Alabama Association of RC&D Councils Annual Meeting.
Enjoy the slideshow!
Stream Restoration Workshop Scheduled for May 29, 2008
Join us for ‘Stream Restoration Construction’ workshop held in Jasper, Alabama May 29, 2008. Time: 9 a.m -4 p.m. Registration will begin at 8:30.The workshop will center on Town Creek Tributary, an urban stream in the City of Jasper bordering Maddox Middle School. This workshop will be conducted during construction of an urban stream restoration project at the School. Participants will learn about plan sheet development, construction specifications, permitting, and construction oversight while observing channel grading and structure installation. The workshop will be split between classroom and extensive field work. Instructors will emphasize urban stream conditions specific to the southeastern U.S. Workshop instructors have experience working on more than 40 stream assessments and restoration projects throughout the Southeast. Learn more or register online now!
What is RC&D?
Download an Adobe Acrobat file to learn more.
What is CAWACO?
Download an Adobe Acrobat file to learn more.
End of Year Report Available
Resource Conservation and Development Councils plan and implement activities that increase conservation of natural resources, support economic development and enhance the environment and standard of living in local communities. Established in 1960 as a pilot program by the USDA to perform a number of conservation and development activities, the program focused on geographic areas where major economic and social downturns had occurred. Today, local RC&D councils continue to serve local communities through a locally led process where volunteers work together to plan how they can actively solve environmental, economic and social problems facing their community. Read the End of Year 2007 Report.
To Help Us Help Our Communities, Please Take Our Survey...
This survey will help us to get a better understanding of what people in our communities want to see us do in the coming year. Take a few minutes (5 to 10 minutes) to complete the form. No personal information needed. Click here for the survey!
Greenway Festival in Brookside A Success!
Brookside Greenway Festival April 5, 2008. Brookside Alabama on Five Mile Creek. Visit www.brooksidealabama.com for more photos of all the fun.
 |
 |
New walkway opens at park in Alabaster
A new wetlands walkway at Veterans Park offers visitors an up-close look at nature. City and state officials gathered Thursday to celebrate the walkway's opening.
The project is part of an ongoing effort to attract more nature lovers to Alabaster parks. "A lot of people who like nature don't want to wade through the mud and briars," said Mayor David Frings. "This gives them a chance to appreciate nature, while preserving it." The elevated walkway is 120 feet long and runs along a marshy area that is usually underwater. Last year's drought has currently dried up much of the water though. "We're trying to do more nature projects in our parks, not just the league sports," said Frings. "I think this is a great step." Made from recyclable material, the walkway ends at an outdoor amphitheater that can be used by school groups as an outdoor classroom, Frings said.
Also, the walkway is flat and off the ground, designed to be accessible by people who have disabilities.
"It's going to give them access to these areas that they didn't have before," Frings said.
Alabaster won a $5,000 grant from CAWACO Resource Conservation and Development to help pay for the trail. Funded by the state legislature, the non-profit organization works to improve the economy, environment and quality of life.
Five Mile Creek Wins Phoenix Award
Brownfield redevelopment of lands along the Five Mile Creek Greenway has won the prestigious Phoenix Award for Region 4 of the US Environmental Protection Agency. The Freshwater Land Trust received a Brownfields grant in 2005 to test sites along potential public use sites along the proposed Five Mile Creek Greenway.The award is given to projects using innovative and creative techniques to revitalize blighted, contaminated lands to a productive, new use. The project participants will be honored at an awards ceremony during Brownfields 2008 in Detroit, Michigan, May 5-7, 2008. During the environmental conference with an expected crowd of 7,000 participants, Phoenix Award winners will showcase their projects with case study presentations and exhibits. Created in 1997, this prestigious award honors individuals and groups who are working to solve the critical environmental challenge of transforming blighted and contaminated areas into productive new uses. more>>>
Woody Biomass
With all the talk about alternative fuels, is there really a place for woody biomass harvesting in Alabama? That is exactly what a group of partners want to find out, and they are asking forest landowners to join them in this quest.The project has five objectives:
- Expand the capacity of the NFAL to address forest health concerns by developing a cost-effective method ofharvesting biomass, thereby achieving forest management objectives.
- Explore new uses for woody biomass to augment the pulverized coal-fired power generation at selected Alabama Power facilities.
- Increase efficiencies in biomass removal, processing, and value of removed woody biomass.
- Pilot the use of student interns in field evaluations of pre and post stand conditions.
- Improve local economies of rural towns & communities by creating new, more stable markets and new enterprises and processing techniques for public and private land managers.
Learn more on our Woody Biomass Page>>>
Renew Our Rivers Video.
Click here to watch it directly on You Tube.
With a $5,000 grant provided by Cawaco Resource Conservation & Development Council and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES), Cane Creek Volunteer Fire Department recently completed firefighter training. CCVFD used grant funds to purchase a laptop, class supplies, curriculum materials, a projector and screen for the Cane Creek Firefighter Training Program.
Five Mile Creek Greenway Partnership Huffman High School Earth Day Clean Up, Huffman High School Science Classes: This is the first Earth Day school clean up. Cawaco RC&D Council and the Soil and Water Conservation Service have been assisting Huffman High School with an outdoor classroom for 2 years. The Huffman High School building classes have taken over the building of the observation pier over the outdoor classroom wetland at the school.
GEM (Growing Entrepreneurs with Mentoring) is a six-week mentoring program designed for 10 at-risk youth between the ages of 14-19. The goal of GEM is to develop confident, empowered, and responsible youth as entrepreneurs as they learn to respect nature in the gardening process and understand the business concepts of marketing, advertising, and selling their produce or goods and services. GEM was held a minimum of two days per week for one hour sessions during school hours. On Saturdays, the youth learned about planting fresh fruit and vegetables, marketing, and selling them. The youth were taught communication skills, anger management, decision-making, employability, money management, health, and laws related to the workplace. 
The goal of the October 17-18, 2007 event was to educate approximately 1,800 Birmingham area 4th grade students and teachers about the importance of water quality & quantity and about their watershed. Hands on activities included creating water filters and making water cycle bracelets and edible aquifers.