1) City of Gardendale Plans 6000 Acres Public Park
2) Flurry of Environmental Bills Hit the Alabama Legislature
3) Sen. Sessions and Rep. Cramer Endorse Nuclear Power
4) Jackson County Legislator Says "No" to Georgia On Tennessee River Water
5) BEN Notes - New Wildlflower Website, Project R.O.S.E. "Run for the Roses" Fundraiser, E.O. Wilson to Speak At Auburn, Job Openings at Ruffner Mountain and Weeks Bay, Sustainability and Christianity Conference At Birmingham Southern College
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1. City of Gardendale Plans 6000 Acres Public Park - The city of Gardendale, a community north of Birmingham, has launched a plan to create a 6000 acre park almost fully within the city. The innovative plan is to blend federal, state and private financial sources, with the state taking ownership of the land and Gardendale's parks department managing the facility.

The centerpiece of the park plan, tentatively called the North Jefferson Park, would be the purchase of Quail Ridge Country Club. The city plans to refurbish the golf course and run it as a public golf course within the park. Beyond the golf course, the remaining 5700 acres of non-golf course land would be used for low impact recreation, including hiking, birdwatching and camping. The city of Gardendale will be seeking funding from federal sources, Forever Wild funding and private donations. Alabama State Senator Jack Biddle of Gardendale and Gardendale Mayor Kenny Clemons have met with Conservation Commissioner Riley Smith and Governor Don Siegelman about this exciting and ambitious proposal.

2. Flurry of Environmental Bills Hit the Alabama Legislature - Entering their third full week, the Alabama Legislature has seen up to 21 environmentally related pieces of legislation introduced. Along with prefiled bills that were reported in the January 29th edition of BEN (for more info visit BEN Archives at: http://www.BamaNews.com), new legislation address issues ranging from lead poisoning, public transportation, scrap tires and black bears. The following is a listing of the bills, their sponsors and a very brief description. If you would like to read a bill online, visit the Alabama Legislature's website at: http://alisdb.legislature.state.al.us/acas/ACASLogin.asp

You can download bills in their entirety by identifying the bill number and sponsor.

HB9 - Toxic waste reduction, risk assessment and cleanup fund bill. Sponsored by Rep. Joesph Mitchell

HB22 - $100,000 Funding for the Waste Reduction Technology Transfer Foundation (WRATT). Sponsored by Rep. John Knight

HB23 - Provide $500,000 of hazardous waste fees to fund waste reduction. Sponsored by Rep. Nelson Starkey

S25, SB27 and SB33 - Bills pertaining to lead poisoning testing, a statewide lead database and the creation of a lead testing mobile unit. Sponsored by Sen. Rodger Smitherman

HB74 & SB71 - Create Alabama Land Recycling and Economic Redevelopment Act (Brownfield legislation). Sponsored by Rep. Terry Spicer and Sen. Jimmy Holley

HB75 & SB170 - ADEM's financial assurance funding legislation. Sponsored by Rep. Ron Johnson and Sen. E.B. McClain

HB81 - Reforms to strengthen the solid waste local approval notification law. Sponsored by Rep. Bill Dukes

HB122, HB189, HB376, SB145 - Various bills dealing with scrap tire legislation

HB202 & SB30 - A constitutional Amendment enabling the state to fund public transportation. Sponsored by Rep. Perry Hooper

HB241 - Exempts from being a crime unintentional littering of agriculture waste/products in their natural state on public roads. Sponsored by Rep. Richard Lindsey

HB 309 - Exempts ADEM from completing a statewide solid waste plan. Sponsored by Rep. Marcel Black

HB402 & SB277 - The Family Farm Preservation Act. This bill exempts farms from certain nuisance lawsuits and ordinances. Sponsored by Rep. Frank McDaniel and Sen. Tom Butler

SB 238 - Create an Alabama Clean indoor Air Act - Sponsored by Sen. Vivian Figures

SB311 - Black Bear protection legislation - Sponsored by Sen. Zeb Little

SB 312 - Creates a program to regulate vessel dumping and littering in lakes and rivers. Sponsored by Rep. Zeb Little

For more information on these bills and positions being taken by the environmental community, contact Jeff Martin of AlaLeavs at 334-834-2956 or Alaleavs@aol.com

3. Sen. Sessions and Rep. Cramer Endorse Nuclear Power - This week, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions and Congressman Bud Cramer each endorsed reactivating the idled reactor at the three-reactor Browns Ferry plant and finishing construction of the nearly completed Bellefonte Nuclear Plant near Scottsboro. TVA has spent more than $4 billion on the Bellefonte plant and could finish construction by spending an additional $2 billion or less according to Sen. Sessions in a recent Huntsville Times article.

A coalition environmental and consumer organizations have been critical of Sen. Sessions' and Rep. Cramer's nuclear energy position.

"it is unfortunate that our elected representative are taking such a shortsighted approach to energy policy," said Dr. Ed Passerini, President of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) and resident of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. "To support the restart of Brown's Ferry Unit 1 demonstrates an ignorance of past failures such as Three Mile Island and a disregard for the future."

SACE also pointed out that TVA has amassed the nation's largest utility debt, which currently exceeds $24 billion. TVA currently pays $1.7 billion in interest on this debt, which equals 25% of the agency's $6.5 billion operating revenue. Most of the debt came from TVA's past attempts at developing nuclear power. At one time, TVA attempted to build 17 nuclear reactors, but only 5 are currently operational, according to SACE.

4. Jackson County Legislator Says "No" to Georgia On Tennessee River Water - State Representative John Robinson of Scottsboro announced plans earlier this month to introduce legislation designed to prevent Atlanta from tapping the Tennessee River for water.

Robinson has stated in published reports that he will introduce local and statewide bills on the issue. Recently, Georgia officials have said they had considered the Tennessee River as a water source only as a remote possibility.

Tom Littlepage of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs' Water Resources Division has expressed concern over a potential water withdrawal plan from Georgia. According to a February 6th Huntsville Times article, Littlepage commented that a large city like Atlanta could potentially draw large volumes of water from the Tennessee River and its tributaries, in turn damaging navigation, water quality and recreational activities. Tennessee lawmakers were so concerned by this threat they recently approved a law creating a permit system restricting major withdrawals from the Tennessee River.

5. BEN Notes - New Wildflower Website, Project R.O.S.E. "Run for the Roses" Fundraiser, E.O. Wilson to Speak At Auburn, Job Openings at Ruffner Mountain and Weeks Bay, Sustainability and Christianity Conference At Birmingham Southern College

New Wildflower Website - Please check out the Alabama Wildflower Society's new website at http://www.alabamawildflower.org It has a meeting schedule and great photos of wildflowers from previous field trips.

Project R.O.S.E. "Run for the Roses" Fundraiser - Here is a worthwhile fundraiser. On March 3rd, starting at the Amphitheater on the grounds of the University of Alabama campus, the Tuscaloosa Track Club will be holding its "Run for the Roses" 5K race benefiting Project R.O.S.E.. The registration begins at 7:30 a.m. and the race starts at 8:30. Runners of every age are encouraged to participate. Proceeds from the race will allow Project R.O.S.E. to purchase used motor oil collection tanks. For more information call 1-800-452-5901.

E.O. Wilson to Speak At Auburn - On Monday, March 5th at 4:00 in the Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center, world renown scientist, author and native Alabamian E.O. Wilson will be giving a lecture as part of the 2000-2001 Littleton-Franklin Lecture Series. There is no charge for admission.

Job Openings at Ruffner Mountain and Weeks Bay:

Ruffner Mountain is seeking a Development Director who will manage a comprehensive fund-raising plan, including corporate development, an annual campaign, development of major gifts and grant writing. Minimum three years experience in direct fundraising required, competitive salary and benefits. Send cover letter and resume c/o Executive Director, Ruffner Mountain, 1214 81st Street S., Birmingham, Alabama 35206 - no phone calls.

Weeks Bay National Reserve is seeking a Watershed Coordinator responsible for coordinating a long term Watershed Management Program for the Weeks Bay Watershed. Responsibilities include education and coordination with local citizens and local governments within the watershed. Employee will provide technical assistance regarding nonpoint source pollution problems and solutions and assist in improving water quality by implementing education programs and best management practices.

Candidate should have a Bachelor's degree and 4 years experience or Master's degree and 2 years experience in science related field (natural or environmental science or education with a science emphasis). Salary range: $28,000 to $35,000 first year. Qualified applicants may send a letter of application, a current resume and two letters of recommendation to Brenda Spivey, Weeks Bay National Reserve, 11300 US Highway 98, Fairhope, Alabama, 36532. Applications must be received by March 2, 2001.

Sustainability and Christianity Conference At Birmingham Southern College - Please mark your calendars for an exciting conference at Birmingham Southern College dedicated to exploring "Sustainability and Christianity - A Need for a Sustainable Future". The conference is for clergy and persons committed to sustaining creation. Internationally renown theologians and speakers will be participating.

The conference is March 20-22 at Birmingham Southern College. Registration is $75.00, which includes lunch all three days and a textbook. The conference is sponsored by the Office of Church Relation's at Birmingham Southern and the Southern Environmental Center. For more information contact Donna Thomas at 205-226-4864 or dthomas@bsc.edu.

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