ARSN Annual Cooperators Meeting January 14 – 15, 2020 Camp Meadowbrook, Cullman, AL
January 21, 2020
On January 14-15, 2020, seventy-seven (77) members of the Alabama Rivers & Streams Network met to learn about new and existing projects and studies that focus address long-term habitat needs of Alabama’s imperiled species.  This year’s meeting focused on restoration projects, regulatory updates and studies from:
 
  • US Fish & Wildlife Service,
  • Alabama Department of Environmental Management,
  • The Nature Conservancy, Alabama,
  • Geological Survey of Alabama,
  • Westervelt Ecological Services,
  • Alabama Forestry Association,
  • Alabama Natural Heritage Program,
  • Freshwater Land Trust,
  • PowerSouth Energy Cooperative,
  • Auburn University,
  • Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources,
  • University of West Alabama,
  • Turkey Creek Nature Preserve,
  • Alabama Forestry Commission.

The meeting was hosted by the Alabama Forestry Association at Camp Meadowbrook in Cullman, Alabama.  It was preceded by the inaugural meeting of the Black Warrior Waterdog and Flattened Musk Turtle Working Group.  The Alabama Mollusk and Crayfish Working Group met following the meeting.  It is coordinated by the US Fish & Wildlife Service, Geological Survey of Alabama, Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources, Alabama Forestry Association and Cawaco Resource Conservation & Development Council, Inc.

The purpose of the annual meeting is to develop cooperative opportunities between those who study imperiled species and those who regulate or comply with the Endangered Species Act.  This process benefits the state by directing limited dollars and research efforts to targeted restoration efforts inside priority watersheds.  This watershed and community-based approach improves water resource conditions for Alabama’s communities and rare species simultaneously.  If successful, substantial long-term cost savings are anticipated by improving water supply, water quality, and decreasing the regulatory burden that conservation can impose.









Check out the meeting agenda and each of presentations below:
Document
01. Agenda
02. SHU Overview
03. USFWS Report
04. The Nature Conservancy--Locust Fork
05. Flattened Musk Turtle Survey
06. Turkey Creek Restoration
07. Oolitic Aragonite
08. USFWS Partners Program
09. Freshwater Land Trust
10. Gantt Lake Mussel Relocation
11. Alabama Biodiversity Center
12. Fish Passage on the Alabama River
13. Geological Survey of Alabama
14. ADEM Field Operations--Fish IBIs, Sampling Schedule
15. Trispot eDNA in the Middle Coosa River
16. Shades Creek Watershed Management Plan
17. Westervelt Cooperation and Mitigation
18. Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation
19. Alabama Forestry Commission BMP audit