CAWACO Works For Communities!
Cawaco works to support projects (educational or community development) that will make a significant difference.
Types of projects previously supported include:
| ♦ Educational Programs for Children or Adults ♦ Community Planning • Comprehensive Planning • Small Town Design Initiative • Ordinance Development ♦ Projects to Implement a Completed Community Plan • Gateways • Downtown Revitalization • Community Gardens and Local Farmers’ Markets |
♦ Support of First Responders (small VFDs and police forces) • Protective Gear • Training Materials ♦ Support of Economic and Community Development ♦ Preservation of Historical or Cultural Sites ♦ Environmental Restoration ♦ Development of Local Tourism and Recreation • Community Parks • Walking Trails • Interpretive Signage |
Vegetation for Stream Restoration Workshop: December 10, 2008, Jasper, Alabama
Join us for ‘Vegetation for Stream Restoration’ workshop held at the Jasper Natatorium. The workshop will center on Town Creek Tributary, an urban stream in the City of Jasper bordering Maddox Middle School. Participants will learn about riparian plant selection, planting techniques for wetland and streambank vegetation, bioengineering techniques including brush mattresses, and monitoring of riparian vegetation. 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. The workshop will be split between classroom and extensive field work. download the registration form and brochure. Download the agenda. Register online here!
Town Creek Stream Restoration Update
Partnerships do make a difference. The cooperative efforts of key players have led to a ground- breaking Stream Restoration Construction project in Jasper, Alabama.
In January, The City of Jasper received a $500,000 grant to improve eleven-hundred linear feet of Town Creek that runs from the 18th Street bridge to beyond the 1939 historical footbridge.The Alabama Department of Environmental Management provided the grant that funded the project. The grant was awarded to the city and Cawaco Resource Conservation & Development Council, Inc.
Improvements included more pools and swift-flowing areas in the urban stream, an enhanced floodplain and the addition of a stormwater wetland to be used as a learning environment for Maddox Middle School students. Town creek was channelized, or straightened, in the 1940's. In the 1970's, much of the floodplain behind Maddox Middle School was filled in to be used for parking.
Channelization interrupts a stream's natural flow by making it straighter, filling it and/or altering its width or length. The EPA reports that channelized streams are more prone to bank erosion and flooding, and have decreased water quality and species diversity.
North State Environmental, a North Carolina company that specializes in stream restorations, was contracted for the project. The city of Jasper contributed in-kind labor and equipment. Construction on the project began May 22 and was completed May 29.
Greg Jennings, a professor at North Carolina State University who worked on the restoration effort, said several changes were made to Town Creek. We've added a series of boulder and log structures to the stream to improve the oxygen, the nutrient quality, the ability of the stream to carry sediment and to prevent excess sediment from getting into the stream, Jennings said. A stormwater wetland was also constructed near Maddox Middle School. The wetland will improve the water quality in Town Creek because stormwater that once ran from the school parking lot into the stream will now be diverted into the wetland before draining into the creek.
The diverse plant and animal life that will be drawn to the wetland will provide educational opportunities for local students. The natural environment that occurs in that stormwater wetland is very complex. It's a life cycle that includes plants, insects, frogs, salamanders, turtles. It gives a very good learning laboratory for children to understand nature, Jennings said. More native plants will be installed in the fall.
For more information go to www.warriorcwp.org or www.flickr.com/photos/warriorcwp
What is RC&D?
Download an Adobe Acrobat file to learn more.
There are some common misconceptions out there about RC&D. Here's how to respond:
MYTH: RC&D was designed to be a temporary program.
FACT: RC&D has permanent legislative authority (granted in 2002 Farm bill) and the 2008 farm bill will further clarify that every council should have a coordinator. Congress has made it clear through the Farm bill that this program should be on-going and in fact has authorized up to 450 councils (we currently have 375 designated and 38 applicant areas).
MYTH: RC&D duplicates programs.
FACT: We have yet to see evidence of the programs it duplicates * in fact RC&D provides a delivery mechanism for federal grants in rural communities where there may be no other delivery system. The House and Senate have reemphasized the original premise of RC&D in the 2008 Farm bill * that RC&D's job is to bring to bear U.S. Department of Agriculture resources in a community. This means it helps deliver USDA programs * not duplicate them.
MYTH: RC&D will continue without federal support.
FACT: RC&D was designed by Congress to be a partnership effort to address conservation and economic development. The investment needs to be from both the federal government in providing a full time coordinator, and from the volunteers who serve on a council to provide leadership, and find funds for council projects. The national association has encouraged councils to be more sustainable in the face of level budgets * but there is a federal role in providing a coordinator.
In tight budget years Congress weighs where their investments will go the farthest. RC&D is invaluable in that it uses volunteers to deliver services, and for every dollar the federal government invests, $7.50 is returned to a community. What other federal programs show this kind of leverage?
What is CAWACO?
Download an Adobe Acrobat file to learn more.
BioMass Report Available
Objective 1: Improve forest health conditions on NFAL lands through utilization of the more cost effective method of harvesting biomass to achieve forest management objectives.
Responsible Partner: Talladega National Forest – Oakmulgee District. Task: Forest Service will prepare 500 - 1000 acres of over stocked pine stands for biomass removal
using a Stewardship Integrated Resource Contract. When: June, 2006 – June, 2008. Read the Report.
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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.
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. 
