Wednesday, June 3, 2009

LaVerne Matheson Selected for Mosley Environmental Award


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Allison Cochran
205-489-5111

(Double Springs, Al) June 3, 2009 ----

Matheson Honored with Mosley Environmental Award

Winston County resident LaVerne Matheson has been selected as the recipient of the W. Kelly Mosley Environmental Award. The prestigious award, administered by Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, recognizes individual achievements in promoting the wiser use of renewable natural resources. Matheson was nominated for his outstanding efforts to conserve the water resources of Winston County and Smith Lake while educating residents and local leaders about our unique natural resources.

Matheson led the effort to establish Winston County Smith Lake Advocacy, Inc in 2006 and has served as President of the group since that time. The Advocacy group’s mission is to preserve and protect the environmental quality of Lewis Smith Lake and its tributaries through education of the public and promotion and implementation of sound environmental practices. “Laverne Matheson is the backbone of the group and is responsible for a number of achievements.” states Linda Atkinson, secretary/treasurer of Smith Lake Advocacy. Bankhead National Forest’s Wildlife Biologist Tom Counts commented that “Laverne is one of those unique individuals who saw a need and acted on it. He has put in many, many hours of personal time to organize the Advocacy group. By effectively enlisting the support of many hard working people the group has achieved much success.” Some of the group’s achievements include testing Smith Lake’s water at 18 sites in Winston County as a part of the Alabama Water Watch effort and working with Alabama Power Company’s Renew Our Rivers program. Through the Renew Our Rivers waterways clean-up program over 45 river miles have been cleaned-up resulting in an estimated 550 tons of debris removed from our waters. “Not only does LaVerne do the work of conserving our natural resources, he is committed to teaching others about their importance” states Winston County Extension Coordinator Mike Henshaw.

Matheson will be honored during the June Renew Our Rivers clean-up on Smith Lake. The clean-up will be held at the Clear Creek Recreation Area on Bankhead National Forest June 11-13. Volunteers, sponsors, and friends of the Lake are invited to Saturday’s picnic at the Bayleaf Pavilion at Clear Creek, where Matheson will receive the Mosley Environmental Award. The Award includes a certificate of recognition, a cash award, and a framed, limited-edition reproduction of a forestry-wildlife painting.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Kid's Fishing Derby

The annual Kid's Fishing Derby is Saturday, June 6th at the Black Warrior Work Center, Bankhead National Forest. The derby is for children ages 5 - 12. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Children should bring gear and bait for catfish. The casting contest begins at 9 AM and the fishing derby kicks off at 10 AM. This is a free event for area youth! Come out to the Black Warrior Work Center, located on Hwy 33 North between Moulton & Double Springs, for a day of fishing & fun! Please help spread the word. A color flyer is available by clicking here.

The Fishing Derby is hosted by the Bankhead National Forest in cooperation with the Alabama Dept. of Conservation & Natural Resources, Winston County Commission, Alabama Conservation Enforcement Officers Association, Double Springs Lions Club, Double Springs Civitans, Winston County Natural Resources Council, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Sipsey Strutters - Moulton Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation & other local sponsors.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Looking for Volunteers


Greetings to all once again! Since my last post [yesterday :-)] we have decided to look for some volunteers to help with the roadside inspections that take place twice a month. This would simply mean that you would drive through an assigned section of highway to make sure that the garbage is being picked up. If the filled bags are still on site we would like you to make sure they are being placed in the proper location and that the bag tags are being attached. If any of you think you might be interested in being a Volunteer Inspector please give me a call at 205-489-8887 for more information. I currently have workers in the following areas:
Addison: County Road 41 North, County Road 39 North and County Road 99
Arley: County Road 41 near Duncan Bridge
Double Springs: 3 sections of Hwy 195 (from Scenic Drive to the Walker Co line)
County Road 327 and County Road 28
Haleyville: County Road 11
Grayson area: County Road 63 and County Road 3171

Thank you! Crystal

Annual Winston County Smith Lake Clean-Up


Winston County Smith Lake Advocacy Inc., the Bankhead National Forest and Alabama Power invite you to the Annual Winston County Smith Lake Clean-Up. It will be held on June 11-13, 2009 at the Clear Creek Recreation Area in the Bankhead National Forest. Volunteers are needed for the event. Click on the image above for a larger version. For more information, contact Allison Cochran at (205) 489-5111, or Linda Atkinson at (205) 387-9999.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Winston County Assign-A-Highway Update

Greetings Everyone! I wanted to give you a quick update on the success of the program so far. Currently we have 13 probationers assigned to the program and they are cleaning a total of 17 1/2 miles. Each of these probationers have been assigned to serve time ranging from 20 - 100 hours. To date (since February) we have collected 111 bags of trash for a total of 3080 pounds of garbage being removed from our county roadsides. As we head into the the summer months I expect these numbers to go up considerably. However, I am very excited about what has been accomplished so far. If you have an opportunity, please say a special thanks to those that helped bring this program to our area and let them know that you would like to see it continue for a long time. Thank you! Crystal Say thanks to: County Commissioners, Mr. Mike Henshaw and the folks at RC&D and NACOLG

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

May Meeting of the Winston County Natural Resources Council

The May meeting of the WCNRC will be at 9:00 am on Thursday, May 21st at the U. S. Forest Service Office in Double Springs.

Some items up for discussion:
  • Regional Landowner Conference in October
  • Two possible field trips
  • Recent contributions to the Council
  • Review of the Forestry Field Day at Bill and Jeanie Snoddy's Farm
  • Youth Fishing Derby on June 6th
Chris and Johnna will be representing the Council at a planning meeting for the Regional Landowner Conference in Cullman. They'll give us an update on our role in the field day at the June meeting.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Walker County Soil and Water Conservation District Creates Blog

The Walker County Soil and Water Conservation District has created a blog to highlight the District's activities. Katherine Patton has been working on the blog, and she told me that she was influenced by the Winston County Natural Resources Council blog. I've added a link to their new blog in our links section. I'll be watching their blog to see what's happening in Walker County.