Post by L Roebuck on Jul 2, 2006 8:42:06 GMT -5
Purchase to expand Jericho site 1,648 acres
Tract has creek area that helps form Paint Rock River
Sunday, July 02, 2006
By MIKE HOLLIS
Times Staff Writer mhollis@htimes.com
The Nature Conservancy says it has completed the purchase of an environmentally sensitive tract in the Paint Rock River Valley that will add 1,648 acres to the state's Walls of Jericho Preserve near Skyline.
And a U.S. Senate committee has approved a bill that would provide nearly $1.2 million to help the Forever Wild program buy the tract from the conservancy, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, said Thursday.
The site includes the area where Hurricane Creek spills out of the Walls of Jericho and meets Estil Fork to become the Paint Rock River, said Chris Oberholster, director of conservation programs for the Nature Conservancy in Alabama.
"This part of the river is loaded up with federally endangered aquatic species," he said, including mussels and "spectacularly colorful little darters" and other rare fish.
"There's a lot of caves on the property. It's not really been biologically well explored to date," Oberholster said. "We know enough about it to know that it's really special. Once it's protected, it will give the state's biologists a chance to go and explore. They can find lots of neat stuff in these mountains."
In the last several years, the state and the Nature Conservancy have bought more than 23,000 acres in Jackson County and neighboring Franklin County, Tenn., to protect the Paint Rock River and southern Cumberland mountains from development.
The conservancy spearheaded the effort to buy the Walls of Jericho from a timber company. The conservancy later sold the dramatic canyon and 12,510 surrounding acres to the Forever Wild program.
Full Story: www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/115183233251700.xml&coll=1
Tract has creek area that helps form Paint Rock River
Sunday, July 02, 2006
By MIKE HOLLIS
Times Staff Writer mhollis@htimes.com
The Nature Conservancy says it has completed the purchase of an environmentally sensitive tract in the Paint Rock River Valley that will add 1,648 acres to the state's Walls of Jericho Preserve near Skyline.
And a U.S. Senate committee has approved a bill that would provide nearly $1.2 million to help the Forever Wild program buy the tract from the conservancy, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, said Thursday.
The site includes the area where Hurricane Creek spills out of the Walls of Jericho and meets Estil Fork to become the Paint Rock River, said Chris Oberholster, director of conservation programs for the Nature Conservancy in Alabama.
"This part of the river is loaded up with federally endangered aquatic species," he said, including mussels and "spectacularly colorful little darters" and other rare fish.
"There's a lot of caves on the property. It's not really been biologically well explored to date," Oberholster said. "We know enough about it to know that it's really special. Once it's protected, it will give the state's biologists a chance to go and explore. They can find lots of neat stuff in these mountains."
In the last several years, the state and the Nature Conservancy have bought more than 23,000 acres in Jackson County and neighboring Franklin County, Tenn., to protect the Paint Rock River and southern Cumberland mountains from development.
The conservancy spearheaded the effort to buy the Walls of Jericho from a timber company. The conservancy later sold the dramatic canyon and 12,510 surrounding acres to the Forever Wild program.
Full Story: www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/115183233251700.xml&coll=1
