September 10, 2004
#234
1) Critical Habitat Designated For 5 Mussels
2) Study: Traffic Congestion In U.S. and Alabama
3) Wilderness Act Celebrates 40th Year
4) BEN Notes: Urbanization Impact for Dummies, Jefferson County Sewer Expansion Policy Hearing, CRS Lilypalooza, Moon Over Three Caves Dance, Outdoor Alabama Expo, BAS Fall Bird Count, SEC EcoFest, Shoals Smart Growth Public Forum II, Alabama Organic Vegetable Website, Correction
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Scheduled Environmental Benefits
September 17th - CRS Lilypalooza - http://www.cahabariversociety.org/Lilypalooza2.htm
September 18th - Moon Over Three Caves Dance - http://www.landtrust-hsv.org/moon_over_three_caves_dance.htm
October 14th - EcoFest 6 - http://www.bsc.edu/sec/news/default.html
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1. Critical Habitat Designated For 5 Mussels - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is designating approximately 550 river miles in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky, as critical habitat for five federally listed freshwater mussels.
The mussel species include the endangered Cumberland elktoe, oyster mussel, Cumberlandian combshell, purple bean and rough rabbitsfoot mussels. There will be 13 river and stream segments designated as critical habitat. In Alabama, that segment is a section of Bear Creek in Colbert County, Alabama and Tishomingo County, Mississippi.
Critical habitat is a term in the Endangered Species Act identifying geographic areas that are essential for the conservation of a threatened or endangered species and may require special management considerations.
For more information about this new designation, call Fish and Wildlife at 404-679-7291.
2. Study: Traffic Congestion In U.S. and Alabama - The Texas Transportation Institute has released the 2004 Urban Mobility Study which reports on the ever increasing traffic congestion problems that are occurring in the U.S. Birmingham was the only city in Alabama included in the study. The following are some of the Birmingham and national results.
In Birmingham
Number of "Rush Hours" (Time when a system might have congestion)
In 1996 - 5.0 hours In 2002 - 6.2 hours
Annual Excess Fuel Consumed
In 1996 - 11 million gallons In 2002 - 16 million gallons
Congestion Costs in Birmingham
In 1996 - $104 million In 2002 - $168 million
Annual Cost per Peak Traveler
In 1996 - $324 In 2002 - $468
National Figures
* Annual delay per peak period (rush hour) traveler, which has grown from 16 hours to 46 hours since 1982.
* Annual financial cost of traffic congestion, which has ballooned from $14 billion to more than $63 billion since 1982 (as expressed in 2002 dollars).
* Wasted fuel, totaling 5.6 billion gallons lost to engines idling in traffic jams.
To access the entire study, go to http://tti.tamu.edu/
3. Wilderness Act Celebrates 40th Year - Last week, the United States celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act. It took 10 years after the passage of that monumental law, for Alabama to designate its first wilderness area - the Sipsey. In celebration of the Wilderness Act, here are a few Alabama and National figures about this 40 year old law according to a story by the Decatur Daily last week.
Alabama Wilderness Facts -
41,367 - Number of forest (acres) federally protected as wilderness
4 - Number of 6-foot tall men it takes to wrap their arms around the state champion yellow poplar found in the Sipsey (the circumference is 22 feet and the height is 150 feet
24 - Number of federally listed threatened and endangered species in Sipsey, 17 animals and 7 plants
33.4 - Miles of Sipsey Wilderness hiking trails maintained by the U.S. Forest Service
23,000 - Signatures on first petition delivered to Congress asking to designate Sipsey as a wilderness. Almost one signature for every acre
U.S. Wilderness Facts -
662 - Wilderness areas throughout the U.S.
44 - States that have wilderness
105 Million - Number of Wilderness acres in the U.S., most in Alaska
The Wilderness Society has set up a petition in support of Wilderness proposals in front of Congress this year. It can accessed at http://www.40WildYears.org To learn about Wilderness, go to http://www.tws.org
4. BEN Notes: Urbanization Impact for Dummies, Jefferson County Sewer Expansion Policy Hearing, CRS Lilypalooza, Moon Over Three Caves Dance, Outdoor Alabama Expo, BAS Fall Bird Count, SEC EcoFest, Shoals Smart Growth Public Forum II, Alabama Organic Vegetable Website, Correction
Urbanization Impact for Dummies - Several groups in East Alabama will be holding a seminar on urbanization and its impacts on Monday, September 13th at the Forest Ecology Preserve in Auburn at 7:00 p.m. For additional info call 334-821-9666 or go to http://www.ltea.org
Jefferson County Sewer Expansion Policy Hearing - Jefferson County will be holding a Sewer Expansion Policy Public Hearing on Tuesday, September 14th at 4:00 PM in Room 370 Jefferson County Courthouse. For additional info call the Cahaba River Society at 205-32-CLEAN ext. 10 or go to http://www.CahabaRiverSociety.org
CRS Lilypalooza - Make sure to mark your calendars and attend the Cahaba River Society's Lilypalooza on September 17th, 6-10pm at the McWane Center in Birmingham. Tickets are $75 - and there will be great food, music and fun for all. For additional details go to : http://www.cahabariversociety.org/Lilypalooza2.htm
Moon Over Three Caves Dance - The Land Trust of Huntsville and North Alabama will be holding their 5th Annual Moon Over Three Caves Dance scheduled for Saturday, September 18th from 7:30 to 11:00 PM. The event will be held at the historic Three Caves Quarry on Monte Sano Mountain. Tickets for the event are $40. For additional info go to http://www.landtrust-hsv.org/moon_over_three_caves_dance.htm
Outdoor Alabama Expo - The Department of Conservation will be holding the Outdoor Alabama Expo, September 25th from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM at Oak Mountain State Park. Hands on activities from rock climbing, wildlife watching, fishing and shooting sports will be available for all participants.
BAS Fall Bird Count - On September 25th, the Birmingham Audubon Society will be holding its 40th Annual Fall Bird Count. If you are interested in joining a count party call Paul Franklin at 205-547-7647 or Greg Harber at 205-251-2133.
SEC EcoFest - The Southern Environmental Center will be holding its 6th Annual EcoFest on Thursday, October 14th at WorkPlay in Birmingham. For more info go to: http://www.bsc.edu/sec/news/default.html
Shoals Smart Growth Public Forum II - Mark the date; The Shoals Environmental Alliance has scheduled the 2nd Shoals Smart Growth Public Forum for Monday, November 8th at the Florence Event Center. For more info call Nancy Muse 256-767-2909.
Alabama Organic Vegetable Website - Want to know where to find organic vegetables and sustainable agricultural products? Go to http://www.asanonline.org
Correction - The Estuary Live Program we wrote about last week is scheduled for September 23rd not the 22nd. Here is the corrected BEN Note.
Estuary Live!! Weeks Bay - Join the Weeks Bay Esturine Research and the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program live online for "Mud?! Who KneW?" A free online field trip scheduled for September 23nd at 9:00 a.m. The program is geared toward K-12 students and home schools. To participate just check out these websites: http://www.estuaries.gov and http://www.estuarylive.org