BEN - Bama Environmental News

Thursday, February 21, 2008

BEN - February 20, 2008 #299

1) Huntsville Ranked 18th on List of "America's 50 Greenest Cities"

2) Sen. Sessions Presents $1 Million To Red Mountain Park

3) Enviro Bills in the Alabama Statehouse

4) Tuscaloosa E-Cycling Event Collects Nearly 200 Ton

5) Alabama Land Trust and Georgia Land Trust Conservation Easement Totals

6) BEN Notes: Birmingham Audubon Scholarships, Rick Trione & Alabama Coastal Foundation, WRATT Volunteers, Birmingham Historical Society - 'Olmstead Files", Camp McDowell's Teacher FUNshops "State of the Environment Conference, Alabama Rivers Alliance Watershed Leadership Conference, Alabama Hiking Trail Society Conference, Green Coast 2008, AEC's Green Tie Affair, ALEEC Spring Conference - Jared Diamond,

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Quote of the Day

"The most important political office is that of the private citizen." - Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis

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Green Resource Center for Alabama

Save the following dates from the Gren Resource Center of Alabama:

March 15th, 9-5 The Clover Crawl - An Open House for the Center

March 25th 8:30am-4pm "Saving Our Water" - at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens

For additional details visit - http://www.greenalabama.org

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1. Huntsville Ranked 18th on List of "America's 50 Greenest Cities" - According to the Huntsville Times, the magazine Popular Science ranked the city of Huntsville 18th on its list of "America's Greenest Cities." Huntsville scored the highest among Southeastern cities beating Lexington, Ky. (25th), Athens, Ga. (33rd), Newport News, Va. (41st), Louisville, Ky. (42nd) and Greensboro, NC. (50th).

Popular Science, which has a monthly circulation of about 1.45 million copies, used data from the U.S. Census Bureau, and National Geographic's Green Guide to see how American cities ranked in terms of renewable energy, public transit, recycling, and setting aside land for parks and nature preserves. To check out the entire list visit - http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2008-02/americas-50-greenest-cities

2. Sen. Sessions Presents $1 Million To Red Mountain Park - Earlier this month, on February 1st, Senator Jeff Sessions announced and presented $980,000 to the Red Mountain Greenway and Recreational Area Commission. The federal funding will help the Commission acquire and develop more than 1,100 acres of land atop Red Mountain for the park.

The new 1100 acre park will join its "twin" in East Birmingham - the Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve - as two of the largest urban parks in the country. Red Mountain Park was made possible through the discounted sale of the park land by U.S. Steel. Along with the park's natural areas, the Red Mountain Park Master Plan includes 18 miles of walking, jogging and bicycling trails, numerous sports and recreational fields, fishing ponds, a bird watching sanctuary and outdoor venues for shows and exhibitions.

Senator Sessions' support of Red Mountain Park is the latest in a long line of conservation efforts that have included the establishment of the Dugger Mountain Wilderness, Cahaba National Wildlife Refuge, Mountain Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge and the expansion of the Bon Secor National Wildlife Refuge.

For more info about Red Mountain Park, visit http://www.redmountainpark.org

3. Enviro Bills in the Alabama Statehouse - Energy, solid waste and quarries are the primary issues the Alabama Legislature have tackled during the first couple of weeks in the Alabama Legislature. Below are brief descriptions of the bills that have been filed.

HB 234 and SB 305 - Energy - Alternative and Renewable Energy Act - Tax credit for solar power, capital credit for certain facilities

HB 235 and SB 306 - Energy - Alternative Motor Fuels Security Act - State tax credit for certain expenses for qualified facilities producing alternative fuels.

HB 237 and SB 308 - Energy - Green Fleets Program - Establish fuel efficiency goals and Green Fleets Review Committee

HB 242 and SB 309 - Energy - Building Commission to adopt 2006 International Conservation Code

HB 313 - Solid Waste - Solid waste disposal management plan review by local governing body, considered denied if inacted upon within 90 days.

HB 354 - Rock Quarries - Madison County rock quarries, location near schools, regulated outside limits of municipality

HB 372 and SB 190 - Limestone County rock quarries to be regulated outside municipalities

SB 131 - Rock Quarries - ADEM cannot issue permits for rock quarry without approval from the county commission.

SB 229 - Clean Indoor Air - Smoking is prohibited in public places and work places

4. Tuscaloosa E-Cycling Event Collects Nearly 200 Tons - Want some evidence about the "need" for electronic recycling in Alabama.

Last month, the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama and the city of Tuscaloosa held an E-Cycling Day. According to Chris Rue, president of Black Warrior Technology and chairman of the E-Cycling committee, more than 800 people and 50 businesses dropped off their electronic waste at the event, collecting nearly 200 tons of electronic equipment. The group needed 7 transfer trucks, "filled to the brink," carrying approximately 25 tons of equipment.

Along with saving landfill space, the money made from recycling the ink cartridges and cell phones will be used to fund the mayor of Tuscaloosa's Pre-K Initiative.

5. Alabama Land Trust and Georgia Land Trust Conservation Easement Totals - The Alabama Land Trust and Georgia Land Trust enjoyed a banner year during 2007, protecting a record 35,556 acres in Alabama and Georgia with conservation easements. Here are some highlights from the 2007 protection effort:

* Cahaba River Watershed: 2785 acres were placed in conservation easements protecting more than 5 miles along the River

* Choccolocco Creek: nearly 4 miles of streambed protected

* Black Warrior River Watershed: 2392 acres placed in conservation easement protecting nearly 6 miles of the river bank

* Tallapoosa River Watershed: 10 miles of stream bank were protected with conservation easements in Chambers, Randolph, and Tallapoosa Counties

* Tennessee River Basin: 2255 acres were protected with a conservation easement in Jackson County

* Coosa River Watershed; conservation easements protected over 2 miles along the river

To date the Alabama Land Trust and Georgia Land Trust has protected 100,000 acres with conservation easements. For more info on the Land Trust visit - http://www.allandtrust.org

6. BEN Notes: Birmingham Audubon Scholarships, Rick Trione & Alabama Coastal Foundation, WRATT Volunteers, Birmingham Historical Society - 'Olmstead Files", Camp McDowell's Teacher FUNshops, "State of the Environment Conference, Alabama Rivers Alliance Watershed Leadership Conference, Alabama Hiking Trail Society Conference, Green Coast 2008, AEC's Green Tie Affair, ALEEC Spring Conference - Jared Diamond

Birmingham Audubon Scholarships - The Birmingham Audubon Society has scholarships available for teachers to attend the Audubon Mountain Workshop (deadline April 1) and the Maine Audubon Society's Workshop for Educators (deadline March 1). For additional details visit http://www.birminghamaudubon.org

Rick Trione & Alabama Coastal Foundation - Check out at http://www.joinacf.org/Ricky%20Trione.htm the wonderful story about Fairhope native Rick Trione and his partnership with the Alabama Coastal Foundation. A blind artist, whose work is now used on a number ACF's merchandise, his art is inspirational and a blessing. Check out his art at http://www.joinacf.org

WRATT Volunteers - The Waste Reduction and Technology Transfer Foundation is seeking retirees to assist the group with their programs, including waste reduction, recycling, energy efficiency and air pollution. Interested? Call Danny Patterson at 205-824-8797 or email wrattd@aol.com

Birmingham Historical Society - 'Olmstead Files" - At this year's annual meeting of the Birmingham Historical Society, the organization featured a new book Hand Down Unharmed - Olmstead Files on Birmingham Parks. Find out how you can purchase this wonderful story of "green" history in Birmingham by visiting - http://www.bhistorical.org .

Camp McDowell's Teacher FUNshops - The 2008 Free McDowell Environmental Center Teacher workshops (FUNshops) are starting to book! The lost World FUNshop is scheduled for June 2-6 with an added treat of touring a local cave. The Living Streams FUNshop is scheduled for October 27-29. For more info on Camp McDowell Environmental Center and one of the teacher workshops contact Maggie Wade Johnston at maggie@campmcdowell.com or 205-387-1806. Also visit - http://www.campmcdowell.com/cmec

Legacy "State of the Environment" Conference - Legacy will be holding their 2008 Environmental Partnership Conference on February 27-29 at the Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach. This year's topic is the "State of the Environment." To register visit - http://www.legacyenved.org - The registration deadline is Feb.1st.

Watershed Leadership Conference - The Alabama Rivers Alliance will be holding their annual Watershed Leadership Conference on March 14-16, in Fairhope, Alabama at Camp Beckwith on Week's Bay. For conference details visit http://www.alabamarivers.org .

Alabama Hiking Trail Society Conference - The Alabama Hiking Trail Society will be celebrating the linking of the Pinhoti Trail with the Appalachian Trail at their 2008 Conference to be held March 14-16 at Cheaha State Park. For details, visit http://www.hikealabama.org/

Green Coast 2008 - Save the Date - The GreenCoast 2008 Conference & Expo will be held at Mobile, Alabama's Arthur Outlaw Convention Center on April 9-10. Register today at http://greencoast2008.blogspot.com/

AEC's Green Tie Affair - Mark your calendars - The Alabama Environmental Council will be holding their 12th Annual Green Tie Affair on April 17th at the Flower Stems Loft on 213 Richard Arrington Blvd. South. For more info, call 205-322-3126.

ALEEC Spring Conference - Jared Diamond - The Alabama Environmental Education Consortium (ALEEC) will be holding their Spring Conference this year on April 19th at Samford University. This year's featured speaker will be Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs and Steel. His topic will be - Lessons from Environmental Collapses of Past Societies. For more info about the conference call Virginia Brown at 205-726-4246.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

New Ecoscape in West Birmingham

A new ecoscape will be built on the grounds of The Faith Apostolic Church in West Birmingham. The church property is also home to the endangered Watercress Darter.

Check out additional ecoscapes built by the Southern Environmental Center at Birmingham Southern College at http://www.myecoscapes.org . Learn more about the Faith Apostolic Church and their work with the Freshwater Land Trust at http://www.freshwaterlandtrust.org

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

BEN - January 22, 2008 #298

1) Court of Civil Appeals Upholds Mining Permit Ruling

2) City of Birmingham Votes To Withdraw From Stormwater Authority

3) Freshwater Land Trust Secures New Conservation Easements

4) Land Trust of Huntsville and North Alabama Receives 19 Acre Donation

5) BEN Notes: Alabama Coastal Foundation Job Opening, Cahaba River Society's 20th Anniversary Meeting, Homewood's Annual Salamander Festival, ADEM Water Conference, EEAA Conference, Legacy "State of the Environment Conference, Alabama Rivers Alliance Watershed Leadership Conference, Alabama Hiking Trail Society Conference, Green Coast 2008, Correction: Tree Cities

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Check out Thicket - a new Alabama culture, political and entertainment magazine.

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BEN Readers: In lieu of a subscription to BEN - we ask readers to consider making a donation to one of BEN's chosen charities. Please check them out at http://www.BamaNews.com/donation.html and make a contribution today!

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1. Court of Civil Appeals Upholds Mining Permit Ruling - Last month, according to the Associated Press, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals upheld an April 2006 ruling by Montgomery County Circuit Judge Truman Hobbs, Jr., had struck down the Alabama Environmental Management Commission's decision approving a pollutant discharge permit granted to Tuscaloosa Resources by ADEM.

According to the AP report, the issue, in part was whether the North Fork of Hurricane Creek in eastern Tuscaloosa County already failed state water quality standards and was off-limits to further degradation by new sources of pollution.

An administrative law judge had recommended that the commission, which oversees ADEM, overrule ADEM's decision to issue the permit, but the Commission in February 2004 voted 4 to 1 in support of ADEM's action.

Two environmental groups, the Friends of Hurricane Creek and the Alabama Rivers Alliance sued ADEM as a result of the agency's decision.

In the appeals court ruling, the court said it was compelled to agree with Hobbs' determination that the AEMC's finding was "clearly erroneous."

2. City of Birmingham Votes To Withdraw From Stormwater Authority - Earlier this month, the city of Birmingham voted to withdraw from the Storm Water Management Authority (SWMA), an agency that monitors water pollution in Jefferson County.

SWMA fulfills federal requirements for local governments to monitor and control water pollution problems, including silt and mud from construction sites. The agency, which includes 22 participating Jefferson County municipalities, has been described as a much needed "model of regional cooperation." Losing Birmingham's financial support will cost SWMA about $775,000 a year or about 40% of SWMA's budget.

The Birmingham City Council made the decision after representatives from the Malcolm Pirnie environmental engineering firm presented the case for withdrawing, saying the city could save about $100,000 a year.

Birmingham still has several steps it must take before it can be completely severed from SWMA by October 1st.

3. Freshwater Land Trust Secures New Conservation Easements - Before Christmas, the Freshwater Land Trust announced a wonderful gift. On December 17th, longtime conservationists Britt and Judy Butler signed and donated a 32 acre conservation easement of their land along the Cahaba River to the Land Trust. The gift was made all the more special, because it adjoins another conservation easement owned by Bob and Ann Tate, another well known couple with the environmental community. In total, 45 acres along the Cahaba River will be permanently preserved.

To date, the Birmingham based Freshwater Land Trust has conserved close to 5,000 acres protecting over 90 streamside miles in the Greater Birmingham Region. For more information about the Land Trust and conservation easements, contact Wendy Jackson at 205-226-7900.

4. Land Trust of Huntsville and North Alabama Receives 19 Acre Donation - Here is another good news story out of Madison County. From the Huntsville Times, Huntsville natives Jean Berry and her daughter Lynne Berry have donated 19 acres in eastern Madison County to the Land Trust of Huntsville and North Alabama. The pristine property is located on the west side of Berry Mountain and adjoins 103 acres owned by the Land Trust. A special place, the Berry family settled in the area in the late 1800's.

The Land Trust of Huntsville and North Alabama celebrated in 2007 their 20th Anniversary. Almost 5,000 acres in North Alabama have been preserved by the Land Trust, along with 33 miles of public trails and three major mountain preserves. To learn more about the Land Trust visit - http://www.landtrust-hsv.org/

5. BEN Notes: Alabama Coastal Foundation Job Opening, Cahaba River Society's 20th Anniversary Meeting, Homewood's Annual Salamander Festival, ADEM Water Conference, EEAA Conference, Legacy "State of the Environment" Conference, Alabama Rivers Alliance Watershed Leadership Conference, Alabama Hiking Trail Society Conference, Green Coast 2008, Correction: Tree Cities

Alabama Coastal Foundation Job Opening - The Alabama Coastal Foundation is seeking a full-time Programs Director. Responsibilities include: coordinating educational and restoration projects; developing volunteer opportunities; conducting research and grant proposal writing. Interested candidates should submit cover letter and resume to: Bethany Kraft: bkraft@joinacf.org - Learn more about the Alabama Coastal Foundation at http://www.joinacf.org

Cahaba River Society's 20th Anniversary Meeting - The Cahaba River Society will be celebrating its 20th year at their annual meeting, to be held on Thursday, January 24th, 5:30 at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. For details, visit http://www.cahabariversociety.org .

Salamander Festival - This is a great way to spend a Saturday! Join members of the Friends of Shades Creek at the Annual Salamander Festival in Homewood, this Saturday, January 26, 3:00-5:30 at the Homewood Central Park. For more information, call 879-6866.

ADEM Water Conference - ADEM will be holding their 19th Annual Nonpoint Source Conference on January 30th in Montgomery, Alabama at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center. To register, go to http://www.adem.alabama.gov

EEAA Conference - The 2008 Environmental Education Association of Alabama Conference will be held on January 31-February 2 at the Blue Lake United Methodist Camp near Andalusia. To register, visit http://www.aces.edu/eeaa/main.html

Correction: Tree Cities - In the December 17th edition of Bama Environmental News, we reported that the city of Montgomery is positioned to become the 5th city in Alabama to earn a "Tree City USA 'designation from the National Arbor Day Foundation. That statement was incorrect. There are actually, nearly 80 Tree Cities in Alabama (the list can be found here http://www.arborday.org/programs/treecity/map.cfm).

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Aldo Leopold - From BEN Passages

Just finished reading Aldo Leopold's "The River of the Mother of God and Other Essays.

Here are some of my favorite passages:

"For twenty centuries and longer, all civilized thought has rested upon one basic premise: that it is the destiny of man to exploit and enslave the earth.

The biblical injunction to "go forth and multiply" is merely one of many dogmas which imply this attitude of philosophical imperialism.

During the past few decades, however, a new science called ecology has been unobtrusively spreading a film of doubt over this heretofore unchallenged "world view." Ecology tells us that no animal -not even man- can be regarded as independent of his environment. Plants, animals, men, and soil are a community of interdependent parts, an organism. No organism can survive the decadence of a member.... It may flatter our ego to be called the sons of man, but it would be nearer the truth to call ourselves the brothers of our fields and forests." - Aldo Leopold, Dedication Ceremony of the University of Wisconsin Arboretum - 1934

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"Conservation means harmony between men and land.

When land does well for its owner, and the owner does well by his land; when both end up better by reason of their partnership, we have conservation. When one or the other grows poorer, we do not." - Aldo Leopold, The Farmer as a Conservationist - 1939

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"Everyone ought to be dissatisfied with the slow spread of conservation to the land. Our "progress" still consists largely of letterhead pieties and convention oratory. The only progress that counts is that on the actual landscape of the back forty, and here we are still slipping two steps backward for each forward stride.

The usual answer to this dilemma is "more conservation education." My answer is yes by all means, but are we sure that only the volume of educational effort needs stepping up? Is something lacking in its content as well? I think there is, and I will attempt to define it.

The basic defect is this: we have not asked the citizen to assume any real responsibility. We have told him that if he will vote right, obey the law, join some organizations, and practice what conservation is profitable on his own land, that everything will be lovely; the government will do the rest.

This formula is too easy to accomplish anything worthwhile. It calls for no efforts or sacrifice; no change in our philosophy of values. It entails little that any decent and intelligent person would not have done, of his own accord, under the late but not lamented Babbitian code.

No important change in human conduct is ever accomplished without an internal change in our intellectual emphases, our loyalties, our affections, and our convictions. The proof that conservation has not yet touched these foundations of conduct lies in the fact that philosophy, ethics, and religion have not yet heard of it. I need a short name for what is lacking; I call it the ecological conscience. Ecology is the science of communities, and the ecological conscience is therefore the ethics of community life." - Aldo Leopold, The Ecological Conscience - 1947

Monday, December 17, 2007

George Folkerts

It is with great sadness to note the passing of Dr. George Folkerts, a longtime biology professor at Auburn University. George's passion for Alabama and its biodiversity was something very special and extraordinary. He truly touched people with his words and witnessed to audiences the wonders of Alabama and the need to save it. For years, I saw him give presentations to groups, from the Birmingham Audubon Society to the Alabama Conservancy. After each presentation he gave - I saw before me - "lives changed" by his love and devotion to the natural world.

He was that powerful.

He was that passionate about life and the earth.

And he shared it. What an incredible gift to all of us.

Here is a slideshow of George on his website. http://www.auburn.edu/~folkegw/zoopage.html

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Take 5 with BEN - Dr. George Crozier

Below is the the first installment of "Take 5 with BEN", a question and answer series with Alabama's environmental decisionmakers. Our first interview is with Dr. George Crozier, longtime director of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab.

Best Wishes,

Pat Byington

BEN Publisher

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"Take 5 with BEN" - Dr. George Crozier

At the end of this month, one of Alabama's most prominent and renown conservationist, Dr. George F. Crozier, Executive Director of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, will be retiring. Dr. Crozier’s involvement with coastal Alabama began in 1968 as Assistant Director of the University of Alabama’s Marine Science Program. In 1971, the Marine Environmental Sciences Consortium (MESC) was enacted by the Alabama Legislature as a vehicle to promote marine science in the state and to minimize duplication of programs in its consortium universities. In 1972, the MESC moved to the former Air Force Radar Base on Dauphin Island; Crozier became its Chief Scientist, finally becoming Executive Director in 1977.

In the 30 years as Director, Crozier has overseen the expansion of the former military base into a thriving and internationally renowned marine science laboratory. Prominent research scientists engage in interdisciplinary fieldwork, ranging from paleoecology to biogeochemistry, in field sites from the ice shelf of Antarctica to the salt marshes of Dauphin Island.

Educational programs reach kindergarten to Ph.D. students, and in the summer, the Sea Lab becomes the larges residential marine education program in the country, with college classes, workshops for educators, programs for high schools students, and much more.

The Estuarium, the Sea Lab’s public aquarium, is one of the Mobile area’s most visited tourist attractions. Its focus on the Mobile Bay estuary system makes it a unique educational and enriching experience for all ages.

The Coastal Policy Center hosts the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program and advises developers, governmental agencies and other interested parties on the principles of sustainable development and best management practices. As Director of the Sea Lab, Crozier was a member of the Board of Forever Wild, which purchases and preserves in perpetuity valuable natural resources in the state of Alabama.

Crozier has earned a flotilla of accolades in his 30 years as Director, most notably in 1999 as NOAA’s Coastal Steward of the Year and in 2000 as the recipient of the Alabama Academy of Science’s Wright A. Gardner Award.

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How much has the Mobile/Coastal Area changed over the past 40 years?

I had the good fortune to come to Alabama late in 1968 as the positive impacts of a variety of environmental legislative actions of the early ‘60s began to be evident. The first summer I was here, a professor from the U. of Alabama bringing a class to our facility at Pt. aux Pins ran to the telephone to report a large fish kill that he had observed on the way down from Tuscaloosa.

I missed most of “the bad old days” when untreated paper mill waste was legally discharged into the Mobile River and Bay. The stories were pretty horrific but data was sketchy at best and the Alabama Water Improvement Commission was a creation of the federal Clean Water Act and already resented and resisted by the industrial community but was embraced by municipalities that benefited from the construction of wastewater treatment plants providing secondary treatment (and lots of jobs) to domestic wastewater. Alabama, as a state, provided wider municipal secondary treatment than Boston, MA, the intellectual seat of power in this country – and that may still be true at this moment.

So I have witnessed; and through DISL, documented to some degree, the partial restoration of water quality in Mobile Bay. Unfortunately, my sense of the last decade is that the rate of improvement may have diminished as a result of expanding non-point sources of contamination.

You have accomplished much at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. Are there any particular accomplishments you are most proud of?

Survival! - of State budget cuts and hurricane impacts. Those are tangible and significant but there are also some unquantifiable achievements. The Laboratory has gradually established a data base on a variety of parameters that can be used as surrogates to approximate the “health” of the Bay. The first and only 24/7 environmental monitoring system has been established an funded through the National estuary program and the Coastal section of the Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Obviously, the growth and development of the K-12 programs at the Laboratory is a most significant accomplishment. This has genuinely become one of the premier programs in the nation and the state as a whole should be quite proud of that. The Discovery Hall program now coordinates all marine education for the Gulf of Mexico through the Gulf Alliance.

What are some of the biggest challenges facing Alabama's coastal areas?

Poor land use planning throughout the State and watershed is a truly critical challenge. There is no real commitment to management of the land and the history of mismanagement is rooted in the deeply held property rights attitudes of the last century. We continue to convert green space into habitat for cars and low density human population, all contributing to the loss of ecological services normally contributing to and constituting healthy ecosystems.

There is a growing concern for the inputs from atmospheric sources and the ongoing sprawl in both coastal counties has the potential to wipe out the gains of the Clean Water Act and water quality progress of the past 40 years!

Are there any specific environmental initiatives that you believe are needed in the state of Alabama?

There needs to be a movement toward ecosystem/watershed – based management. Within that context I think that the principles of so-called smart growth must be pursued. The demographics are beginning to shift back toward the cities and if transportation oriented development is fostered, we may be in a position to ameliorate the growing energy crisis while restoring an improving trend line of water quality and associated coastal living resources

What are your future plans?

I have a number of familial obligations but I have also signed on with the Bellwether Group, a public relations and environmental consulting firm in Mobile. My wife has made it clear that Wal-Mart is in my future if I don’t supplement my retirement income.

I will ask the new Executive Director to allow me to continue to try to develop the coastal policy initiative that I have been pursuing for the last several years through the Lab. The primary academic thrust is a development of a coastal design center emphasizing landscape ecology, landscape architecture, and coastal engineering and development.

I have good intentions of writing a book on coastal zone management in Alabama and the central Gulf subtitled “How Far Can You Throw a Mullet into a Hurricane?” Whether I have the personal discipline to do that is yet to be seen.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Housing Density in the Southeast

Check out Housing Density Maps for the Southeast 1940-2030 - here

Housing Density in Alabama - 2030

See Housing Density 1990 and 1940 Below

Friday, December 07, 2007

Alabama Housing Density - 1990

*Source: R.B. Hamner and V.C. Radeloff, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Alabama Housing Density - 1940

The Housing Density data depicted in these maps were developed by R.B. Hamner and V.C. Radeloff at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with funding from the USDA Forest Service North Central Research Station. For information on the methodology visit their website here.

Muscle Shoals & Tennessee River - 1927

From my friend Stuart McGregor and friends at the Geological Survey of Alabama.

A view down the Tennessee River from Wilson Dam, showing a portion of Muscle Shoals and Lauderdale County - September 1, 1927. From the Geological Survey's Library.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Recycling in Alabama??

Monday's Birmingham News follows up on the op-ed I wrote in October 2007 concerning Alabama's poor recycling rates and the state's inability to implement the 1991 Solid Waste Plan concerning recycling.

Here is the op-ed.

and Monday's Birmingham News article.

Passage from Bham News -

Advocates say the benefits of recycling offset the costs. They say it saves energy, saves landfill space, protects groundwater, provides raw materials for manufacturing and creates jobs.

"We've got to remember it's the expressed wish of the Legislature that was passed back in the early'90s to reduce our waste and recycle 25 percent of our waste," Byington said. "So we have the mandate. We have the legislative intent. We've got to make it happen."

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I do hope today's article can "light the spark" and move the state toward implementing the solid waste/ recycling planning laws we passed more than 15 years ago.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Bare Hands Gallery "Shine" Show Opens December 7th

Kathy Rose-Byington's Glass Stars

Bare Hands Gallery (located on 1st Avenue South & Richard Arrington Blvd in Birmingham), a nonprofit art gallery, will be holding its Holiday Show reception on Friday, December 7th, 6:00pm to 10:oopm. My wife, Kathy Rose- Byington, has 80 glass "stars" in the gallery's front window.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

National Wildlife Refuges = Jobs & Better Environment

Whitney Byington (age 2) in front of the St. Mark NWR Lighthouse

New Study: National Wildlife Refuges Boost Local Economies - A recent report released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service titled Banking on Nature 2006: The Economic Benefits to Local Communities of National Wildlife Refuge Visitation documents economic benefits National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) provide in local communities. Nationally, according to the study, nearly 35 million people visited National Wildlife Refuges in 2006, supporting almost 27,000 private sector jobs, producing $543 million in employment income and $185.3 million in local, county, state federal tax revenue.

In Alabama, the report profiled the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge located along the Tennessee River between Huntsville and Decatur. The 34,500 acre Wheeler NWR is considered the easternmost Refuge in the Mississippi flyway and attracts thousands of wintering waterfowl each year, including the State's largest duck population. The refuge is also home to 115 species of fish, 74 species of reptiles and amphibians, 47 species of mammals, and 285 species of songbirds.

According to the report, the Wheeler NWR provided the following economic benefits in 2006:

Total Visits - 590,743

Visitor Recreation Expenditures - $12 million

Fishing-related Expenditures - $5.9 million

Non-consumptive related Expenditures - $4.7 million

Total Number of Jobs - 202

Total Tax Revenue - $2.2 million

Along with Wheeler, the state of Alabama also benefits from 10 other National Wildlife Refuges. Check out each refuge at http://www.fws.gov/refuges/refugeLocatorMaps/Alabama.html

Friday, November 30, 2007

Sen. Shelby & Environmental Education

Senator Richard Shelby is truly making his mark on Environmental Education in Alabama. Here is a list of environmental education and research centers he has championed over the last few years:

Ruffner Mountain Tree Top Visitor Center

4-H Environmental Science Education Center

Alabama Wildlife Federation Alabama Nature Center

Jacksonville State University Little River Canyon Center

Richard C. Shelby for Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management

These centers are not only providing cutting edge environmental education and research programs, but they also plan to be state of the art eco-friendly LEED certified facilities.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Ruffner Mountain Expansion Groundbreaking

Great Day at the Ruffner Mountain Tree Top Visitor/Environmental Education Center Groundbreaking with Senator Richard Shelby.

"Kid Birding" In Birmingham

Many thanks to Birmingham Audubon's Greg Harber (2nd person from the right) for taking out the kids in my neighborhood last week for some "Kid Birding." BTW - my "kid" (Whitney) is in the center "looking" for birds through her binoculars.

BEN Thanksgiving Special

1) BEN's List of Chosen Charities for Thanksgiving
2) BEN's List of Alabama Gift Ideas
3) Special Quotes and Passages About Alabama and the Environment

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1. BEN's List of Chosen Charities for Thanksgiving - In lieu of BEN subscription fees, please consider making a contribution to one of the Bama Environmental News chosen charities this Thanksgiving Season. The charities include:

The Wilderness Society - c/o Frank Peterman, 112 Krog Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 - Make checks payable to The Wilderness Society

University of Washington Foundation/Rose Endowed Scholarship - UW Medicine Development - Attn. Donna Caliri, Campus Box 358220, Seattle, Washington 98195 (Checks Payable to UW Foundation - reference Rose Endowed Scholarship on check) or call Donna with credit card payment at 206-543-6347.

Southern Environmental Center at Birmingham Southern College - 900 Arkadelphia Road, Birmingham, Alabama 35254 - Make checks payable to Southern Environmental Center

Camp McDowell Episcopal Church Camp - 105 DeLong Road, Nauvoo, Alabama 35578 (Checks payable to Camp McDowell - reference Pat Byington Scholarship Fund on check)

Sheffield High School "Environmental Public Service Scholarship" - Sheffield Education Foundation, c/o Dr. Richard Gardner, Ed. D., 300 West Sixth Street, Sheffield, Alabama 35660 - (Checks payable to the Sheffield Education Foundation - reference Byington scholarship on the check)

Short descriptions of each Charity can be found at : http://www.BamaNews.com/donation.html

2. BEN's List of Alabama Gift Ideas - This holiday season, please consider these local Alabama eco-friendly companies and non-profits for this year's gift giving.

Sweetwater Pecan Company - A Southeast Alabama Company that provides locally grown pecans and various other gifts. The company is owned by local environmentalists and friends of BEN, Terry and Susan Bishop. Check them out at http://www.sweetwaterpc.com/

Kingfisher Editions - Check out Beth Mayor Young's (Alabama's Ansel Adams) photography at http://www.kingfishereditions.com

Higher Ground Roasters - A local Alabama coffee company that sells special "brands" on behalf of several nonprofit environmental groups including: Alabama Environmental Council, Alabama Rivers Alliance, Freshwater Land trust, Jones Valley Urban Farm and the SE. Foot Trails Coalition. Visit http://www.highergroundroasters.com

Red Rain Store - A local Alabama store in Homewood, Alabama, Red Rain is sells a wide variety of eco-friendly items at the store and online! Visit - http://www.redrainstore.com

Discovering Alabama - Want to purchase one of the 63 episodes of Doug Phillip's Discovering Alabama? Visit http://www.discoveringalabama.com/schedule.html

Wild Paths - Check out this wonderful wildlife enhancement project sponsored by the Alabama Wildlife Federation in conjunction with the Alabama Institute of the Deaf and Blind in Talladega. Go to http://www.wildpaths.org

Weeks Bay Reserve Foundation - Order the 2007 Weeks Bay Holiday ornament for $10. This year's edition features a Spotted Sea Trout with an estuary scene backdrop. Call 251-990-5504 to order.

Hummer Study Group - Check out Bob and Martha Sargent's catalog of books and hummingbird "starter kits" at the Hummer Study group site.

Alabama Environmental Organizations - Gift Items

Several Alabama environmental groups provide "online stores" to members and the general public. Here is a listing of "online stores."

Nature Conservancy Gift Store

Alabama Wildlife Federation - http://www.alabamawildlife.org/shop_online/
Southeastern Cave Conservancy - http://www.scci.org/merchandise.html
Alabama Wildbird Conservation Association - http://www.alaweb.com/~Kenwood/saba/index.html
Wild South - http://www.wildsouth.org
Black Warrior Riverkeeper - http://www.blackwarriorriverkeeper.org
Alabama Coastal Foundation - http://www.joinacf.org/toppage2.htm

3. Special Quotes and Passages About Alabama and the Environment

Below: A passage given to me from Stuart McGregor, a biologist at the Geological Survey of Alabama. This particular passage honors my hometown region Muscle Shoals.

".....The expansion of the Tennessee River, known by the name of Muscle Shoals, is of the character I have described; it is shallow, ornamented with a number of small islands, and its bed is full of the long grass which abounds in various species of Naiades. The lover of the grand and the beautiful in natural scenery, as well as the student in science, will here find abundant sources of interest. He will be delighted with a noble river, whose beautiful and numerous islands are clothed with gigantic trees; whose high and undulating shore on the one hand is ornamented with thriving villages, and on the other spreads out an extensive alluvial, rich in all the gifts of Ceres, or rises abruptly from the river a mural escarpment of carboniferous limestone, which reflectes its blue and sombre aspect in the crystal waters at it base...." ~ Timothy Abbot Conrad, "New Freshwater Shells of the United States", Philadelphia, 1834

From David Brower, the "Archdruid"

"Allow me to offer you a short course in ecology, beginning with rot. Rot is an extraordinary important process. Rot is highly exciting. But we give it a three letter word. We say, "This tree is sick," and "This is rotten, anyway. We should get rid of it."

By removing the rotten tree from the forest, we knock out of existence all the species that were going to use that tree for a home, for their dinner, until it rotted away completely, and helped nourish the next tree, maybe 200 or more years down the line. This a very good system. Unfortunately, we've learned to interrupt it rather than to live with it. We have learned how to break the circle of life instead of respecting it.

Nature recycles everything. There isn't anything that isn't recycled. Go outside. Look at the natural systems. Study them and learn to read the Earth. You will see what it has had time to learn. You will begin to understand the life force." ~ David Brower from Let the Mountains Talk Let the Rivers Run

"Wild nature, then, has been a way to recognize God and to talk about who he is - even, as in Job, a way for God to talk about who he is. How could it be otherwise? What else is, or was, beyond human reach. In what other sphere could a deity operate freely? It is not a chance that every second hymn in the hymn book rings with the imagery of the untouched outdoors. "All thy works with joy surround thee, Earth and Heaven reflect thy rays," we sing Beethoven's "Ode to Joy." Sheep and harvests and the other common motifs of the Bible are not just metaphors; they are also the old reality of the earth, a place where people depended for both life and meaning on the nature they found around them. "We plow the fields and scatter the good seed on the land. But it is fed and watered by God's almighty hand. He sends the snow in winter, The warmth to swell the grain, The breezes and the sunshine, And soft refreshing rain. All good gifts around us Are sent from heaven above." ~ Bill McKibben from The End of Nature