2009-2010 Annual Report - Alabama Department of Conservation ...

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Educational Programs increased remarkably in 2010. The facility
provided over 220 guided educational tours serving over 8,900
students. We also increased our Saturday Adventure educational
program offerings and continued the Tensaw Theater’s Sunday
Matinee programming. This summer, we also included weekly
“Story Time” offerings for pre-schoolers. The facility also provided
offsite education/outreach by setting up display booths at a
variety of area events, and by providing speakers to various civic
organizations, community groups, and schools. The Apalachee
Exhibit Hall continued to grow its collection of specimens, and
created new exhibits, including the “Just One Tree” exhibit that
focuses on invasive plant species. The space also hosted the
following traveling exhibits:
• 2010 Outdoor Alabama Photo Contest Winners
• Winners of the 2010 Marine Resources Division children’s
calendar art contest
• “A River Runs Through It” exhibit of the Eastern Shore
Art Center
5 Rivers’ Cypress Gift Shop moved from its original location to
the much larger Shellbank Visitor Center building in September,
allowing that building to be fully utilized without the addition of
new staff. The shop generated approximately $35,000 in sales
in 2010.
Special Events:
n In April, 5 Rivers and the City of Spanish Fort hosted the 2nd
Annual Delta Woods and Waters Expo, a 3-day conservation event
that attracted over 2,000 participants.
n In October, 5 Rivers served as host site for the 7th Annual
Alabama Coastal Birdfest, which drew over 300 participants for
four days of guided birding tours.
n 5 Rivers hosted a variety of community events throughout the
year, including the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk, the
third annual Turtle Derby on the Delta, and our annual Halloween
and Christmas open house events.
Land stewardship
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Conducted prescribed fires to reduce the threat of wildfire and
restore native habitat on over 3,000 acres of Forever Wild property.
Sprayed herbicide to control exotic invasive plants on 10 Forever
Wild properties.
Continued a habitat restoration program to support the only
population of red-cockaded woodpeckers, an endangered species,
living on state owned land.
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Continued gopher tortoise relocation project at the Wehle tract with
preparations to received 50 gopher tortoises from Ft. Benning, GA.
Initiated a sandhills restoration effort on state lands in south and
central Alabama, in partnership with chapters of The Nature
Conservancy.
Natural Heritage Section
Accomplishments
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The Natural Heritage Section (NHS) maintained the internet
interface of the NHS database. The NHS database is now
maintained as a sequel server database accessible via a secure
internet web site for approved users in the ADCNR. This database
now contains over 1 million records.
NHS staff pursued technological methods to increase geographic
information transmission within the Division and Department.
Staff biologists continued biodiversity survey work, habitat
assessment, participated in trail planning and continued
collecting detailed GPS/GIS data of the Forever Wild tracts to aid
with the management and research of these tracts.
Staff biologist conducted biological surveys to evaluate specific
species distribution and abundance including Gulf marsh bird
surveys, WNS Winter bat cave surveys, Red Cockaded Woodpecker
monitoring, and rare plant searches.
Personnel administered a $4 million USFWS Habitat Conservation
Plan grant, which allowed the acquisition of 3,953 acres protect
habitat supporting the federally listed Threatened Red Hills
Salamander within Monroe County, an additional 423 acres was
acquired with as the assistance of The Nature Conservency and a
USFWS Recovery Lands Grant.
NHS staff assisted in the productions of grant proposals for
scientific research, habitat restoration, and land acquisition grant
proposals including USFWS Section 6, National Fish and Wildlife
Fund, National Coastal Wetland Program and Forest Legacy
Program.
Staff continued the process of reviewing new Forever Wild land
nominations for biological diversity, ascertaining the availability
of all nominated tracts, and providing this information for Forever
Wild board meetings.
Staff supplied information from the NHS database, along with
numerous maps and other GIS products, in an effort to improve
thorough review of development projects within the state.
State Lands
Prescribed fires to reduce the
threat of wildfire and restore
native habitat conducted on
over 3,000 acres of Forever
Wild property.
State Lands Division
ALDCNR 09-10 Annual Report 31