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News Release

 

September 26, 2003                                                            

 

Forest Service and Nature Conservancy Join Together to  

 Protect and Restore the Best Places in Alabama

 

 

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The Nature Conservancy of Alabama and the USDA Forest Service will partner under a recently signed agreement to work together on issues that are critical to Alabama’s National Forests, such as acquiring additional lands, protecting rare and significant species, and ecological restoration.

 

The Nature Conservancy has identified all of the national forests in Alabama as ecoregional portfolio sites, meaning they are priorities for conservation and crucial to protecting the state’s tremendous biodiversity. The master agreement will cover work done in the forests and on the approximately 2,000 acres managed by the Conservancy at 15 sites throughout the state. The partners will not only take action on a wide variety of ongoing collaborative efforts but explore new opportunities as well.

 

"This partnership is ideal because both parties are striving for the same ecological restoration outcome," said Jeff Danter, state director of The Nature Conservancy of Alabama. "The agreement continues a long history of working together."

 

"We are pleased to strengthen our relationship with The Nature Conservancy through this agreement," said Antoine Dixon, acting supervisor for the National Forests in Alabama. "We look forward to doing projects beneficial to the natural resources and users of Alabama’s four national forests."

 

Ongoing efforts include expanding the use and understanding of prescribed fire; combating invasive, non-native species and re-establishing native species; increasing public support for protecting areas of high biodiversity; and supporting the restoration of the longleaf pine ecosystem across Alabama.  

 

The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. Visit us on the Web at nature.org/alabama.