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

The Alabama Water Agenda

The Alabama Water Agenda is a proactive, citizen-driven campaign for improving water policy in Alabama. The Agenda targets the biggest threats to our waters by ensuring lasting protections through improved state policy. This 10 minute video highlights the numerous values of our waterways, the major threats to our waters, and the steps we can take to ensure healthy waters for generations to come. Check it out!

FRCA is on Facebook!

FRCA now has a page on Facebook to help members meet and to easily communicate news about the river, FRCA events, and how you can get involved. Go to the FRCA Cause page and click Join.

Next meeting Tuesday, Feb. 17

Please join us for our next meeting on February 17! Our guest speaker will be Nelson Brooke from Black Warrior Riverkeeper. Nelson has been the staff Riverkeeper since January of 2004. As Riverkeeper, Nelson patrols and photographs the Black Warrior River and its tributaries, researches and analyzes polluters' permits, responds to citizen complaints, educates the public about the beauty of the river and threats to it, and is a spokesman for the Black Warrior River watershed. In addition to his duties as Riverkeeper, Nelson became the Executive Director in August of 2007.

Join us for a potluck dinner starting at 6:30. Just bring a dish to share! The meeting starts at 7:00 pm. Please join us! The meeting is at 320 Fountain Circle S.W. Huntsville, Alabama 35801.

Flint River Cleanup, Saturday Sept. 27

On Saturday, September 27th, people around the country will be helping with projects on local, state and federal public lands all over the country. For the 6th year (but our 10th year cleaning up the river), The Flint River Conservation Association and Operation Green Team will participate in National Public Lands Day on the Flint River—a navigable river by canoe and as such is “waters of the U.S.”. We will meet at 8:45 in the morning to canoe a lower segment of the Flint River. Participants can bring their own canoes or rent one for $10 per seat ($20 per canoe). River shoes, sunscreen, hats, and sunglasses are a must, and we will provide snacks, trash bags, and drinks.

You can register by calling Soos Weber at 427-5116 by 9 a.m. on the morning of Friday September 26th. Landlubbers (those who don’t have canoeing experience) can clean up at designated bridge crossings where people carelessly toss out trash, hoping to hit the River. Children are certainly welcome!

Here are some photos from a previous cleanup: