1. Ducks Unlimited Presents 153 Acres at Sipsey Swamp to Forever Wild - In 1999, more than 3,000 acres in Tuscaloosa County was purchased by Forever Wild to preserve the Sipsey Swamp. In 2004, 12 members of Ducks Unlimited pooled their resources to purchase an additional 153 acres of ecologically important land adjacent to Forever Wild's Sipsey tract, and have presented it to the state.

Ducks Unlimited State Chairman Forrest Fitts summed up the purchase, "This little piece of Alabama is more than cypress knees and mud. It's us, a part of our heritage."

Ducks Unlimited examined and assessed the wetlands and bottomland forest in the new acquisition. They will continue to provide their expert analysis and support to the Department of Conservation. For more information about this new addition to Alabama's Forever Wild program contact Ducks Unlimited at 601-956-1937.

2. Alabama Ranks 19th in Asbestos Death According to Study - The Environmental Working Group (EWG) released a study last week ranking Alabama 19th nationally on the number of asbestos deaths and injuries in the U.S. from two asbestos-related diseases.

Since 1979, the study says Alabama has had 741 deaths from asbestos and 10,881 people have gone to court seeking compensation for injuries, including 3000 cases in Mobile County. The EWG study comes in response to recent federal legislation to create a trust fund to compensate victims. Trial lawyers groups have stated that the fund would inadequately cover asbestos claims nationwide. To view the EWG report got to http://www.ewg.org .

3. Bald Eagles Making a Comeback in Alabama - Here are some interesting facts about bald eagles in the U.S. and Alabama, from a recent Birmingham News article by Katherine Bouma.

At one time more than 1 million eagles, about 500,000 pairs, were believed to have populated the lower 48 states.
By 1963, only 417 breeding pairs remained in the lower 48 states, although they continued to thrive in Alaska and Canada.
In the 1980's, Alabama had not a single nesting pair of eagles.
A nesting program was started in Alabama, in 1991. This year, aerial surveys in Alabama documented 52 nests that are believed active. That means 120 to 130 eagles live in Alabama.
According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the contiguous United States now has about 7,000 nesting pairs of bald eagles.

4. Enviro Features In Portico & National Geographic Magazines - Portico Magazine, an Alabama based publication, has a feature story this month on Roald Hazelhoff and the Southern Environmental Center at Birmingham Southern College.

National Geographic also has a feature this month on Talladega. Check out both publications at local newsstands or on the web at:

http://www.porticomag/currentissue.html
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0403/feature6/index.html

5. BEN Notes: Renew Our Rivers, Smart Growth for Coastal Alabama, Trout Unlimited to Meet, Stormwater Workshops Scheduled, Ruffner Mountain Magic

Renew Our Rivers - Now in its 4th year, Renew Our Rivers, a project spearheaded by Alabama Power will be organizing volunteer cleanups at local lakes and rivers on most weekends from March through May. Over the years the groups have collected over 1.6 million pounds of debris and organized more than 3000 volunteers. This year's first cleanup is at Lake Logan Martin on March 15-20. For information on how to participate at the first cleanup, call 205-525-0051. To check out the nearest project in your community go to http://www.alabamapower.com

Smart Growth for Coastal Alabama - The city of Mobile will be holding the next big Smart Growth Conference this spring on March 25th from 9:30 to 4:30 at the Mobile Convention Center. National speakers include Dana Beach, who wrote the Pew Ocean Report on Coastal Sprawl, Trip Pollard, with the Southern Environmental Law Center, Bob McNamara with the National Association of Realtors, Urban Planner Jeff Speck, and Ron Utt of the Heritage Foundation.

Contact Debbie Jones at the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program to register at 251-431-6409 or go to http://www.mobilebaynep.com

Trout Unlimited of Alabama to Meet - For folks who love to fish trout, Trout Unlimited will be meeting on April 25th from 2 pm to 4 pm on the banks of the Sipsey Fork of the Black Warrior River just below Lewis Smith Lake Dam on Hwy 69 at Parker Bridge. Please RSVP at je@1flyfish.com or call E. at 256-287-0050.

Stormwater Workshops Scheduled - Two Stormwater BMP Academy workshops have been scheduled this month. They are scheduled:

Stormwater BMP Academy - March 18- Birmingham Botanical Gardens -sponsored by Black Warrior Clean Water Partnership, CaWaCO, Cahaba River Society, ACES, ADEM and others - http://www.aces.edu/waterquality/streams/birmingham1.htm

Advanced Stormwater Design - March 19 - Birmingham Botanical Gardens - http://www.aces.edu/waterquality/streams/birmingham2.htm

Ruffner Mountain Magic Benefit - On March 12th, Ruffner Mountain will be holding a benefit "Ruffner Mountain Magic" at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. There will be a buffet dinner, silent auction and some great music. Tickets are $50 and all proceeds benefit Ruffner Mountain, a 1000 acre nature preserve in Birmingham. To order tickets go to info@ruffnermountain.org or go to http://www.ruffnermountain.org.