Hurricane Creek was chosen as the #2 site, behind Mound State Park in the 7 Wonders of West Alabama contest.
The author was stunned when he started getting letters from California, Canada, West Virginia, all over the place. Read this excerpt from the article:
"If we went by volume and passion of reader responses alone, Hurricane Creek would be far and away West Alabama’s greatest wonder. Of all those places and things picked, it’s the only one that’s unguided by the hand of man. In fact, while appreciation is in this regard a human province, it’s best left alone, most say." This article is published in the Tuscaloosa News, Sunday, July 29, 2007. Click here to read the complete article.
Original design by Bob Griffin
of Wolf Creek Creations, Pell City, AL
Show your support for FoHC by wearing one of our limited edition T-Shirts! Custom-designed by Bob Griffin, these heavyweight 100% pre-shrunk cotton tees are only $10 each! They have a hunter-green trim on neck & sleeves, with the images printed in the same color ink on the white tee. To order, email Anna Keene at avkeene@gmail.com or John Wathen at hccreekkeeper@gmail.com. All proceeds benefit the Friends of Hurricane Creek! So, show your love for this wonderful Creek with a one-of-a-kind T-Shirt in S, M, L, XL, and XXL!
Latest Happenings:
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. responds to latest with ADEM. Click on this video link to go to the Hurricane Creekkeeper's MySpace to watch the complete video.
Check our Media Coverage Link for the latest editorials and press releases!
Press Conference Held Monday, June 18 at Watson's Bend on Hurricane Creek
Southern Environmental Law Center, Friends of Hurricane Creek and Hurricane Creekkeeper have issued a clear legal challenge to the Alabama Department of Transportation’s plan to build the Eastern By-Pass through the Hurricane Creek basin.
Thanks for Clean-Up Volunteers!
Thanks to everyone who came out for the 13th Annual Hurricane Creek Clean-Up and Chili Cook-Off. The weather could not have been better for the 130 or so volunteers who came out to keep out watershed beautiful. We collected 200 bags of trash as well as larger items, such as automobile tires and a rather lovely rotting door from the creek and the roadside.
Special thanks to the following: Rumsey Environmental Services, Premier Spring Water, Pepsi Co., Museum of Natural History, UA Outdoor Recreation, Sue Blackshear, Higher Ground Roasters, Woolf Creek Designs, Bama Ice, Tuscaloosa Police Department, Greg Staggs, Richards Trophies of Montgomery, Unitarian Universalist Congregation, and all of those who brought food to feed our hungry volunteers. It was a great event, and we look forward to seeing you all next year!
The photos below are courtesy of Monte Deschner; look for more soon!
Here is the transcript:
This is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President of the Waterkeeper Alliance, and we're very pround of the work of the Black Warrior Riverkeeper which has pioneered litigation in North Alabama to return the waterways of North Alabama to the public that owns them.
The number one problem in the state of Alabama is the failure of government, the failure particularly of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management which has a reputation among the environmental community and civil activists across the country, good government activists across the country, as among THE worst environmental agencies in the United States of America.
ADEM is the paradigm, the model of the captive-agency phenomenon where agencies actually begin (or) become captured by the interests that they're supposed to regulate--in this case, the biggest polluters in the state, which are dictating ADEM's policies.
And rather than protecting the public, which this agency is supposed to do, protecting the rest of us from pollution, they're protecting the rights of the polluters to pollute. And that's something that we have to change if we are going to regain a clean environment in the great State of Alabama."
Also see www.BlackWarriorRiver.org for more information on this issue.
See the full Press Release.
Faith Leaders Forum on Global Climate Change
Creekkeeper, John Wathen, recently had an opportunity to visit with Dr. E.O. Wilson at the "Faith Leaders Forum". According to John, the consensus was "that it is time for science and religious leaders to come together to work on a plan to save the planet's remaining life and eco system." For photos, look at the E.O. Wilson folder under "pics".
Bobby Kennedy Jr. Speaks
Monday, April 2, 2007 was an enlightening experience for several of the Hurricane Creek Board members . . . they had the distinct pleasure of hearing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. address environmental issues at Starkville, MS. Mr. Kennedy was promoting his book, Crimes Against Nature. He took time in his speech to recognize the Hurricane Creekkeeper, John Wathen, and our own BOD members that were there--Derrick Taff and his wife Patricia, Jim Shaddox, and Renee Wathen. As our group sat on the front row, they were recognized several times throughout the lecture as "Great Keepers". According to John, "Bobby was dynamic as usual, speaking without notes."
If you have a chance, check out Kennedy's website to read further about his fight for our environment. There is a link on his site to order his book as well.
www.robertfkennedyjr.com
Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy!
All the hard work and efforts of the Friends of Hurricane Creek are obviously starting to pay off . . . Creekkeeper John Wathen counted 22 fish right off his pier recently. "I hope they are spawning. In all the time I have been on Hurricane Creek, I have never seen this many fish in one location. Not since the coal mining hay-day has there been this much life in this old and abused watershed." Keep up the good work, FOHC!!!
Our own Board of Directors Treasurer, Dr. Harris Schlesinger, was named Winner of UA's Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award!
See Schlesinger Named Winner for the whole story and photo!
The HC Board members took their first paddle trip of the year down the Creek on Sunday, February 18, using the new fleet of canoes so generously donated by Norcross Foundation.
Noteworthy News:
Tuscaloosa News, Tuesday, June 19, 2007
The Meridian Star, April 22, 2007
Birmingham News, December 03, 2006
From the Tuscaloosa News, April 28, 2006
From the Birmingham News, April 28, 2006
New Year Sunrise at Temple Cave
This year was exceptionally beautiful with this gorgeous view of sunrise at Temple Cave. The above photo is courtesy of John Wathen, taken on a foggy 2007 New Year's morning. According to John, "plenty of water for a great trip; it reminds me of just how much we have to be thankful for."
Remember These Go-Getters? There were a few diehards that
would not let February 2006 pass without at least picking up some trash. Shown
here is our own board member Larry Pierson and a new volunteer Boy Scout
Leader and his son in the pouring rain.
(left photo) Bobby Kennedy Jr. at MSU and (photo below) FOHC Board of Directors Members, Derrick Taff and Jim Shaddox shown below with Patricia Taff, Bobby Kennedy Jr., and Renee Wathen at Mississippi State University.
Congrats to HC Board Member!!
HC Board Members Take Paddle Trip
We now have four Wenonah 17' canoes and the accompanying equipment for our use in media tours, photography tours, and clean-up events.
As shown below, Harris receives the "Smooth Move" award for successfully maneuvering the canoe around a rock in Upper Twin Bend. The rock is affectionately known as "Velcro" due to its sticky undercut face.
It was a beautiful, cold day. Thankfully, no one flipped or had to swim!
Please click on the Photo Album Link to see more pics of this trip!
Groups Seek New Hurricane Creek Study
An environmental law organization has joined Tuscaloosa environmental groups in calling for a new study of the environmental impact of the proposed Eastern Bypass on Hurricane Creek.
Go to the Media Coverage Link to read the full article!
Worth the Risk?
The "Coal Truth" presented by John Wathen at Kemper County
Go to the Media Coverage Link to read the full article!
Abandoned mine sites recovering, but slowly
Acid flows in Alabama streams while the money flows to Western states
Go to the www.bhamnews.com site to read the full article!
"The Browns of Capstone" Photo by John L. Wathen
Flight provided by SouthWings, Conservation Through Aviation
Hurricane Creek group wins legal victory against mine
MONTGOMERY | Environmental groups on Thursday hailed a Montgomery
Circuit Court judge’s ruling that overturned a state environmental
agency’s decision to allow a mine waste discharge permit. Montgomery County Circuit Judge Truman Hobbs Jr. reversed a decision . . .
See rest of story on Media Coverage.
Two groups win suit on coal mine at creek
Two Alabama advocacy groups have won a suit arguing that the state is not allowed to continue to issue permits for pollution in water that already is federally listed as degraded. The Alabama Department of Environmental Management has said in the past . . .
See rest of story on Media Coverage.
Friends of Hurricane Creek
P.O. Box
40836
Tuscaloosa, AL 35404
To report a problem in the Hurricane Creek watershed, contact Creekkeeper John Wathen at hccreekkeeper@gmail.com
Hurricane Creek is located in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. Anyone who has visited Hurricane Creek can tell you it is a beautiful and unique watershed. It is also under constant threat of destruction by mining and its resultant pollution, clear-cutting, development, and most recently, a highway bypass. This website will provide you with information about Hurricane Creek. The splendid beauty, unique formations, and wildlife, as well as the dangers Hurricane Creek faces from many man-made threats, are common knowledge to many of us.
This site
offers you the chance to both protect and cherish Hurricane Creek. Please
contact us if you have photographs, stories of enjoyment, or stories of
the abuse of this beautiful place. The information you share could lead
someone else to explore Hurricane Creek and could help save its pristine
beauty for your descendants to enjoy.
The mission of the Friends of Hurricane
Creek
is to promote the protection and
rehabilitation of Hurricane Creek and its watershed.
Friends of Hurricane Creek Board of Directors
Friends of Hurricane
Creek
Notecards
now available
Six notecards per package, each card bearing a beautiful Hurricane Creek scenic by nature photographer Beth Maynor Young
To order by mail, contact John at (205)507-0867 or hccreekkeeper@gmail.com
| Check out this site daily! More Coming Soon! |
"When you put your hand in a flowing stream, you touch the last that has gone before and the first of what is still to come." --Leonardo da Vinci
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This site was last updated on March 9, 2008 by EDD.