One of Alabama’s largest ecologically diversifying national forests acquired new protected land, according to by the USDA Forest Service (USFS) as well as The Conservation Fund.
With the help of the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and the LWCF, the group were able to acquire nearly 1,000 acres of private-owned land in the Conecuh National Forest in southern Alabama and fill in significant space for recreation, watershed conservation as well as wildlife and longleaf pine restoration of the forest.
“Conecuh National Forest offers an extraordinary eco-friendly backdrop that demonstrates recreational possibilities and how effective forest management enhances longleaf pine regeneration, rare species of plants and habitat for wildlife,” said Cherie Hamilton, Forest Service supervisor of Alabama’s national forests. “Thanks the generosity of The Conservation Fund, future generations will greatly benefit from the new land development along Conecuh.” Conecuh.”
The announcement is a celebration of the preservation of several properties — referred to as inholdings. They were previously a gridlocked area inside Conecuh National Forest and faced the possibility of being sold to fund recreation or other non-conservation purposes. The Conservation Fund, a national environmental non-profit, purchased these properties and gave them to the USFS for conservation on a permanent basis. Protected, the land will increase public recreational opportunities and conserve habitat for a variety of species of rare and endangered terrestrial species such as the red-cockaded woodpecker the eastern indigo snake, and the gopher tortoise. The acquisitions will also aid in improving the longleaf pine’s restoration process.
“Conecuh National Forest safeguards one of the longest continuous areas of longleaf pine throughout the Southeast,” said Stacy Funderburke, Alabama associate state director of The Conservation Fund. “Securing these landholdings will facilitate better longleaf pine management as well as enhance wildlife habitat as well as recreational opportunities that help local economies.”
The preservation of the land was made possible through the federal LWCF which was fully and continuously supported through the Great American Outdoors Act in 2020. LWCF can be described as a bipartisan initiative that protects both ecologically and economically important land, including the iconic Alabama natural landscapes. Alabama’s congressional delegation, which represents members of the Conecuh National Forest — U.S Senator Katie Britt, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville, U.S. Representative Jerry Carl and U.S. Representative Barry Moore — supported the utilization of LWCF funds for this project.
“The Conecuh National Forest contains some of the most beautiful and valuable ecologically-sensitive areas in the nation I’m happy that the conservation efforts of the forest are getting strengthened by this acquisition,” said U.S. Representative Barry Moore. “All people in Alabama who love nature will be benefited by the preservation and protection of this stunning natural area for the next generation to cherish and cherish.”
For a long time M.C. Davis, the conservationist who died in 1994 M.C. Davis had been purchasing these landholdings with the intention that one day they would be preserved in the National Forest. After his death in 2015 The Conservation Fund was able to make his dream real by purchasing the land by Davis. Davis and holding them until funds could be made available to purchase the land by the USFS.
The article Conecuh Forest gains critical land was first published in The Andalusia Star-News.
