TIGER Groundbreaking: Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez and Mayor Bell Speak at Ceremony to Begin Work on 29 Miles of Trail

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It was a great day to break ground on the first 29 miles of the Red Rock Ridge and Val­ley Trail sys­tem! Mayor Bell wel­comed Vic­tor Mendez of the Fed­eral High­way Admin­is­tra­tion; Mr. Mendez spoke of pub­lic and pri­vate sol­i­dar­ity for this plan… through­out our region that led to our receiv­ing the TIGER grant.

We appre­ci­ate all of the peo­ple who made this hap­pen and want to espe­cially high­light these crit­i­cal con­trib­u­tors: City of Birm­ing­ham, Alabama, ALDOT, Jef­fer­son County Depart­ment of Health, CSX, Com­mu­nity Foun­da­tion of Greater Birm­ing­ham, Mike and Gillian Goodrich Foun­da­tion, UAB and UAB Med­i­cine, Susan Mott Webb Char­i­ta­ble Trust, and Alabama Power.

Finally, we were priv­i­leged to receive atten­dance and sup­port from the offices of Con­gress­man Bachus, Con­gress­woman Sewell and Sen­a­tor Ses­sions. We couldn’t have done this with­out you all: www.redrocktrail.org

 
Photo: It was a great day to break ground on the first 29 miles of the Red Rock Ridge and Valley Trail system! Mayor Bell welcomed Victor Mendez of the Federal Highway Administration; Mr. Mendez spoke of public and private solidarity for this plan throughout our region that led to our receiving the TIGER grant. </p> <p>We appreciate all of the people who made this happen and want to especially highlight these critical contributors: City of Birmingham, Alabama, ALDOT, Jefferson County Department of Health, CSX, Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, Mike and Gillian Goodrich Foundation, UAB and UAB Medicine, Susan Mott Webb Charitable Trust, and Alabama Power.</p> <p>Finally, we were privileged to receive attendance and support from the offices of Congressman Bachus, Congresswoman Sewell and Senator Sessions. We couldn't have done this without you all: www.redrocktrail.org

 
For more on this spe­cial day:

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/05/roads_to_recovery_trail_projec.html#incart_river_default

Red Rock Tuesdays with Fox 6’s Jeh Jeh Pruitt: You Are Invited to Join Us May 7 at City of Bessemer’s Roosevelt Park

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Want to be on the news and show your sup­port for the Red Rock Ridge and Val­ley Trail Sys­tem?
 
Join us and Fox 6 at Roo­sevelt Park on May 7. We have been for­tu­nate to host this seg­ment con­sis­tently for more than a year on Good Day Alabama. We have had great crowds out in Pin­son, Tar­rant, Home­wood, Hoover, Birm­ing­ham, Gar­den­dale, Trussville, Iron­dale and Clay. This week we will show you one of Birmingham’s best parks.
 
When: May 7
6:30 a.m. — 8:30 a.m. 
 
Where: Roo­sevelt Park
 
Directions/Parking:                                                                                                                     From Birm­ing­ham
Take I-59/20 SB (or north­bound) to the 18th Street exit.
Get off on 18th Street, head into Besse­mer, and fol­low the road to 9th Avenue, or US 11/Bessemer Super­high­way.
Turn right on 9th Avenue (near Bob Sykes) and fol­low it until you come to 14th Street/Highway 150.
Turn left on 14th Street and High­way 150 until it brings you to the park. (about a mile)
 
From Hoover (there are at least two options)
You can fol­low High­way 150 right out of Hoover to Roo­sevelt Park.
 
From Inter­state 459
Head south on 459 until you come to Mor­gan Road exit/Highway 52.
Turn right on Mor­gan Road and fol­low it until you come to High­way 150/14th Street.
Turn left on High­way 150/14th Street and it will bring you right to the park. (about a mile)
 
Please direct RSVP/questions to greg.robinson@freshwaterlandtrust.org or 205–417-2777.
 
We hope to see you there
  
For more info:
www.freshwaterlandtrust.org/red-rock-ridge-and-valley/

www.facebook.com/pages/Freshwater-Land-Trust/111783932165612

 

Join Us For Red Rock Tuesday at Vulcan Park on March 5!

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The Fresh­wa­ter Land Trust and Fox 6 WBRC will be at Vul­can Park on Tues., March 5 to show­case this great amenity to our com­mu­nity and to dis­cuss ideas to bet­ter con­nect the trail to the community!

vulcan1This appear­ance is the twen­ti­eth, once-a-month “Red Rock Tues­day” seg­ment on Good Day Alabama. We have had great crowds out in Brook­side, Ruffner Moun­tain, Pin­son, Tar­rant, Home­wood, Hoover, Birm­ing­ham, Gar­den­dale, Trussville, Ves­tavia and Clay, Red Moun­tain Park, Mid­field, Nor­wood, Green­wood, Crest­wood, and Cen­ter Point.  This week we will show you one of Birmingham’s great­est treasures!
 

We hope to see you at Vul­can Park on Tues., March 5!

When: Tues., March 5
6:20 a.m. — 8:20 a.m. (Main pub­lic appear­ances at 7:20 and 7:50 a.m.)

 

Where: Vul­can Park & Trail
1701 Val­ley View Dr, Birm­ing­ham, AL 35209

 

Please direct ques­tions to valerie.wilson@freshwaterlandtrust.org or call 205.417.2777.

 

B.A.S.S. Employees Brave Cold to Help Restore Darter Habitat.

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The Fresh­wa­ter Land Trust part­nered with nearly 30 employ­ees from B.A.S.S. on Novem­ber 14, 2012 for a vol­un­teer work day to restore crit­i­cal habi­tat for the endan­gered ver­mil­ion darter and water­cress darter. The vol­un­teers showed up ready to work at the Tapawingo Springs Pre­serve in Pin­son from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to remove inva­sive species and replant native shrubs along the wet­land area.

Both the water­cress and ver­mil­ion darters are endemic to Jef­fer­son County, Ala. The ver­mil­ion darter’s habi­tat is lim­ited to only a six-mile seg­ment of Turkey Creek. Rec­og­niz­ing the impor­tance of Tapawingo Springs to these fish, the FWLT has worked since its incep­tion to acquire and for­mally pro­tect the prop­er­ties encom­pass­ing the springs and to restore areas pre­vi­ously impacted by devel­op­ment. Vol­un­teer days such as this are crit­i­cal in main­tain­ing this essen­tial habi­tat, and the Fresh­wa­ter Land Trust is proud to part­ner with B.A.S.S.

“This is an impor­tant work­day for B.A.S.S. employ­ees,” said Noreen Clough, con­ser­va­tion direc­tor at B.A.S.S. “It’s a chance to get out­doors and prac­tice what we preach — that clean water and healthy habi­tats are good not only for the fish but for the soul. Get­ting our hands dirty and feet wet are all part of under­stand­ing how ecosys­tems work and how some­thing as small and lovely as a darter can inspire us.”

For more than 40 years, B.A.S.S. has served as the author­ity on bass fish­ing. The Birmingham-based orga­ni­za­tion advances the sport through advo­cacy, out­reach and an expan­sive tour­na­ment struc­ture while con­nect­ing directly with the pas­sion­ate com­mu­nity of bass anglers through its Bass­mas­ter media vehicles.

B.A.S.S. offers an array of ser­vices to its more than 500,000 mem­bers and remains focused on issues related to con­ser­va­tion and water access.