Can't find what you are looking for? Use the navigation menu at the top of each page of this site, or go to the site index page.

Return to Conservation Committee page

 

September 4, 1999

Mr. Roy Hanner, Chairman

Fort McClellan Joint Powers Authority

P. O. Box 2192

Anniston, Alabama 36202

 

Mr. Gene Stedham, Mayor

City of Anniston

P. O. Box 2168

Anniston, Alabama 36202

Gentlemen:

We write to compliment your efforts to set aside the forested portions of Fort McClellan that is now being deactivated for a wildlife refuge and to encourage you to devote the full 12-14,000 acres that is forested to that purpose. This letter is written in behalf of the over 10,000 members of the Alabama Audubon Council, Alabama Environmental Council, and Alabama Ornithological Society. We are also sending copies to Mr. Whitley, Executive Director of the Joint Powers Authority, and to Senator Jeff Sessions, whom we are pleased to know is taking a definite interest in the environmental and economic use of the base property and, we understand, is also encouraging application of the forested portions to public use as the Mountain Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge. That use is also strongly supported by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Alabama Department of Conservation, which will be instrumental in assisting in its management for public recreation and outdoor study and enjoyment.

There are a number of reasons that would make transfer of the forested acreage -- at least 12,000 acres of it -- to a wildlife refuge very cost-effective and in the public interest. The general public has a large investment in the base, and that transfer would retain it for public use for the benefit of the residents of the general area and visitors to Alabama as well as, indirectly, all the people of the state. Among those reasons are:

(1) Desirability and Economics of Public Use -- As just referred to, use of the forested portions of the base is advocated by those agencies charged with overseeing public lands such as the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Conservation. It has been shown that wildlife observation, together with recreational hunting, picnicking and hiking, constitutes the leading recreational attraction for the majority of people in the United States, exceeding any of the more commonly publicized forms of recreation. A study conducted on Dauphin Island, the barrier island off Mobile County, has shown that tourists bring $7 million in income to the island annually, and its natural assets attract over 10,000 persons. Those are large amounts and, being more centrally located, it would seem that comparable amounts could be brought into Calhoun County. Thus, use as a wildlife refuge would be not only an environmental asset but also an economic one.

(2) Protection of Mountain Longleaf Pine Habitat -- We are all, of course, aware of the historic Longleaf Pine Forest that once existed across the southern border of the state. However, not everyone knows that there was a similar belt in Central Alabama north of the Prairie Region that extended into the Appalachian Ridges and Valleys -- and the Talladega Mountains are one such ridge. Much of that longleaf habitat has been lost; in fact, we do not believe the belt just north of the Prairie Region even exists today. However, what is on Fort McClellan is a very significant remnant of that historic Mountain Longleaf Pine habitat -- some of the trees are even 250-300 years old! This is a significant type of woodland habitat, having tall pines in a park-like stand, that is most desirable for recreational hunting and viewing of species that live in that type habitat. One of them happens to be the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker, which prefers older rotations of Longleaf Pine and is endangered because there is so little of that habitat left. Consequently, for those several reasons, it would be greatly in the public interest, from a species standpoint as well as a recreational standpoint, to preserve in tact this significant remnant of Alabama’s Mountain Longleaf Pine Forest.

(3) Significance of Hardwood Resources -- The Mountain Longleaf Pine consists of around 1/3 of the forested acreage on Fort McClellan, with the remaining 2/3 being part of the Eastern Deciduous Hardwood Forest. While Alabama does have some national forests, they represent only around 3% of Alabama’s land area, and there are practically no state forests. Many hardwood acres have been timbered, so our hardwood base has been greatly reduced; yet, the Oak-Hickory Forest is the climax forest of most of Alabama and we need to preserve it before too much is lost. Fort McClellan contains a significant acreage of unfragmented hardwood forest that is important not only for its diversity of species of animal and plant life but also, again like the Longleaf Pine, for the recreational pursuits such as hunting, hiking and wildlife observation it would offer.

(4) Protection of Declining Species -- The hardwood forests are the primary habitat of neotropical migrant birds, many of whose numbers have decreased markedly and some over 50% during the last three decades. A Partners-in-Flight consortium of government agencies and non-government organizations has been formed to work to preserve habitat to arrest the decline of those species. Among the major participants in that consortium in Alabama are the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Alabama Department of Conservation. Thus, transfer of the forested property on the base for this wildlife refuge would be a significant step to further those goals. We also understand that there are several rare plant species in the forested portion, such as the globally endangered white fringeless orchid, that need protection.

(5) Educational and Scientific Resource -- The forested portions of the base, which include forested streams, would be an excellent educational and scientific resource readily accessible for the schools throughout Calhoun County and by students from all institutions of higher learning. The areas for study of special habitats would furnish a resource difficult, if not impossible, to duplicate.

(6) Cost-Effectiveness -- As you know, there is much unexploded ordinance in various parts of the base, including the forested portions. Thus, it would take very substantial sums to prepare those portions for use in some development. In addition, much of that land is very steep (some points up to 2000 feet) -- please recall mention of the Appalachian Ridges -- and not amenable to commercial or residential development. By contrast, the amount of clearing of the unexploded ordinance, sometimes called "sweeping", for use of a wildlife refuge would be much less expensive. Therefore, it would be much more cost-effective, i. e. it would return more public benefits per dollar expended, if the forested portions of the base were transferred to this wildlife refuge rather than attempting to develop them, at much greater expense, for other uses that could be placed on more satisfactory and developable land.

(7) Compliance with Environmental Impact Statement -- The Corps of Engineers prepared an extensive EIS for this base closure and concluded with a preferred alternative of so-called "encumbered disposition". That means that the base property should not be disposed of without any conditions, and one that was discussed, in the comments back and forth, was transfer of 12,000 acres of the forested portions to public ownership. That transfer would accomplish the disposition under the EIS, and without it the EIS might have to be reworked.

For the above reasons and their multiple benefits, it would definitely appear that transfer of at least 12,000 acres of the forested portion of Fort McClellan for a wildlife refuge would be the highest and best use for which that land might be put and would also be in the best interests of all the taxpayers. We, therefore, strongly urge that it be done. Please note that there would still remain over 1/3 of the Fort’s acreage that could be placed to other uses. Because of those strong public benefits, this disposition is favored, as stated above, by organizations having an aggregate membership of over 10,000 persons in Alabama and surrounding states. Each of those organizations is very concerned with protection of our forested and wildlife resources and their cost-effective public management. We compliment you on your efforts thus far and shall greatly appreciate your consideration of all the multiple benefits set forth above.

Sincerely yours,

Robert R. Reid, Jr., for

the three above organizations

RRR/pwc