1) State Parks, Criminal Dumping and Scenic Byway Legislation Still Alive
2) Important LWCF Vote Occurring In Congress Early Next Week
3) Move Over Central Park in New York City, Birmingham Has Ruffner Mountain
4) Alabama Sturgeon Listed After Much Debate and Controversy
5) Jeff Martin Hired As New Environmental Political Chief
6) News and Events Across Alabama: Conservation Easement Seminar in Mobile, Bike Day in Birmingham, Friends of Locust Fork Celebration, Camp McDowell Raptor Run and AWW Newsletter

1. State Parks, Criminal Dumping and Scenic Byway Legislation Still Alive - With three legislative days remaining, only three environmental bills stand a chance at passage during the regular session of the Alabama legislature. Some of the bills that have been killed or have died or are about to die silently this session include, ADEM Reform bills, Vessel Dumping, Emissions Testing, and Wilderness legislation. Three major pieces of environmental legislation still have a chance of passage. They are:

State Park Renovation Bill - Yesterday (May 4) the state Senate passed SB -410, which will allow the state to proceed with a bond issue the voters of Alabama approved in 1998. The bill creates a 12 member legislative oversight committee to approve all expenditures. The oversight committee was a major sticking point in the Senate. Passage is still needed in the House.

Criminal Dumping Bill - This bill (HB-424) will crackdown on people who trespass on one's property to illegally dump garbage. HB-424 will help rural Alabamians combat illegal garbage dumping on forests and farms across the state. The bill awaits a vote in the Senate.

"Alabama the Beautiful" Bill - This bill (SB-438) will create a Scenic Byway Program for the state of Alabama. If you care about protecting Alabama's scenic roads and viewsheds, this program will help the state designate such areas. This bill awaits a vote from the House.

If you want to urge your state senator/and Lt. Governor Steve Windom or representative/Speaker Seth Hammett to support these bills (a call would be very timely), call them at: 334-242-7800 (Senate) for HB-424 and 334-242-7600 for SB-438 and SB-410.
If you do not know your legislator name visit http://www.legislature.state.al.us to receive contact and biographical information.

2. Important LWCF Vote Occurring In Congress Early Next Week - Another good reason to get on the "horn". The U.S. House of Representatives will be debating the Conservation and Reinvestment Act - CARA (H-701), on Tuesday, May 9th. This bill which has 316 House sponsors, will fully and permanently fund the Land Water and Conservation Fund and several wildlife and conservation programs. Under the legislation's present form Alabama stands to receive yearly $8.4 million for LWCF, 5.7 million for Wildlife/Nongame programs, $1.8, Historic Preservation, $2.4 million for Conservation Easements and $32 million for Coastal Impact and Conservation Programs. The entire Alabama Congressional delegation is cosponsoring CARA, but don't take their vote for granted. If you support CARA call your congressman today at: 202-224-3121.

3. Move Over Central Park in New York City, Birmingham Has Ruffner Mountain - On Tuesday, May 2nd Ruffner Mountain officials announced that a sales contract has been signed and funding secured for the purchase of 427 additional acres to the current 550 acre Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve. The 977 acre preserve moves Ruffner Mountain ahead of New York City's 853 acre Central Park as one of the largest urban nature preserves in the country.

The transaction for the addition was put together by the Trust for Public Land and made possible by the Jefferson County Commission and the state's Forever Wild Program. Jefferson County has agreed to purchase one 198 acre tract for $838,790 while Forever Wild will purchase 229 acres for $568,150. For more information on Ruffner Mountain's bold new expansion call 205-833-8264.

4. Alabama Sturgeon Listed After Much Debate and Controversy - After years of debate and lawsuits, the Alabama Sturgeon has been added to the endangered species list. The listing makes it a federal crime to hurt or remove the Alabama Sturgeon which has only been found in the southernmost stretch of the Alabama River.

In reaction to the listing, Alabama Governor Don Siegelman stated that the listing would not hurt the state's ability to lure industry. "We have taken a look at this issue from beginning to end and determined that it will not stop bridge construction and it will not slow down economic development one iota." said Siegelman. The governor also said that he would not pull out of the cooperative agreement signed in February, in which the state agreed to spend $433,000 over five years on recovery efforts for the fish.

Bill Satterfield, a lawyer who represents the Alabama-Tombigbee Rivers Coalition, a group opposed to the listing, stated in the Birmingham News that his coalition which includes Alabama Power and timber interests, among other companies - may sue to try to block the listing. The coalition will most likely not honor their pledge of $433,000 toward recovery of the species as a result of the listing according to Satterfield.

Ray Vaughan, director of WildLaw, a group that pushed for the listing responded by stating that, "if Shelby (Senator Richard Shelby) and the industry group truly care about the sturgeon, they'll stay in the voluntary agreement and work to provide needed dollars. If not, it proves they were never serious about protecting the fish.

As for the science, Sam Hamilton of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service claims that the "overwhelming majority of experts in the field agree that the Alabama Sturgeon is a distinct species worthy of protection." He also said the agency convened a blue-ribbon panel to review the science before making its decision.

5. Jeff Martin Hired As New Environmental Political Chief - The Alabama League of Environmental Action Voters (AlaLeavs), the political arm of the environmental community in Alabama, has tapped lobbyist Jeff Martin to be its first Executive Director.

Martin, who begins working for AlaLeavs in May, previously worked as a lobbyist for the city of Birmingham and the Humane Society. If you are interested to learn more about AlaLeavs and would like to welcome Jeff Martin to his new position -contact AlaLeavs at - 334-834-2956.

6. News and Events Across Alabama: Bike Day in Birmingham, Conservation Easement Seminar in Mobile, Friends of Locust Fork Celebration, Camp McDowell Raptor Run, and AWW Newsletter

Even though we are nearly two weeks removed from Earth Day, the middle of May is almost as active. Please check out the following events occurring next week across the state.

Conservation Easement Basics Workshop - The use of Conservation Easements are rapidly becoming one of the most effect land use protection tools in Alabama. If you are interested in this kind of land protection, this day long workshop is for you. The conference is scheduled for May 9th at the Adams Mark Hotel in Mobile from 9:00 to 4:00pm. Please call 334-990-8612 and register today!

Bike Day in Birmingham - If you care about bicycling, family fun and clean air come join the Alabama Partners for Clean Air at the UAB Mini- Park, Saturday May 13th, 9:00am to 1:00pm. There will be bike rides and demonstrations, food, educational booths and plenty of family fun. For more information call 205-226-4934.

Friends of Locust Fork River Festival - This is the Festival's 7th year and they know how to put on a festival! The event is Saturday May 13th, 10:00am to 5:00pm. For directions to the location in Blount County visit the Friend's website at: http://www.vulcan.com/flfr

3rd Annual Raptor Run at Camp McDowell - Camp McDowell is holding a 5K run to benefit its Feathers In Focus raptor education program. The event starts at 9:00am May 13th at Camp McDowell. Registration is $12 before the event and $15 day of the event. For more info visit the Camp McDowell website at http://www.campmcdowell.com or call 205-387-1806.

Alabama Water Watch (AWW) NewsLetter - The AWW and Alabama Non-point Source newsletter is now available via e-mail in an Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF file) format. If you wish to receive these newsletters from the computer/e-mail contact Mike Mullen at mmullen@trojan.troyst.edu . Please make sure to include your address in the message.

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 We also encourage readers to visit our website at : http://www.BamaNews.com