Five Mile Creek
Five Mile Creek cuts across northern Jefferson County, running through Graysville, Tarrant and Birmingham. For years, the creek was polluted beyond measure, earning it the nickname "Creosote Creek" from local residents. In 2002, Tarrant Fire Chief Billy Hewitt began a push to transform a creekside mobile home park that had repeatedly flooded into a beautiful public park.
After meeting with the Freshwater Land Trust, the idea born in Tarrant expanded to a network of parks and greenways along the entire 28-mile length of the creek.
Billy Hewitt / Fire Chief, City of Tarrant, Alabama
"Building a greenway is not an easy thing to do; it requires cooperation from many local governments, private landowners, and companies along the stream, and that kind of cooperation is rare. But few people are better at creating consensus and cooperation than the Land Trust. They had the idea for a Memorandum of Understanding that we used to define the project; it gave every community along the creek something to agree on. But really, what they do best is making everyone involved in a project feel like his or her contribution is critical. No matter what your position, they make you feel like you've gotten a great deal."