2010 Land judging contest

The Walker County Soil and Water Conservation District along with the Natural Resource Conservation Service hosted the 2010 annual land judging contest for high school students on October 26th at the farm of Ted Craven located in Parrish. Score cards are completed on four different land uses: cropland, pastureland, forest land and home sites. This event is designed to help the students learn more about land, soil types and capabilities, methods of soil conservation, treatments to obtain higher crop production and the selection of suitable home sites. There were eight schools from Walker, Fayette, Winston, Lawrence and Morgan Counties that participated in this year’s contest. We would like to extend a special thanks to Ted Craven for the use of his farm, District Three Commissioner Ben Huggins and his staff for digging the judging pits and to the Walker County Forestry Planning Committee for providing lunch.

Pictured above right: High individual score L-R: Chris Thrasher-Oakman High School Ag teacher, Daniel Goins-NRCS District Conservationist, James Curtis Tingle, Ted Craven-landowner, Dorman Grace-WCSWC District Chairman.

Pictured above left: Oakman High School 1st place L-R: Daniel Goins-NRCS District Conservationist, Chris Thrasher-Oakman High School Ag Teacher, James Curtis Tingle, Seth Cain, Olivia Chambers, Dustin Miles, Ted Craven-landowner, Dorman Grace-WCSWC District Chairman, not pictured Alex Ray.

Attn: Land Owners/Agricultural Producers

The Walker County Soil and Water Conservation District is accepting cost share applications for the 2011 AACDC program. This program is designed to address soil erosion, forestland and grazing land. The program offers a 75% cost share rate for approved conservation practices. Some popular practices include: cross fencing, pasture planting, pasture improvement, tree planting and livestock water systems. For more information regarding this program please call 387-1879.

Invasive species workshop

There will be an invasive species workshop on October 7, 2010, starting out at the Walker County Lake and ending at the CHS Building in Jasper. There is no registration fee to attend the workshop, however, we are requesting that reservations be made by calling Katherine at (205)387-1879.

For more information please click on the agenda copy or call (205)387-1879.

Please try this at home - How much is your tree worth?

Due to research that was conducted by the U.S. Forest Service there is now a quantifiable value that can be applied to the services provided by trees that are located next to your home or business. You can visit arborday.org/calculator to easily determine the dollar value of the economic and environmental benefits provided by any tree in your yard.

At this new site, enter your zip code, find your tree from the dropdown list, then enter the diameter of your tree and the type of property (residential or commercial).

The results show the overall annual contribution of your tree in dollars. There is also a pie chart breaking this amount into the various services provided such as stormwater retention, energy savings, air quality improvement, CO2 sequestration and property value enhancement. There are also individual tabs that take you to any of these values for additional explanation.

This is only one of the great tools that is provided at the Arbor Day website!

Walker County Selling Your Timber and Timber Tax Seminar

The Walker County Selling Your Timber and Timber Tax Seminar will be held Thursday, August 26, 2010, at The Alabama Cooperative Extension System Building located at 1501North Airport Road, Jasper, AL 35504. There will be 2.0 PLM credit hours for Professional Logging Managers and 2.0 CFE continuing education units for Registered Foresters for attending the seminar. This seminar is being sponsored by: The Walker County Forestry Planning Committee, Alabama Farmers Federation, Alabama Forestry Commission, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Walker County Soil and Water Conservation District and The Natural Resource Conservation Service.

Registration & meal will be held from 5:30 p.m. until 6:00 p.m.
Timber Tax will be from 6:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.
Selling Your Timber will be from 7:15 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.

For more information and to register please call Katherine at (205) 387-1879.

2010 State forestry judging contest

Congratulations to Curry High School for placing 3rd in the 2010 state forestry judging contest that was held in Auburn, AL.

USDA Web Soil Survey now available online

The Web Soil Survey (WSS) provides soil data and information produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. It is operated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and provides access to the largest natural resource information system in the world. NRCS has soil maps and data available online for more than 95 percent of the nation’s counties and anticipates having 100 percent in the near future. The site is updated and maintained online as the single authoritative source of soil survey information.

Soil surveys can be used for general farm, local, and wider area planning. Onsite investigation is needed in some cases, such as soil quality assessments and certain conservation and engineering applications. The web soil survey site can also be used to measure distance as well as acreage for areas of interest. The address for the online Web Soil Survey is http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov.

For additional information or to obtain a free Walker County soil survey book please call our office.

Steven C. Minkin Paleozoic Footprint Site Update

Cindy Wallace was on a field trip with her son, Gavin, to one of the world's richest sites for Coal Age fossils, the former Union Chapel surface coal mine located near Sumiton in Walker County.

While Gavin scoured the rock piles for fossils, Wallace used a tiny watch screwdriver and a rock to chip at a piece of slate. When the layers broke apart, it revealed the hand-sized tracks of Attenosaurus subulensis, a wolf-sized salamander that was the largest terrestrial creature living during the period prior to the emergence of the dinosaurs.

"It has some of the best preserved tracks of the Attenosaurus that have been found," said Carl Sloan, secretary of the Alabama Paleontological Society, which has been instrumental in the discovery, preservation and fossil collection at the Union Chapel Mine site.

Jun Ebersole, the collections manager of McWane Science Center, agreed.

"The tracks are some of the best ever found in the state," he said.

At the time the Attenosaurus was prowling Walker County, the area was an alluvial plain of tropical forest and tidal flats on the coast of an ancient ocean. The remains of the lush tropical forests accumulated in thick blankets of peat which were then covered over and buried. Over time, under pressure and heat, the peat was transformed into the coal deposits the region is known for.

The Union Chapel Mine site was discovered in 1999 by a high school science teacher, Ashley Allen, who found a treasure trove of fossil impressions of plants and animals from the Coal Age in the area.

The mine was due to be covered over under the requirements of the Mining Reclamation Act until a coalition of amateur fossil hunters waged a campaign to have it preserved.

Currently owned by the state of Alabama, the site, now known as the Steven C. Minkin Paleozoic Footprint Site, has produced thousands of plant fossils and animal and insect tracks. The Paleontology Society manages access to the site, and visitors are allowed to keep fossils unless they are deemed to be significant enough to merit further study or inclusion in a museum collection. Wallace's find is headed for the McWane Center collection.

Wallace had taken her 12-year-old son, Gavin, on the expedition with Fresh Air Family, an organization that leads parents and children on outdoor explorations around the state.

But for Cindy Wallace, the Attenosaurus tracks were her first find.

"It was my very first fossil," Wallace said.

For more information regarding the Stephen C. Minkin fossil site please refer to an article from Outdoor Alabama at the following website:www.outdooralabama.com/outdoor-alabama/tracks.pdf.

Recent outdoor classroom activities

The Walker County Soil and Water Conservation District in partnership with The Natural Resources Conservation Service, The Walker County Forestry Planning Committee, The Alabama Forestry Commission, Alabama Power and The Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries has conducted two different outdoor classrooms in the past week.

The first outdoor classroom event was held on May 14, 2010, with the second through fifth grade students at T.R. Simmons School. This classroom was held at the nature trail at T.R. Simmons. There were 3 learning stations where students learned what watershed they live in as well as how pollutants can contaminate our water supply, they also learned about wildlife habitat and the difference between forest fires and controlled burns.

The second outdoor classroom event was held on May 20, 2010, with the second grade students from Valley School at the Clear Creek Recreation Area. There were 4 learning stations at this event. The stations were the same as the T.R. Simmons event with the addition of a station where the students were able to see water quality tests being performed.

The students at both events were very attentive and asked alot of great questions. The weather was great for both events with the presenters having as much fun as the students!

State land judging contest

Congratulations to the Curry High School land judging team for placing 5th in the state land judging contest that was held on April 16, 2010 in Lineville, AL.

Local FFA livestock, forestry and tractor driving competition

Curry High School, Oakman High School and Carbon Hill School recently participated in the annual livestock, forestry and tractor driving competitions that were held on April 23, 2010. The livestock competition was held at the farm of Dorman Grace. Mr Grace has held the livestock competition at his family farm for the last 15 years. The Curry High School team won the livestock competition as well as having Jamie Campbell on their team who was the high point scorer for this competition. The forestry competition was held at the Walker County Lake. This competition is held at different locations each year which allows the students an opportunity to judge different types of forest land. The Curry High School team won the forestry competition as well as having Riley Goforth on their team who was the high point scorer for the competition. The tractor driving competition was held at Curry High School. This competition will be alternated between the schools that participate in the yearly competition. The Curry High School team won the tractor driving competition as well as having Chase Hammock on their team who was the high point scorer.

After the competitions, all participates, judges and volunteers met back at the Alabama Cooperative Extension System office for lunch and for the winners to be announced. Lunch was provided by the Walker County Forestry Planning Committee. Additional agencies that assisted with the competition were the Alabama Forestry Commission, Natural Resource Conservation Service and the Walker County Soil and Water Conservation District. We would also like to offer a special thanks to Danny Cain and Russ Runyan.

Blue bird houses now available

We now have blue bird houses for sale at the Walker County Soil & Water Conservation office. The houses are $12.00/each and will offer a great conservation opportunity for you to enjoy with your children or grandchildren. Each house comes as a kit containing six pre-cut pieces that are ready to join with no tools, nails or hardware being required. Simply follow the picture instructions to slide the pieces together. It's up to you if you would like to paint the exterior of the bird house. The door will easily remove to clean out the house. We will also provide an informational sheet regarding the suggested placement of the house. If you have any questions or would like additional information please call our office at (205) 387-1879.

Bonnie plants 3rd grade cabbage program

The Walker County Soil and Water Conservation District along with the Natural Resources Conservation Service were pleased to assist Bonnie plants with their 3rd grade cabbage program this year by delivering cabbage plants to all 17 elementary schools in Walker County. The WCSWC District would like to thank Bonnie Plants and Heath Davis the local station manager for Bonnie Plants for providing this experience to our youth. It was very rewarding to see the excitement of the students when they received their plant. Each year, Bonnie Plants distributes free cabbage plants to third graders across the country to foster an interest in gardening and the environment. Cabbages are delivered to students whose teachers have signed up to participate. Students in these third grade classrooms each get their very own cabbage to plant, take care of and harvest. The cabbages produce oversized heads, making the process even more exciting for kids. As part of the program, Bonnie gives a $1,000 award to one student in each state. Through the annual Cabbage Program, Bonnie hopes to share their love of gardening, as well as inspire kids to develop an interest in nature and the outdoors. Now entering in its 9th year, the program has been an exciting and rewarding venture. For more information regarding this program please visit Bonnie's website at http://www.bonnieplants.com/CabbageProgram/tabid/81/Default.aspx

Arbor Day event

In recognition of Arbor Week the Alabama Forestry Commission in partnership with the Walker County Forestry Planning Committee and the Walker County Soil and Water Conservation District will be providing tree seedlings to each 3rd grade student in Walker County on Wednesday, February 24th.

Planting trees is a great way to improve our communities by providing cleaner air, shade to homes (reduces energy cost), reduces soil erosion and is aesthetically pleasing to the homeowner and the public. According to the Arbor Day Foundation properly placed trees can increase property values from 7%-21%.

We hope that families across the county will take part in this celebration and share the joy of planting trees.

Annual tree sale event

The Walker County Forestry Planning Committee will hold it's annual tree sale event at the Jasper Wal-Mart Garden Center on Friday, March 5, 2010 from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. and Saturday, March 6, 2010 from 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. All trees will be containerized or bare root seedlings and will be available on a first come first serve basis. Cost will be between $1.00 and $2.00 per tree. Please call 387-1879 for an itemized list. Proceeds go to promote conservation education in Walker County.

Rock Creek Watershed meeting in Addison, AL on Thurs., Feb 4th at 7:00 p.m. at the Traders and Farmers Bank

A meeting for stakeholders in the Rock Creek watershed is planned for Thursday, February 4th at the Traders and Farmers Bank meeting room in Addison. The meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m. for those interested in serving on either the technical committee or the evaluation/outreach committee, with the regular meeting beginning at 7:00 p.m. The purpose of this meeting is to complete a Watershed Management Plan by mid-March. Having participation from a broad range of citizens is important to the success of this plan.

Alabama Water Watch is also planning on having bacteriological water testing training sessions on Friday and Saturday. After the training on Saturday morning, they will conduct a "Bacteria Blitz" where several volunteers will conduct bacteriological water testing at several sites in the Smith Lake Watershed. Volunteers will turn in their samples to Alabama Water Watch later on Saturday so that the samples can be incubated properly. Watch here for further details on the bacteriological water testing training.

Sponsored by Winston County Smith Lake Advocacy Inc.
& Alabama Water Watch. For information, Mona Scruggs with Alabama Water Watch at 251-282-9998, or LaVerne Matheson with WCSLAI at 256-747-4422.
Posted by Mike at 9:00 AM

Attn: Land Owners/Agricultural Producers

The Walker County Soil and Water Conservation District will be accepting cost share applications thru the end of February 2010 for the AACDC program. This program is designed to address soil erosion, forestland and grazing land. The program offers a 75% cost share rate for approved conservation practices. Some popular practices include: cross fencing, pasture planting, pasture improvement, tree planting and livestock water systems. For more information regarding this program please call 387-1879.

ACDEA scholarship applications available

The Walker County Soil & Water Conservation District is now accepting applications for a $500.00 scholarship sponsored by the Alabama Conservation District Employees Association. Applicant must be a U. S. citizen, high school senior, and living in the State of Alabama. Applications may be picked up at the District office located in the Board of Education Building, Room 207, in Jasper or may be requestd by email. Deadline to receive completed applications in the District office is March 5, 2010. For more information, please contact Katherine Patton at (205)387-1879 or by email at kpattonwalkersoil@gmail.com.