Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Keeping Alabama Forever
Wild—Again
In 1992 Alabama's House of Representatives had a
brilliant idea. The state was receiving a large sum of
money from offshore oil and natural gas wells. What to
do with all of that cash? Besides the general fund, it
was decided to put before voters an idea to take a
small percentage of the interest earned from the reven-
ue and set it aside for the state to purchase land that is
of environmental or historic significance that without
protection would be lost forever.
The public went to the voting booth and almost un-
animously approved the measure that would fund the
program for twenty years. And with that, the Alabama
Forever Wild program was born.
Since that vote the program has purchased more
than 200,000 acres of land and wetlands, and the acre-
age keeps growing. The program, administered by the
Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Re-
sources, not only secures sensitive habitats for genera-
tions to come, but also turns that land into useable re-
creational areas. Most all of the Forever Wild tracts are
open for hunting, fishing, paddling, horseback riding,
and, of course, hiking, as you have seen in several of
the hikes spotlighted in this edition.
The process for the agency to acquire a tract of land
is very simple and has been quite successful. First, a
property has to be nominated. Any resident may nom-
inate a property for purchase, but it must be of historic-
al or environmental significance. Once the property is
nominated, the Forever Wild board of directors must
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