Public Lands


Restoration Rules! PDF E-mail
bankhead_restoration1

The goal of ecological restoration is to enhance ecological integrity by restoring natural processes and the resiliency of ecosystems.

It is well understood that by maintaining and promoting native intact forest ecosystems we will continue to reap the benefits of ecological services provided by our forests. Ecological services include clean air, clean water, carbon sequestration, and even climate change mitigation. All of life and our human economies ultimately depend on healthy ecological functions and the services they provide.

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Helping Hands Volunteer Work Day in Bankhead National Forest (AL) PDF E-mail
Saturday, June 19
Thank you, volunteers, for the great work accomplished on Sipsey Wilderness trail #203 last month!  Water bars were constructed on the trail and hand-hewn cedar steps were embedded into a creek bank to prevent erosion and aid in crossing.  The entire length of the trail was tended by volunteers with bowsaws, pruners, loppers and an axe.


This month's volunteer work day will address trail maintenance needs on 3 sites in the Bankhead National Forest.  A team will return to #203 to finish up crosscut saw work and a stream crossing.  Another team will work on the Payne Creek trail to remove downed trees and then go to the Randolph trailhead to begin work on Sipsey Wilderness trail #201.
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Wild South Volunteer Workday in Sipsey Wilderness (AL) May 22 PDF E-mail
volunteers

The next Helping Hands volunteer workday in the Bankhead National Forest will be Saturday, May 22 on Sipsey Wilderness trail #203.


Volunteers Susan Glasscock, Ted Kuzma, Jay Murphy, Lisa White and Wild South staff member Mark Kolinski on a new water crossing on Payne Creek Trail, April 2010

 

 

Work on May 22 will involve repairing and building creek crossings, clearing away downed trees, pruning encroaching vegetation. Our card-carrying crosscut sawyers will be needed!

Sign up by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 20 and your lunch will be provided.

Tools will be provided, too. But if you have tools (bow or pruning saw, hand pruners, loppers, etc.) that you are especially fond of, bring them.

 

Sign up or ask questions here!

 

Bring:

a snack

plenty of drinking water

tick repellent

your favorite tools, if you wish

work gloves

 

Be prepared for:

poison ivy (long pants and closed-toe shoes are highly recommended.)

ticks

creek crossings

rain (if it's in the forecast)

sun (if rain is not in the forecast)

 

Meet at the Warrior Mountains Trading Company in Wren (11312 AL Hwy. 33, Moulton, AL) at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 22. Please park on the south end of the building and come into the store.

Wild South's Helping Hands volunteer work days in the Bankhead National Forest are regularly scheduled for the third Saturday of every month. This month's date was changed to due the weather forecast. To get on our Alabama Volunteer list, please contact Janice at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 256-974-6166.

 

Wild South's Helping Hands Program is funded in part by a grant from the National Forest Foundation

 

 

and by a grant from the General Fund of the Walker Area Community Foundation

 

 

 

 
NC DOT Continues Push to Relocate U.S. 74 PDF E-mail

A costly, destructive, unnecessary four-lane road is on the fast track to completion in rural, mountainous Western North Carolina. The highway would cut through steep and scenic mountains, establishing a new route through the Stecoah Valley and across Cheoah Mountain.

With a price tag of $378 million (or $38 million per mile), the cost of this project cannot be justified in light of its meager transportation benefit. Although economic development serves as the justification for this project, one can think of better ways to invest what amounts to $42,000 per Graham County citizen without destroying the mountains that have defined this region for generations.

You can stop this destructive and unnecessary project!

Voice your concerns – submit written comments or questions to the following address:
Ed Lewis, Public Hearing Officer
NC Department of Transportation
Human Environment
Unit 1598, Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1598
Phone: 919-431-6585

Your voice is crucial in changing the destructive direction of this project. Learn more by visiting www.wayssouth.org.

 
Forest Service Closes Tellico ORV Area For Good PDF E-mail
no_orv

In October, the Forest Service announced it would close most trails in the Tellico Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) area, concluding a years-long process to improve water quality in the headwaters of the Tellico River. ORV use will no longer be allowed anywhere in the area.

In 2007, Wild South and our partners took steps to sue the Forest Service for failing to meet federal law and its own standards to protect the Tellico watershed from pollution caused by excessive ORV use in the area. In response, the agency undertook an extensive study to determine whether the Tellico area could be brought into compliance.

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