November 19, 1998
1) Charles Kelley Retiring From Game & Fish
2) Lt. Gov. -Elect Windom To Organize State Senate
3) No Prison for Turkey Creek
4) Landowners Win $50 Mil. Lake Martin Pollution Suit
5) Wildlines - Information Arm of the Biodiversity Network
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1. After 45 Years of Service Charles Kelly to Retire -
Earlier this week
Charles Kelley, the nation's longest serving director of a state
wildlife
agency, announced he will be retiring February 1st. Serving as
director of
Alabama's Game and Fish Division for 39 years (45 years total
for the state),
Kelley oversaw some remarkable changes in Alabama's wildlife.
Under his
watch, deer made a comeback from a population estimated at 30,000
in 1950 to
more than 1.8 million today. There has been a substantial increase
in the
turkey population and Alabama's freshwater and saltwater fisheries
are in
overall good shape. Also during Kelley's tenure the Alabama Non-Game
Wildlife Program was founded.
A true pioneer in Alabama Conservation history, Kelley intends
to continue to
lobby for state conservation legislation after he retires and
do some fishing
and hunting.
2. Windom Pulls Together Coalition - According to an
Associated Press
report, Republican Lt. Gov-elect Steve Windom has pulled together
a coalition
of 18 state senators out of 35 to help him organize and run the
state senate
instead of Democratic Governor-elect Don Siegelman. Six Democrats
crossed
the aisle to support Windom while all 12 Republicans threw their
support to
Windom. If Windom's slim majority holds up he will retain the
lieutenant
governor's power to appoint committee members and pick committee
chairmen.
He has already tapped State Senator Gerald Dial for the Senate's
No. 2 spot,
president pro-tem.
Not everyone is convinced the coalition will hold up until
the January
organizational meeting. State Senator Tom Butler of Huntsville
is
spearheading a movement to break with tradition and let members
pick their
own committee chairs. "It's going to be an ongoing effort
until we vote in
January." Butler said in the AP report.
The leadership and makeup of many Senate committees will have
a dramatic
impact on future environmental legislation.
3. No Prison at Turkey Creek - Last week the Jefferson
County Commission
voted 3-1-1 to kill plans to build a propose jail on Turkey Creek
near
Pinson, Alabama. The creek which is home to the Vermilion Darter
was
defeated because of the successful and enormous public pressure
put on the
Commission by a local citizens group named START (Society To Appreciate
the
Resources of Turkey Creek). Also effective in killing the proposal
were two
lawsuits filed by Wildlaw on behalf of START and Wild Alabama.
Both suits
were aimed at protecting endangered species (flattened musk turtle
and the
vermilion darter) found at the site. For more information about
this victory
contact Ray Vaughan at 334-265-6529 or visit Wildlaw's website
at :
http://www.wildlaw.org
4. Lake Martin Landowners Win $50 Mil Judgement - On
November 17th, a
Jefferson County jury awarded more than $50 million dollars in
punitive
damages to 5 Alexander City families who claimed Russell Corp.,
Avondale
Mills and Alabama Power Co. polluted their property along Lake
Martin.
According to a B'ham News article written by Val Walton -"The
residents said
their property values have dropped because Russell and Avondale
used dyes
that polluted Sugar Creek, a tributary of Lake Martin. They said
Alabama
Power Co. which created Lake Martin, should have prevented the
pollution...In
it's verdict, the jury also decided that Russell was responsible
for 50
percent of the damages, Avondale for 30 percent and Alabama Power
for 20
percent."
Attorney Gusty Yearout, one of the lawyers representing the
residents stated,
"It's a victory for everyone in Alabama... It sends a message
to these
defendants and other polluters that where the government may not
stop them,
juries will."
5. Care About Biodiversity Issues - Subscribe to Wildlines
- From the same
folks that provide many of us copies of GREENlines, GREEN (the
Grassroots
Environmental Effectiveness Network) has laucnched it's State
Biodiversity
Project, a network of activists dedicated to protecting wildlife
and
wildlands at the state level. WILDlines is the information arm
of the
Biodiversity Network and it is now available to activists. If
you would like
to subscribe (it's free) , send a message to listproc@envirolink.org
with
the message - subscribe actwild firstname lastname - in the body
of the
message. For example : subscribe actwild Pat Byington - If you
would like
more info about the State Biodiversity Network check out their
website at:
http://www.defender.org/grnhome.html
or email Erin Englebrecht at
eenglebrecht@defenders.org
or 404-685-0771.
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
