Minutes for August 19, 2021

The Winston County Natural Resources Council met Thursday, August 19, 2021, at the pavilion at the Houston Recreation Area. Those in attendance were Allison Cochran, John Creed, P.J. Gossett, Zack Brannon, Mark Finley, Maggie Johnston, Mike Henshaw, Jamie Seagrove and Casey Hammack.

Sponsored by the Alabama Forestry Commission, the U.S. Forest Service, Alabama Extension and the Winston County Natural Resources Council, a wild pig management workshop will be conducted Tuesday, Sept. 14, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Grant Hayes’ farm at 22 National Forest Road 266 in Addison.

The workshop will cover wild pig history, biology, ecology, implications to humans and livestock, trapping techniques, trap designs and removal methods.

“We have Rollins Jolly with the forest service who is bringing a couple of different types of traps to set up,” Zack Brannon, Winston County Extension agent, said. “Grant Hayes’ farm at Addison already has traps set up that he is currently using to combat the problem he has. Rollins will go through the history and biology.” Brannon continued by mentioning a hand washing station will be available and regional Extension agent Paul Vining from Lawrence County will be attending.

“He’s going to dive in to the damage in pastures and hay fields aspect of the workshop,” Brannon said.

The workshop is free, though attendees are asked to RSVP to the Winston County Extension Office by calling (205) 489-5376 by Friday, Sept. 10. Lunch (barbecue) and snacks will be provided. To get to the workshop, turn north on County Road 41 at the main intersection in Addison. Travel 3.6 miles and turn left onto NFR 266 at the Looney’s Tavern historical marker. Then turn right at the first driveway and keep left.

Also discussed at the WCNRC meeting Thursday, Aug. 19, was the upcoming Forestry Awareness Week Now event usually held in October. Plans for the event are difficult to make with the current Delta spike of the COVID-19, since schools will not know their situation at the time. It was decided to have the next council meeting at the wild pig workshop on Sept. 14, at 8 a.m. and to decide on FAWN then. “I have to get a better answer from the individual schools and principals,” Brannon said. “We don’t have a date set, but we were looking between the first and second full week of October.”

There are multiple stations for FAWN every year, and this year four of these stations are no longer available by those who normally do them. Andy Baril, who did the “flag-a-tree” station, has retired, while the water erosion table station is unavailable due to the pandemic. Charles Brannon, who worked the beekeeping station, passed away recently. With Kerri Roberts accepting the 4-H agent position in Cullman County, either the GPS or River Kids station will have a vacant instructor.

After discussion, it was learned other instructors and a watershed trailer will be able to fill these stations.

“We’re going to plug and play,” Brannon added, who also mentioned he had extra funds available from a grant which fell through. The money can be used for FAWN and the fishing derby. He said he has set aside $5,000 for FAWN and $2,500 for the fishing derby.

Allison Cochran, chair of the council, mentioned Roberts leaving the county. This leaves the secretary position for the WCNRC open. After a discussion, Treasurer P.J. Gossett agreed to be the interim secretary. He gave the treasurer’s report, which has a balance of $8,065.15 for the council.

Cochran mentioned the Alabama Landowner Conference will be taking place Oct. 21-22 at the 4-H Center in Columbiana. In addition to the conference, the Alabama Natural Resources Council will be having an awards banquet. The conference includes longleaf management, turkey management, agency updates, carbon credits, using private contractors and forest health. For registration and information, visit treasureforest.org.

Bylaws have been circulated electronically to members of the WCNRC. Everyone had the opportunity to read them beforehand. Cochran asked for a vote to set the bylaws in place. Maggie Johnston of Wild Alabama made a motion with Brannon seconding, making the bylaws official. Cochran said she has not made any progress with the non-profit status yet but promises to continue working on it.

The council welcomed new forester Jamie Seagrove who attended the meeting. He came from Pike County, though he was originally from Cullman.

Retired Extension agent Mike Henshaw is now the current co-chair for Resource Advisory Council, which concerns taxes and the national forests.

The land the boat launch near Double Springs on the Sipsey is on has been leased to the county recently. This is the Mims property, which is in a land trust.

“I have already gotten an estimated bid from the county engineer to do the work they would do there,” Brannon said. “It’s just road access to allow individuals a safer and better way (to get to the water).”

Casey Hammack mentioned the Alabama Forestry Commission has had some site prep projects lately.

Johnston discussed a 190 acre section of land in Lawrence County bordering the forest that came up for auction in the last couple of weeks. The owner is working with a board member of Wild Alabama to see if the land can be combined with the forest or even the Sipsey Wilderness.

A clean water workshop will be at Camp McDowell on Sept. 1. from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Brannon said. A registration link is available on the WCNRC blog at wcnrc.blogspot.com.