August 28, 1999
1) New Forever Wild Board Member Chosen
2) B'ham News Enviro Reporter Changing Positions
3) How Does Alabama Compare Regionally In "Number" of
Endangered Species?
4) Want Forestry News/Info? Here are Some Useful Alabama Forestry
Websites
5) BellSouth Honored By The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
6) ZPG Releases Kid Friendly Report: Surprising Alabama Results
7) 2000 Citizens Rally Against Pipeline in Gurley, Alabama
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"Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God." George Washington Carver (1864-1943)
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1. New Forever Wild Board Member Chosen - Dr. Ralph Mirarchi, a professor of Wildlife Sciences at Auburn University has been chosen by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) to replace Dr. Ken Marion of the University of Alabama- Birmingham on the Forever Wild Board of Trustees. ACHE is responsible for appointing three biologists to the Forever Wild Board from the Northern, Central and Southern districts. Dr. Mirarchi will begin his tenure on October 1.
In other Forever Wild news, the next Board meeting has been scheduled for Thursday September 23rd in Anniston, Alabama (most likely at 10:00 A.M.), at the Anniston City Meeting Center. If you are interested in attending this meeting and need additional details, please contact the State Lands office at 334-242-3484.
2. B'ham News Enviro Reporter Changing Positions - Val Walton, the Birmingham New's environmental reporter since 1995 will be leaving her environmental post in September. Her new position will be the "Federal beat" at the Birmingham News.
A creative and passionate writer, a true professional and friend... Val's departure from the environmental beat is a big loss. She will be missed.
3. How does Alabama Compare Regionally In "Number"
of Endangered Species?
What is Alabama's ranking in the Southeast on the number of threatened
and endangered species listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service?
The answer: Alabama ranks second behind Florida. See how Alabama
compares with our neighbors:
Number of Threatened and Endangered Species
1) Florida - 100 2) Alabama - 96 3) Tennessee - 88 4) Georgia - 55 5) North Carolina - 49 6) Kentucky - 42 7) Mississippi - 33 8) South Carolina - 30 9) Louisiana - 21
4. Want Forestry News/Info? Here are Some Useful Alabama Websites - This past week's Forest fire alerts resulting from the our midsummer drought in Alabama, prompted me to check out a number some very good forestry related websites. Please feel free to bookmark some of these sites.
Alabama Forestry Commission - http://www.forestry.state.al.us Get the latest updates on Alabama's fire alerts. This site also links you up with Alabama Treasure Forest Magazine -a must read.
Steve Nix's Alabama Forestry Link - http://members.aol.com/jostnix/index.htm
Perhaps one of the most heavily "linked" site on Alabama
forestry, this site provides a strong conservation component.
Alabama Cooperative Extension Service - http://acenet.auburn.net or http://www.pfmt.org More than 70% of Alabama's forests are owned by approximately 214,000 non-industrial private landowners ... families and neighbors. These sites help forestowners succeed. If you want to learn more about forestry in general, these are two great sites.
Trees of Alabama and the Southeast -
http://sofserv.forestry.auburn.edu/samuelson/dendrology
This is my favorite site. Get up close and personal with hundreds
of pictures and descriptions of Alabama's trees. This site is
a treasure.
5. BellSouth Honored By the EPA - This week it was announced that BellSouth will become the first Alabama company to earn a U.S. EPA Energy Star award. The designation went to BellSouth's City Center in downtown Birmingham for the energy saving measures it included in the building's $80 million renovation. Before 1998, BellSouth paid more than $700,000 annually in electricity for the 30 story building. The new improvements cut more than $102,000 off last years bill. BellSouth estimates it saved enough energy to run 225 cars and provide electricity for 147 homes.
BellSouth's building was one of 31 buildings recognized nationally for this award.
6. ZPG Releases National "Kid Friendly" Report - Zero Population Growth (ZPG), a national non-profit organization released this week their "Kid Friendly" report card. Alabama's report card was mixed, with the city of Huntsville cracking the national top 20, receiving a "B" and a 20th overall ranking.
The rest of the state's major metropolitan cities did not do as well on ZPG's report cards. Montgomery was ranked 55th with a C. Mobile received a C -minus and was ranked 72nd. While Birmingham received an F and was ranked 105 among the 112 cities.
The report used several environmental factors in determining their scores including toxic pollution and urban sprawl. To learn the details of this report, please visit ZPG's website at http://www.zpg.org
7. 2000 Citizens Rally Against Pipeline In Gurley - In perhaps one of the largest environmental rallies against a project in recent memory, a capacity crowd of 2000 people packed Madison County High School united against a proposed pipeline. The meeting was called to organize opposition to Colonial Pipeline's proposal to build a pipeline and storage terminal in eastern Madison County. Along with the citizens, representatives for Rep. Bud Cramer and Gov. Don Siegelman denounced and expressed concern over the proposed project.
For additional information about the environmental impacts
of this proposed project, contact Lynn Leach at 256-776-4015.
Please share BEN with friends and fellow conservationists.
If you have any questions about BEN, contact Pat Byington at
205-226-7739 or pkbyington@aol.com
