A Great Day at the Hays Preserve's Earth Day event!

We had a great time at this year’s Earth Day event on April 18th! The weather was perfect which made for great public turn out. The participating organizations’ tables were set up in an area right next to the Flint River and Cove Creek. Birds sang from the canopies throughout the day, caterpillars repelled from the trees and were seen everywhere, and a gentle breeze kept the flying bugs away.

Our ambassadors- Lance Brecht, Colleen Gipson and Jennifer Schade stayed busy all day talking with folks, playing “Feed the Fish” beanbag toss with the kids, and meeting numerous other local groups attending the festival. The kids had a great time playing the game and many returned again and again for more fun. We even got a new family membership signed up and we look forward to seeing them at future events and meetings.




There were also special guest speakers- Bill Cruger showed the kids all kinds of snakes & lizards and the Lookout Mountain Wild Animal Zoo that had black bears, a rescued monkey and other interesting creatures.



Overall, it was a great day! We look forward to participating at Hay’s Earth Day event next year as well. A job well done(!) to Soos Weber (Huntsville ecologist) and Operation Green Team for all of your hard work on organizing this event!!

FRCA Meeting on April 21st- Guest Speaker: Adam Snyder of Conservation Alabama

Join us for our April meeting and potluck on Tuesday, April 21 at 6:30pm, in the Public Works Building at 320 Fountain Circle S.W. Huntsville, AL 35801.

On Tuesday April 21 FRCA’s guest speaker will be Adam Snyder, former Executive Director of the Alabama Rivers Alliance, and now the Executive Director of Alabama’s only environmental lobbying organization, Conservation Alabama.

Originally, founded in 1999 as the Alabama League of Environmental Action Voters, they are able to proudly state on their website, www.conservationalabama.org: “No bad environmental legislation has passed in the Alabama State Legislature” since they began working in Montgomery.

Conservation Alabama describes themselves as an organization that “believes someone should do something about the critical environmental issues we face, and that someone is our elected and appointed government officials.”

As Alabama’s only environmental lobby, Conservation Alabama maintains a full-time presence in Montgomery to make sound environmental policy. They are non-partisan and seek out legislators of all political parties that share similar views on the conservation and protection of Alabama’s natural resources.

Join FRCA for Earth Day, April 18

It's almost Earth Day!! Stop by the Flint River Conservation Association's booth on April 18 at the Hayes Nature Preserve. Here's info about the preserve and how to find it. Here's an agenda of the great activities that will be going on during the day (suitable for your entire family!):

7:30: Birding Hike (bring binocs) with John Ehinger
10:00: 10:15 Boeing Corp. and Mayor Battle.
10:15: Reptile Show with Bill Cruger (you can hold them too!)
11:45: Rare and endangered mammals with Dr. Bloome (who brings new critters every year—2 very small baby black bears this year.
1:00: Ecohike with Forestry Professionals from the Society of American Foresters—Mountain Lakes Chapter
2:00: Release of rehabilitated hawks or owls
2:30: Second Ecohike with Forestry Professionals at Hays Preserve. Exploratory ecohike to Goldsmith Schiffman Wildlife Sanctuary.
3:00: Exhibitors break down
4:00: Return from all ecohikes.

All Forestry hikes will begin at the SAF exhibit. Exploratory ecohike at Goldsmith Schiffman Wildlife Sanctuary with Ecologist Soos Weber will begin at the big tent near the parking lot. Earth friendly exhibitors, vendors and conservation groups are set up in the Exhibit Area, as well as Earth Scope Teachers with games for young children. The Climbing Wall is in the parking lot. Food is available courtesy of the Boy Scouts of America.

Hope to see you there! Let us know if you have any questions!

Hayes Nature Preserve boardwalk