The Friends of Big Canoe Creek and Alabama Public Television (APT) will host a special preview of the documentary Chattahoochee: From Water War to Water Vision on Thursday, May 3 at 7:00pm at the Springville First United Methodist Church. The event is free and open to the public.

Chattahoochee: From Water War to Water Vision, which premieres on APT in May, explores the complex, 20-year conflict between Alabama, Georgia and Florida over water rights to the Flint, Chattahoochee, Apalachicola river system. This river system, which originates in the mountains for North Georgia, is the primary water source for Atlanta. Downstream, the water is also vital to agriculture, industry, recreation and wildlife in Alabama and Florida. As demands for water increase, sharing only gets harder.

Chattahoochee: From Water War to Water Vision shows how individuals and communities up and down the river basin are striving to come to terms with the new reality of water in the Southeast. The film introduces oystermen in Apalachicola Bay who rely on fresh water from the river to keep their oysters alive; farmers in Alabama and Georgia using new technologies to reduce water waste in their fields; a plant in Columbus, Ga. that relies on water from the Chattahoochee to operate; sport fishermen and paddlers who use the river; and many others. The film is narrated by Peter Coyote.

You can learn more about the documentary, and watch a preview, at the film's web site: http://www.waterwar.org/.

At a special meeting on Thursday, January 26th, the Friends of Big Canoe Creek hosted guest speaker Mitch Reid of the Alabama Rivers Alliance. Mitch discussed how the Alabama Rivers Alliance is diligently working to make a comprehensive water plan a reality for Alabama.

While Alabama’s water resources are abundant, they are not unlimited; they must be carefully managed to meet long term needs. Alabama is one of the few states in the U.S. that does not have a state-wide comprehensive water policy. The absence of a clear plan for accounting for and allocating the state’s water jeopardizes our water security and environment.

Acclaimed conservation photographer, Beth Maynor Young, spoke to The Friends of Big Canoe Creek on Monday, February 28th, 2011. Beth is an accomplished conservation photographer who has devoted her life to nature and landscape photography. Her photography is part of many private and corporate art collections and is published in many books, including her most recent, Headwaters — A Journey on Alabama Rivers, from which she shared slides and stories. Beth's photographs reveal the mystery, the beauty and the diversity of Alabama and have been used to help preserve special places throughout the state.

Friends of Big Canoe Creek has "adopted" two stream crossings in the Springville area as part of the Adopt-a-Stream program coordinated by Alabama People Against a Littered State (Alabama PALS). The stream crossings are at Highway 11 northeast of town and at the County Road 9 bridge north of Homestead Hollow.

Official "Adopt-a-Stream" signs were posted at both locations earlier this month. As part of the program, FOBCC is responsible for picking up litter and discarded debris around the roadway and in the stream at the two crossings for the next two years. Alabama PALS will provide trash bags, pick-up tools, and safety vests for volunteers.

On Saturday, May 1st, Friends of Big Canoe Creek teamed up with the Freshwater Land Trust to sponsor a "bioblitz" on the site of a proposed nature preserve in Springville. Almost fifty participants spent a day documenting flora and fauna on the 600-acre tract of land that has been nominated by Friends of Big Canoe Creek for conservation through Alabama's Forever Wild program. Scientists and naturalists from the University of Alabama, Birmingham-Southern College and Samford University were among those combing the forest and streams. Also partcipating in the event were members of Conservation Photographers of Alabama (see some of their amazing photography at the "Read More" link below).

Wikipedia defines a bioblitz as "a special type of field study, where a group of scientists and volunteers conduct an intensive 24-hour biological inventory, attempting to identify and record all species of living organisms in a given area." Information resulting from the field study will be used to bolster the nomination of the property for conservation. Among the preliminary results from the bioblitz are the documentation of more than 80 tree and shrub species and more than 50 bird species on the property. The proposed preserve includes a rich array of topographic/ecological zones -- from riparian to ridgeline -- fostering an impressive species diversity. In addition, no fewer than seven distinct geological formations are exposed on the site.

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