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Please Vote For Alabama Amendment One, Forever Wild


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#1 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 31 October 2012 - 02:10 PM

This isn't an official NANFA endorsement, but I would urge all Alabama residents to vote for the reauthorization of the Forever Wild program in the state next Tuesday. It's State Amendment One, and has to be reauthorized every 20 years. This program is responsible for some major additions to public lands in the state such as the now 13,000-plus acre Walls of Jericho tract. Below is an analysis of the amendment by the UAH Public Affairs office in Huntsville:

Statewide Amendment 1 asks voters to authorize extending the state’s land preservation program, Forever Wild, for another 20 years.
Originally created in 1992 by Constitutional Amendment 553, Forever Wild receives 10 percent of the earnings of the state’s oil and gas trust fund, up to a cap of $15 million annually. It uses the proceeds to preserve land with ecological or recreational value.
According to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), Forever Wild has received $193 million over its initial 20-year term. Over that time, the Forever Wild Trust has preserved 231,000 acres. That includes 61,000 acres leased for 99 years to preserve public hunting lands traditionally available in the conservation department’s Wildlife Management Areas. Land purchases have been used to expand existing state parks as well as to add to or establish nature preserves and recreational attractions. The program operates independently in some cases but also works in conjunction with local governments on initiatives.
Forever Wild often matches its own money with grants from federal land and forest preservation programs as well with grants and donations from individuals and conservation-oriented nonprofits. The program can only acquire land from willing sellers.
The Forever Wild Trust is overseen by a 15-member appointed board of trustees and receives staff and land management support from the State Lands Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The Commissioner of the DCNR is the ex-officio chair of the board.
According to a 2005 comparison performed by the Trust for Public Lands, Alabama ranks last among Southeastern states in publicly protected land, in terms of the percentage of land area preserved, total acreage protected, and acreage protected per capita. If Forever Wild were able to acquire the same total acreage over the next 20 years, Alabama would still rank last in the Southeast, even if other states acquire no more land during that period.



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