The Forever Wild Land Trust - Alabama Department of Conservation ...

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Public Lands in Alabama Within Alabama, outdoor recreational activities take place on both public and private land. If you enjoy boating or water skiing, you need space and water to accomplish those activities. In a similar fashion, many citizens of Alabama who enjoy clean water and outdoor pursuits like backpacking, birding, camping, canoeing, fishing, hiking, hunting, horseback riding, or mountain bike riding, benefit from the expansive areas of public land that support these endeavors. When we take to the field to enjoy these activities, often referred to as quality-of-life opportunities, many of us go to a national forest, state park, or wildlife management area. These are special places, but they represent a very small portion of our state’s land. The State of Alabama is 50,744 square miles in size, which equals about 33,550,720 acres. Within that space, public land with restricted development (state parks, national forests, national wildlife refuges, state owned wildlife management areas, Forever Wild land, and military bases; both federal and state ownership), amounts to 1,451,621 acres (See map and chart on page 7). This value equates to 4.47 percent of the land area (rivers and reservoirs removed from calculations). Despite Forever Wild’s accomplishments over the last 17 years, we have a smaller percentage of public land in Alabama than any other southeastern state (See graph below). When we consider our citizens’ interest in outdoor recreation, and add to that an interest in habitat protection and good water quality, we begin to recognize the importance of continuing this public land program, and the conservation of Alabama’s natural resources. Percentage of Protected Lands in the Southeast 25% 20% 21.23% Percentage of each state’s land area that is permanently protected from degradation. Protected lands are managed for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to, habitat restoration, recreation and protection of sensitive species. Data was obtained from the Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) online at http://gapanalysis.nbii.gov Through 2007 15% 10% 5% 0% 9.03% 9.87% 6.99% 7.07% 7.25% 6.07% 5.95% 4.08% AL FL GA KY MS NC SC TN VA 6
Alabama Forever Wild Map Alabama Forever Wild Districts Percent of Total Population within Each Disrict* Percent of State and Federally Protected Land within Each District North District 1,703,327 People (34%) 648,945 acres (7%) Central District 1,638,739 People (33%) 307,556 acres (3%) South District 1,664,774 People (33%) 362,003 acres (3%) State or Federally Protected Land — In addition to Forever Wild land, includes military bases, state parks and national forests. * U.S. Census Bureau. 2005. TIGER/Line Files, 2005 First Edition. Data was obtained from the Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) online at http://gapanalysis.nbii.gov through 2007. 7
Page 1 and 2: The Forever Wild Land Trust: An int
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS Commissioner’s Message..
Page 5: Message from Conservation Commissio
Page 9 and 10: Constitutional Amendment 543 establ
Page 11 and 12: Billy Pope, Outdoor Alabama Accompl
Page 13 and 14: Grand Bay Savanna Nature Preserve i
Page 15 and 16: © Beth Maynor Young, 2010 The Cert
Page 17 and 18: Guntersville State Park Fort Toulou
Page 19 and 20: Wildlife Management Areas Benefitti
Page 21: In summary, these federal grant awa
Page 24 and 25: Key NGO Partners Non-Government Org
Page 26 and 27: Additional Benefits Outdoor Educati
Page 29 and 30: Five Rivers Delta Resource Center a
Page 33 and 34: Forever Wild: A Matter of National
Page 36 and 37: 36 © Hunter Nichols, 2010
Page 38 and 39: Some other interesting facts about
Page 40: Forever Wild Land Trust 64 N. Union

The Forever Wild Land Trust - Alabama Department of Conservation ...

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