10 Years of SHU Success: A Promising Approach for Conserving Alabama's Water and Wildife
By Rebecca Ann Bearden
Alabama's Treasured Forests magazine
Fall/Winter 2016 edition
Combine Alabama’s number one aquatic biodiversity status with a pressing need to better understand the state’s water resources, and the result is a collaborative watershed-management approach that uses applied science to successfully assess, restore, recover, and monitor the state’s vital aquatic resources.
“Clean water is everyone’s responsibility,” says Jim Jeter, Best Management Practice (BMP) Coordinator for the Alabama Forestry Commission. “In a state where the majority of the land is privately owned, forest landowners play a huge role in protecting our water resources.”
Read the rest of this article at http://www.forestry.state.al.us/Publications/TREASURED_Forest_Magazine/2016_Fall_and_Winter/10_Years_of_SHU_Success.pdf
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Keeping Sediment From Streams in the North River
Patton Geologics, Inc installed detention basins along unpaved roads in Fayette and Tuscaloosa Counties have intercepted over 100 tons of sediment from entering North River Watershed streams and creeks.
Click here for a map of installed detention basins.
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The Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity Center Officially Opens
Thursday, October 21, 2010
On Friday October 29, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) will hold a dedication ceremony at 10 a.m., for the Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity Center (AABC). The dedication will take place at the AABC, located at 2200 Highway 175, Marion, Ala., 36756. Various local, federal and state officials, including Gov. Bob Riley, are scheduled to attend.
The mission of the AABC is to conserve and restore rare and endangered native freshwater mollusks (mussels and snails) to Alabama waters -- the largest state-run non-game recovery program of its kind in the U.S. Future projects to support non-game fishes and other aquatic species are planned. Facilities include three aquatic culture buildings, an administration building with offices and laboratory space, and 30 surface-acres of aquatic culture ponds in which to raise animals for study and release into Alabama waters
Read the rest of this article at
The Outdoor Wire Newsleter
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Restoring Mussels A Priority at Aquatic Biodiversity Center
By David Rainer
Exploring streams and creeks as a youth, my discoveries included plenty of species that I didn’t really understand. Why was the bottom lined with mussels except to provide meals for the raccoons, muskrats and otters?
For the most part, that lack of understanding is common today among mainstream America. That fact highlights the importance of work being done at the Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity Center, which celebrated its grand opening last week near Marion.
Like most people, I had very limited knowledge that mussels, snails and other mollusks are the keys to water quality in our rivers and streams and that one large mussel can filter a gallon of water per hour, 24 hours per day. When you have a thriving mollusk population, you can understand the implications.
Read the rest of this article at
Outdoor Alabama
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Scientists discover that the trispot darter —a species that hadn’t been collected in Alabama’s waters since 1947—is alive and well.
By Denise Rowell
It was an unusually cold October morning, when six biologists woke up in the small Alabama town of Gadsden. After a hearty, southern breakfast of biscuits and gravy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist Jeff Powell waited for the fog to lift and the air to warm up. The goal was to perform fish surveys at several sites in the Big Canoe Creek watershed, a part of a statewide effort to reintroduce imperiled aquatic species into the state’s most sensitivewatersheds.
“We were in the process of selecting sites at which we could begin monitoring baseline conditions, prior to the reintroduction,” explained Powell.
Alabama is rich in aquatic diversity, with more than 750 species of freshwater fishes, mussels, snails and crayfish. Protecting and restoring them can be overwhelming, and with hundreds of species in trouble, there’s no time to lose. That’s why biologists are following the Alabama Field Office’s Strategic Five-Year Plan. The plan prioritizes the most imperiled habitat types and species, focusing on six different regions within the state. One of those areas includes the Big Canoe Creek Watershed.
Read the full article from
Fish & Wildlife News.
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Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity Center Mollusk Stocking 2010
Numbers and Locations of Mollusk stocked in 2010 - Outdoor Alabama
