1) ADEM Makes the Case For Additional Funding
2) Drought Ignites Increase In Wildfires Statewide
3) Governor's Environmental Commission To Focus On Withdrawals and Education
4) Alabama Rivers Alliance Settles Clean Water Lawsuit
5) Alabama's Non-Point Source Program Honors Pollution Prevention Efforts
6) BEN Notes - ACEI Chair Pete Conroy Honored, New Environmental Websites,
Legacy Seeking Educational Programs Director, Alabamian Anchors New National
Geographic Show, Friends of Hurricane Creek To Hold Cleanup and Chili
Cook-Off, Alabama Watershed Leadership Conference.

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1. ADEM Makes the Case For Additional Funding - In a letter that was sent to newspapers editors throughout Alabama, James Warr, director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), called for legislative support to increase ADEM's funding from the state's general fund. The following excerpt from the "Warr letter" vividly describes ADEM's funding woes.

"ADEM's General Fund support for basic operations was $5.6 million in FY 1991 but stands at $4.7 million for the current fiscal year, although requirements and expectations have grown over this eleven year period. ADEM's FY 2001 operations budget is comprised of federal support (53%), self-generated monies (36%), and general fund support (11%). Our present nonfederal funding is 47% while the national state average in FY 1996 was 79%."

ADEM will be asking the Alabama legislature to increase its funding to $7.8 million for FY 2002. This funding will replace lost federal monies for various environmental activities including the North Alabama Field Office and cleanup programs. ADEM will also be supporting HB 75, a bill which will authorize the Department to establish a fee system to fund a reasonable level of compliance assurance of regulated activities. The Governor's Commission on Environmental Initiatives received consensus on each of these issues (increased funding and financial assurance) in the committee report.

2. Drought Ignites Increase In Wildfires Statewide - According to the Alabama Forestry Commission's 1999-2000 Annual Report, severe drought in central and west Alabama led to an increased number of wildfires.

From October 1, 1999 to September 30, 2000, Alabama experienced 6537 wildfires that burned 88,474 acres. These rates were a 62.4% increase in the number of fires and a more than doubling (121% increase) in the acreage burned as compared to the average of the previous five years. Walker, Jefferson, and Talladega counties led the state with between 141 to 490 wildfires in each county.

3. Governor's Environmental Commission To Focus On Withdrawals and Education - Last week, the Alabama Commission on Environmental Initiatives sent to Governor Don Siegelman its consensus report containing 60 commission and committee consensus items ( to view the report http://www.jsu.edu./depart/epic/ACEIreport.htm ).

With its initial work completed, the Commission decided to work on developing a water withdrawal permitting/system and environmental education at the January 30th meeting. As a result of the year-long drought and the tri-state water allocation negotiations, the Commission will be convening stakeholders in an effort to tackle and address water withdrawal issues. In the area of environmental education, the governor has made it clear that education is a top priority for his administration.

Over the next few weeks the governor's office is expected to develop several environmental policies from the ACEI report. For more information about ACEI and its status contact ACEI chair, Pete Conroy at pconroy@jsucc.jsu.edu

4. Alabama Rivers Alliance Settles Clean Water Lawsuit - On July 17, 2000, the Alabama Rivers Alliance (ARA) and the Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation (LEAF) filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in an effort to set "Fishable/Swimmable" water quality standards for some of Alabama's most polluted waterways. LEAF and ARA filed suit after three years of discussions with state and federal agencies failed to bring about an adequate solution to their concerns regarding 17 of Alabama's most polluted waters.

Recently, ARA, LEAF and EPA reached agreement on a settlement of this case; and on January 23rd it was approved in federal court. The settlement will force the agencies to invest time, effort and resources in the study of the 17 polluted streams in order to seek solutions to the difficult problems facing them. Unfortunately, the settlement does not guarantee a "Fishable/Swimmable" water quality standard for the 17 streams.

To learn more about the settlement its impact on the 17 streams identified by the Alabama Rivers Alliance, contact Brad McLane at 205-322-6395 or bmclane@alabamarivers.org

5. Alabama's Non-Point Source Program Honors Pollution Prevention Efforts - On January 24th, the Alabama Nonpoint Source Program (a program aimed at reducing nonpoint source water pollution) recognized several organizations and volunteers for "Going the Second Mile" to prevent or control polluted runoff. The program depends on partnerships with numerous local agencies, non-profit organizations, schools, educators, citizen volunteers and individual landowners to be successful. These are truly "grassroots" conservationists. Award recipients included:

Sharon Daley, Richard Coram, David Newton, Alabama Water Watch Association, The Lake Guntersville RSVP Water Watch Group, ADEM NEMO, Onsite Wastewater Training Facility, Vic Payne and the Soil and Water Conservation Committee, Alabama Chapter Soil and Water Conservation Society, Choctawhatchee Pea and Yellow Rivers Watershed Management Authority, Jim McCullough, The Limestone County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Piney Creek Watershed Project, and The Lauderdale Soil and Water Conservation District.

For information about the "good works" of these individuals and organizations, contact Mike Mullen, Alabama NPS Education Coordinator at 334-670-3624 or mmullen@trojan.troyst.edu

6. BEN Notes - ACEI Chair Pete Conroy Honored, New Environmental Websites, Legacy Seeking Educational Programs Director, Alabamian Anchors New National Geographic Show, Friends of Hurricane Creek To Hold Clean-Up and Chili Cook-Off, Alabama Watershed Leadership Conference

ACEI Chair Pete Conroy Honored - Pete Conroy, director of the Jacksonville State University Environmental Policy and Information Center and chair of the Governor's Commission on Environmental Initiatives, received the W. Kelly Mosley Environmental Achievement Award for his commitment to the conservation of natural resources and protection of wildlife, threatened and endangered species. The prestigious Mosley award is given for outstanding achievements of voluntary efforts in forestry, wildlife, fisheries, soil, water, air, wildflowers, non-game wildlife, environmental education, conservation and urban forestry.

New Environmental Websites - Please check out the following "new" environmental websites.

Jerry Spenser's Mount Laurel Organic - http://www.mtlaurelorganics.com
Lake Watch of Lake Martin - http://www.Lakewatch.org
Nature Conservancy of Alabama - http://nature.org/alabama
Chattowah Open Land Trust - http://www.chattowah.org
Environmental Education Association of Alabama - http://home.earthlink.net/~eeaa

Legacy Seeking Educational Programs Director - Legacy, Partners in Environmental Education is seeking an Educational Programs Director for its Montgomery office. The position is responsible for coordinating all of Legacy's K-12 educational programs, organizing and conducting teacher training workshops and school environmental competitions; review and editing of educational program materials, serving as a liaison to volunteer committees, managing and recruiting volunteers, marketing educational programs, soliciting financial and in-kind support and general office duties.

To apply: Send resume, cover letter, and salary requirements to - Legacy, Inc., P.O.Box 3813, Montgomery, Alabama 36109, or e-mail legacypartners@mindspring.com. The deadline is noon on Wednesday, February 21st.

Alabamian Anchors New National Geographic Show - The National Geographic Society has launched a new cable channel that will have a newscast featuring news around the planet, Mon-Fri at 6:00. Anchoring the new show is former WSFA-TV in Montgomery personality and southeast Alabama's own Tom Foreman.

To learn more about the program visit the National Geographic website at: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/channel/today.html

Friends of Hurricane Creek To Hold Clean-Up and Chili Cook-Off - On February 17th, the Friends of Hurricane Creek will hold their Annual Hurricane Creek Clean-Up and Chili Cook-Off beginning at 10 am. If you are interested in participating, please contact John Wathan at 205-507-0867 or fohurricane@simplecom.net

Alabama Watershed Leadership Conference - The Alabama Rivers Alliance, Alabama Coastal Foundation and Mobile Bay Watch will be holding "Alabama Watershed Leadership Conference 2001,"March 16-18 at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama. For conference details visit http://www.alabamarivers.org The registration deadline is February 16th.

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