery from the flu. Your notes and comments did make a difference. Again, thank you. - PB.

Please share BEN with friends and fellow conservationists. If you have any questions or comments about this publication, contact Pat Byington, the author and publisher of BEN at 205-226-7739 or pkbyington@aol.com To receive back issues of BEN, please go to our website at: http://www.BamaNews.com