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1) New Coalition Aims to Remake the Causeway
Between Mobile and Baldwin __________________________________________________________ 1. New Coalition Aims to Remake the Causeway Between Mobile and Baldwin - A new partnership of South Alabama environmental, preservation and tourism minded organizations called the Scenic Causeway Coalition is launching a campaign to change the historic U.S. 90/98 Causeway between Mobile and Baldwin counties. In coming years, the groups want to add bike paths, boardwalks, informational centers and improved boat launches and public fishing areas. They also want to place several lengths of the Causeway "up on stilts" so as to restore the natural movement of water, sediment, plants and animals between the predominately saltwater Bay and the freshwater Delta. Some of the members of the coalition include Mobile Bay Watch, the Alabama Environmental Council, as well a officials from Baldwin County. The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program has also identified the Causeway as an area of concern in its comprehensive management plan. For more information about the Scenic Causeway Coalition please contact Mobile Bay Watch at 334-476-0328. 2. 46 Alabama Groups Send Clinton Pro-LWCF Message - Beginning the new year by "sending a strong message", 46 Alabama organizations signed a letter to President Bill Clinton calling on him to fully and permanently fund the Land Water and Conservation Fund (LWCF). Signatories to the letter not only included environmental groups, but also several park and recreation organizations, city governments and businesses. Current LWCF legislation would bring in more than an estimated $8 million a year for land acquisition and new recreational facilities. To learn more about LWCF and a national conference and rally that many Alabamians will be participating in; contact Pat Byington, the Americans for Our Heritage and Recreation (AHR) Southeast Organizer at 205-254-8805 or pkbyington@aol.com . 3. Leeds Lead Superfund Cleanup to Produce 190,000 Tons of Waste - After more than a decade long fight, it looks like the Interstate Lead Company (ILCO) Superfund site will finally be removed. According to the Birmingham News, in the next 6 to 8 months, up to 100 truckloads a day of lead contaminated waste totaling 190,000 tons from 7 sites around Leeds, Alabama will be hauled to a landfill in Ragland, Alabama. The cleanup comes after years of negotiations between the City of Leeds, the EPA and the Site Remediation Group - a group made up of the 20 defendants held responsible for cleaning up the waste. Those defendants are companies that brought materials to ILCO for disposal. They are being held responsible for the dumping because ILCO went bankrupt in 1992. ILCO's top executive is considered a fugitive. The total estimated cleanup cost will be $60 million. 4. Governor's Committee Selects Top Community Millennium Trails - The Governor's Millennium Trails Committee has announced its third and final category of Millennium Trails. Last week, nearly 40 trails and pathways were added to a White House initiated list, to be known as Community Trails 2000. Each of the designated trails will be included in a grand Millennium trails celebration that is scheduled to occur on National Trails Day 2000 this summer. The Governor's Committee also chose 5 of the top community trails out of the list of 40 to receive $10,000 each. The top 5 community trails/grant winners are: Chief Ladiga Trail, Limestone County Rail-Trail, Mountain Brook Pedestrian Walkway, Aldridge Creek Greenway - Huntsville and the Phenix City River Walk. To receive the complete list of Community Trails 2000, contact the Jacksonville State University Environmental Policy and Information Center at 256-782-5681. 5. ADEM Expands North Alabama Office With Feds Help - According to a Huntsville Times report, ADEM's deputy director Marilyn Elliott "stunned" members of the House Ways and Means Committee during budget hearings last week when she asked for an increase of just $1.4 million for her agency's budget. The request left some legislators challenging ADEM to ask for more. Elliott told state lawmakers the Decatur office in North Alabama has expanded its staff from 5 to 11, as a result of new federal monies secured by U.S. Rep Bud Cramer and U.S. Senator Richard Shelby. Last year, Rep. Cramer secured $500,000 to step up ADEM's presence in North Alabama, while Sen. Shelby garnered $1 million from the EPA to help ADEM monitor water quality statewide. Rep. Phil Crigler, R-Irvington commented at the hearing, "They need to assure the citizens of Alabama they are safeguarding the diminishing air and water quality in Alabama." He added, "The public's perception of you is you're a 'Permits R' Us' - that you never met a permit you didn't like." Elliott responded by stating that ADEM often communicates with scouting industries and others well before formal applications are filed. Many don't apply when informed of the discharge limits they would have to meet. 6. State Parks and Hunting Fees, Conservation's Top Priorities - Paying for the State Parks Bond and increasing hunting and fishing fees, top the Conservation Department's 2000 legislative agenda. In 1998, more than 76% of Alabama voters approved a $90 million bond issue to renovate Alabama's rapidly deteriorating state parks. Funding has been found to pay off the bonds, but legislators deadlocked last year on how to spend the bond. Meanwhile, a badly leaking roof at Lake Point State Park in Eufaula and sewage problems at Desoto State Park, are just a few of the capital improvements and renovations that are sorely needed but continue to worsen within the State Parks system because of the lack of action. Another piece of legislation that looks to be headed toward the Statehouse is an increase in hunting and fishing license fees. The last increase in Alabama's fees was 11 years ago. With the number of license sales decreasing nationwide and with no support coming from the state's general fund in the foreseeable future (the Conservation Dept does not receive monies from the state general fund), the need for a license increase is desperately needed. 7. Gulf of Mexico Symposium To Include Alabamian E.O. Wilson - Nothing is like Spring time on the Gulf Coast. So, pull out your new 2000 calendars and reserve the dates between April 9-12, to attend the Gulf of Mexico Symposium in Mobile, Alabama. If you care about the health of the gulf and want to know what you can do to help protect it, this conference is for you. World renowned scientist and Alabamian E.O. Wilson is scheduled to be the keynote speaker along with scientists and coastal advocates. For more information about the symposium and how to register contact their website at: http://www.gulfsym.com 8. Youth Wildlife Art Contest Announced - The Alabama Wildlife Federation (AWF), Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the US Fish and Wildlife Service are combining efforts to promote this year's Ireland Youth Wildlife Art Contest and Federal Junior Duck Stamp Contest throughout Alabama. The Junior Duck Stamp Contest will be held within the same time frame as AWF's contest, but submissions to the Junior Duck Contest will be collected at the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in North Alabama, whereas submissions for the Ireland Youth Wildlife Art Contest will be collected at the AWF office in Montgomery. Both contests are open to all public, private and home school students in grades K-12. The deadline for both contests is March 15, 2000. For additional details about entering each contest please contact the Alabama Wildlife Federation at 1-800-822-9453, awf@mindspring.com or http://www.ALAWILD.org 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 We also encourage readers to visit our website at : http://www.BamaNews.com |
