1) Alabama Legislative Environmental Update
2) Study: Alabama Littered With 20 Million Scrap Tires
3) Wild Turkey Comeback: An Alabama Success Story
4) Dauphin Island Sea Lab's New "BayMobile" and "DockWatch" Programs
5) BEN Notes - Steve Trash Magic Show Slated For Birmingham, Weeks Bay
Foundation Announces Photo Contest, Audubon's BIRDATHON, Trees To Be Needs
Volunteers

Check out the new "Calendar of Events" section on the BEN website

The new site will be updated on Thursday, March 22nd. If you have an event missing or would like to submit one, please e-mail BEN at pkbyington@aol.com. Links to websites detailing events are welcomed.

1. Alabama Legislative Environmental Update - Last week, after a spirited debate over several amendments, SB-5, the Alabama Land Recycling and Economic Redevelopment bill (Brownfield legislation), passed the state Senate by a 27-0 vote. The Senate bill, which closely mirrors the House-passed version, HB-74 (which passed 92-0), should be adopted in the coming weeks by the House.

The Brownfield bill was championed in the Senate by Senators Rodger Smitherman of Birmingham and Jimmy Holley of Troy. In the House, Terry Spicer of Enterprise ushered the bill through the legislative process. The bill has received almost universal support from Alabama's business and environmental communities. Brownfield legislation was also a "consensus" item and priority adopted by Governor Don Siegelman's Commission on Environmental Initiatives.

In other legislative news, the House Agriculture committee passed out HB-277, the Family Farms Preservation Act, despite strong objections from various environmental groups and newspaper editorial boards across the state, including the Birmingham News and the Anniston Star.

Last week, one new environmental bill was introduced by Rep. Sue Schmitz , HB -648, a bill reforming ADEM's appeal process.

For more information on environmental legislation, contact AlaLeav's Jeff Martin at 1-334-834-2956.

2. Study: Alabama Littered With 20 Million Scrap Tires - Documenting the need for a comprehensive scrap tire cleanup law, the 12 member Alabama Scrap Tire Study Commission reported last week, that there are an estimated 20 million tires in 850 illegal dumps around the state that pose health and safety concerns. The commission based its findings on information provided by county health departments and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

Illegally dumped scrap tires pose significant environmental, health and safety problems. In the past 36 months, there have been 145 scrap tire fires reported in the state. Standing water inside abandoned tires can become a breeding ground for mosquitoes that carry diseases such as encephalitis, denque fever and the West Nile virus.

State Rep. Mac Gipson of Prattville, who is a tire dealer, introduced legislation recommended by the tire study commission imposing a $1 per tire "environmental fee" on new tires to pay for a program to cleanup and reduce scrap tires in the state.

"We are the last state in the South to deal with this issue." stated Rep. Gipson.

3. Wild Turkey Comeback: An Alabama Success Story - On March 10th, Birmingham News outdoor writer Mike Bolton wrote a fascinating column about an Alabama conservation success story - the comeback of wild turkeys.

According to Bolton, at the turn of the 20th century, because of the lack of game laws, wild turkeys were over harvested. The bird that was once touted by Benjamin Frankin to be our national symbol, had disappeared from 18 of the 39 states that had been its natural range. In the early 1900s the U.S. had an estimated 30,000 birds, while Alabama only had a few thousand.

For decades, the state of Alabama made attempts to restock turkeys, but catching them was very difficult. It was not until the invention of the "cannon net" in 1960's, when technology won out. As a result of Alabama's restocking efforts, a bird that had vanished from almost every county in the state, today has an estimated population of 350,000 to 400,000.

Credit for this conservation success story goes to our wildlife agencies and the National Wild Turkey Federation. To read Mike Bolton's column in its entirety visit: http://www.al.com/columnists/birmingham/mbolton/03112001-mbcol11.html

4. Dauphin Island Sea Lab's New "BayMobile" and "DockWatch" Programs - The Dauphin Island Sea Lab has rolled out two new programs this winter.

Thanks to a $100,000 grant from ExxonMobil, Alabama school students can experience the "BayMobile" a traveling touch lab. Students can learn up close the fundamentals of marine and pure science and get to "stroke" an octopus. The BayMobile will teach students about the coastal environment and watersheds in a very memorable setting.

Along with the BayMobile, the Sea Lab has launched a 'DockWatch - "Jellyfish Monitoring" Program around the Gulf Coast. Last year, a large number of exotic jellyfish were spotted in the Gulf Coast area. Scientists at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and other marine labs have been conducting studies on why the population dynamics of jellyfish have changed. The consequences of these unusual populations of jellyfish can have a negative effect on tourism and recreational and commercial fishing.

Dr. Monty Graham is enlisting volunteers to make routine observations on water quality and presence of jellyfish along waterways of coastal Mississippi and Alabama, including bays and estuaries. Water sampling kits and training will be provided by the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. If you are interested in volunteering, contact the Sea Lab at 334-861-2141 or check out their website at http://dockwatch.disl.org

5. BEN Notes - Steve Trash Magic Show Slated For Birmingham, Weeks Bay Foundation Announces Photo Contest, Audubon's BIRDATHON, Trees To Be Needs Volunteers

Steve Trash Magic Show Slated For Birmingham - Move over David Copperfield. If you want to see a "real eco-tainer" and magician, attend a special benefit performance for Ruffner Mountain by Steve Trash. The event is scheduled to be held on March 31st, 7:00 p.m. at Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham. For more information call 205-833-8264. Tickets are $10.

Weeks Bay Foundation Announces Photo Contest - Following up the successful Millennium 2000 Photo Contest, the Weeks Bay Foundation has announced its contest rules for 2001. The contest will follow last year's format with categories for flora, fauna and habitat. There will also be Open and Junior divisions as before. New to this year's contest will be the expansion of the area a contestant can take photographs. This year, they will be accepting photos within the 126,000 acre or 200 square miles in Baldwin County, Weeks Bay Watershed (last year they accepted photos only within the Reserve). Photos taken between July 16, 2000, and July 15, 2001 are eligible. For more information about this exciting contest, call the Foundation at 334-990-5004.

Audubon's BIRDATHON - This year, the Birmingham Audubon Society (BAS) is sponsoring 102 environmental educational programs such as "Audubon Adventures" and "On the Wing" at 4th and 5th grade classrooms in 45 different schools in Jefferson and Shelby counties. They will reach more than 3200 students! The majority of these programs are funded by the Annual BAS BIRDATHON 2001. BAS is currently seeking support for this year's BIRDATHON 2001. If you would like to support BAS's educational efforts make a tax deductible contribution to BIRDATHON 2001, 3839 Glencoe Drive, Birmingham, Alabama 35213 or call 205-879-7709.

Trees To Be Needs Volunteers - Trees for Alabama, Councilman Jimmy Blake, the Department of Horticulture and Urban Forestry, CAWACO RC&D Council, Alabama Power and the Mayor's Office of Citizens Assistance are asking for friends and volunteers to help plant some 2000 five foot trees in Birmingham's Third District neighborhoods. The tree planting day is April 28th at 9:00 a.m. These groups are seeking 350 volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering, contact Stan Palla at 781-2210, Councilor Blake's office at 254-2355 or Don Lupo at 254-2806.

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