December 8, 1998
1. Forever Wild Renames Coldwater Tract To Ghee Nature Preserve
Tract
2. ADEM Records 1.85 Million in Fines and Penalties
3. Black Warrior-Cahaba River Land Trust Program
4. Jimmy Buffett Supports Alabama's Environment
5. Cahaba River Society ED. Program Seeks New Director
6. Another Website to Add to Your List - Alabama Outdoors
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1) FW Board Honors Doug Ghee - During the Friday December
4th Forever Wild
Board of Directors meeting, the directors passed a resolution
to rename the
recently purchased Coldwater Mountain tract to the Doug Ghee Nature
Preserve
Tract (the Board only renamed the tract of property it owns, not
the
(Coldwater) mountain) . The property which is 3923 acres within
Calhoun
County and looks out over the city of Anniston was named in honor
of former
State Senator Doug Ghee who served Calhoun County in the legislature
for the
past 8 years. In the resolution, Forever Wild recognized Ghee's
sponsorship
of the Forever Wild Constitutional Amendment , his tireless work
on behalf of
the Department of Conservation and his own personal efforts to
secure the
property on top of Coldwater Mountain, which included nominating
the tract
for purchase. Ghee, who retired from the Alabama Senate this fall,
also
serves on the Forever Wild Board. Congrats to Doug Ghee, the legislative
father of Forever Wild, for this prestigious honor!
2) ADEM Assessed 1.85 Mil. in FY 98 - What a difference
a year makes. The
Alabama Department of Environmental Management last year in FY
97 only
assessed $707,600 in fines and penalties. This year (FY 98) ADEM
assessed
more than 1.85 million dollars in fines and penalties against
companies who
violated their permits and environmental regulations. All totaled
ADEM
issued 103 administrative orders across program areas, 77 of which
included
a penalty. The penalties per program breakdown went as follows:
Air -
$566,300, Land - $953,000, Water - $311,850, Coastal - $28,000.
Where does the 1.85 mil in fines go? Alabama law requires the
monies to go
into the state General Fund, with ADEM being allowed to retain
only its costs
in pursuing the enforcement action.
3. New Land Trust Protects Black Warrior-Cahaba River
- Currently the Black
Warrior-Cahaba River Land Trust is in the process of selecting
a Land Trust
Director to work toward implementation of Jefferson County's Greenway
Plan.
$30 million will be spent by Jefferson County over the next 10
years in an
effort to create greenways, and improve and protect water quality
in the
Black Warrior and Cahaba River watersheds. Local members of the
Conservation
community serving on the Land Trust are Frank Young, Cameron Vowell,
Larry
Crenshaw and Kathy Stiles Freeland. A very impressive group!
The Land Trust hopes to leverage more financial support via
donations. For
more information about the program please contact the Nature Conservancy
at
205-251-1155.
4. Jimmy Buffett Supports Mobile Bay Watch - A pipeline
contractor from
Mobile bought 22 tickets for $4,900. The co-owner of the Flora-Bama
Lounge
bought 24 tickets for $4500. These two individuals were the highest
bidders
for Jimmy Buffett tickets at a recent auction sponsored by Mobile
Bay Watch,
a local environmental group dedicated to protecting Mobile Bay.
Jimmy
Buffett, the famous Alabama native singer/songwriter, who also
serves on
Baywatch's Board, set aside a block of tickets for the group to
raise monies
for their environmental efforts. Buffett, played to a soldout
Mobile Civic
Center this past week to benefit hurricane relief.
5. CRS Seeking Education Director - From a CRS Job Announcement
- The Cahaba
River Society is seeking an Education Director to administer and
implement a
program to train teachers, fund raise, develop curriculum, and
lead canoeing
and streamside field trips for students. Only persons experienced
with
educational programs and administration should apply. Salary range
is $26,000
to $30,000/year. Contact Kim Adams at 322-5326 between 8:30 to
4:30 or fax
205-324-8346, or e-mail to cahaba@igc.apc.org
This is a top notch environmental education program. Please
spread the word
about this job opening.
6. Another Website to Add to the List - Make sure to add to
your BEN Website
Special - Mike Bolton's Alabama Great Outdoors Web Page. Mike's
site
includes information about birding, hiking, hunting, fishing and
the National
Forests and Wilderness areas. It's a great site!
You can find it at: http://members.aol.com/aloutdoors/home.htm
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
