Story by Roxann Edsall Photos by Mackenzie Free and Roxann Edsall Submitted photos
It may look like just an ordinary landscaping job to many who park at the Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve in Springville. There, in the middle of the parking area, is an island of landscaping. Lovely, but on the surface, unremarkable. It is, however, quite remarkable.
This is a bioswale, a highly efficient and aesthetically pleasing landscape engineering tool, whose job is to control stormwater and its resulting erosion and to limit the transference of pollutants. It functions a bit like a stormwater detention basin, but it looks far better.
Why is it needed? In areas with solid surfaces, like roads, driveways, and like BCCNP’s parking lot, storm water is not able to soak in, so it runs off, taking pollutants like oils, pesticides, micro garbage and cigarette butts with it. With enough rain, the volume of water takes these pollutants to grassy areas and to creeks.
Now landscaped, the bioswale underneath is unnoticeable, but its environmental impact looms large
Enter the bioswale. Graded to be lower than the rest of the parking area, it is essentially a trench, into which all the rainwater funnels. The trench contains perforated drainage pipes and layers of gravel, sand and organic materials to filter the pollutants before they are absorbed into the ground soil.
Flood and drought resistant plants are then placed into the area to keep the filter materials in place. Domed metal grates are tucked into planting areas on either end of the planting area to handle extreme volumes of water.
Granger Waid, vice president of Norris Paving and Excavating, worked with Joey Breighner and Schoel Engineering on the design and installation of BCCNP’s bioswale.
Waid used both his work experience with concrete and asphalt surfacing and his degree in Horticulture and Landscape Design to come up with a different design for the parking lot that would be both attractive and functional. “I drew it up with the help of Joey,” explains Waid. “We then were able to make my two-dimensional drawing into a three-dimensional one, so we could just plug it into a bulldozer, and it automatically graded the parking lot that way.”
Breighner and his crew gave Waid detailed specifications for the soil mixture to put on top of all the drainage layers. This “dirt recipe” was designed specifically for the native redbuds, sweet bay magnolias and pink muhly grass. Because it is a Forever Wild property, only plants approved as native to the state by a botanist from the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources were allowed.
Since this bioswale is in the middle of a parking area in a remote setting, the plants had to be drought tolerant, but be able to survive in standing water. And they had to look good from all angles and in all seasons.
They do look good, but understanding the greater purpose makes them even more interesting.
Waid and the team at Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve are working on a documentary on the bioswale and its function. Soon, visitors will be able to scan a QR code on a sign to connect to that information.
This landscape area is definitely not just a pretty space.
Story by Elaine Hobson Miller Photos by Mackenzie Free and Elaine Hobson Miller
What has 6,000 square feet, 185 hand-carved spindles and posts, 51 windows, 15 doors and is made of rustic pine and cedar? The barndominium on Alabama Highway 23 North built by Jeff and Shelley Main, that’s what.
“Barndomimiums are pretty big up North, I think because of all the dairy barns there,” says Jeff Main, architect and chief builder of the local project. “They’ll convert some, especially ‘bank barns’ (two-story structures built into a hill or bank) which usually have two or three cupolas on top. But they also build some new ones.”
It so happens that Jeff and Shelley are from “up North,” where they had a 1,200-square-foot home in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, a rural borough in the South-Central part of the state. For 42 years, Shelley worked in nearby Hagerstown, Maryland, for a metal fabrication plant owned by David McCain. David is from Ashville, and the city’s McCain Memorial Library is named in honor of his family.
McCain retired a few years ago and sold his business, then the new owners retired Shelley. “He invited Jeff down to turkey hunt,” she says. “Both of us came for turkey season two years in a row. Then COVID hit.”
The centerpiece of the Great Room is the stone chimney flanked by pine-plank walls
For three months during the spring of 2020, the Mains lived in an apartment inside McCain’s barn across the lake. They fell in love with Ashville, McCain offered to sell them some property, and the couple picked the one on Highway 23 because of its lake view.
The house is a testament to the environmentalist phrase, “Reclaim,
Recycle, Reuse.” From the pine timber that forms the superstructure to the stones in the chimney, plus floors, steps and walls between, most of the materials used to build the house came either from the McCains’ Ashville property, the Mains’ property in Pennsylvania, and some material from the property where Shelley was employed.
They built their barndominium from pine logs furnished and sawn by Corey Young of Blue Mountain Sawmill on nearby Country Road 31. The stones and brick in the foyer and the bricks outlining the fireplace in the Great Room came from the foundation of an old shed and chimney left on their property. The Mains had to clear an acre of bamboo and brush just to get to the well and the shed behind it. There’s still quite a bit of bamboo at the edge of their “yard” to be cut down.
“Corey cut the timbers and the wide-pine planks for the upstairs floors, and I planed them,” says Jeff. “The live-edge steps leading to the upper level are made from weeping cherry trees from our yard in Pennsylvania, while those that are not live-edge are from the metal plant’s property in Maryland.”
Jeff, Shelley and some friends hand-stripped the wood for each stair step and the railing around the loft, including each of the 185 bannisters. Inside walls across the front of the house are made of reclaimed barn wood that had been stacked and stored for many years in a former dairy barn nearby. “We brought it home, and we pressure-washed it, bleached it, got the old paint off, then pressure-washed it again,” Shelley says. They bought the sliding barn-style doors in the house, but she also stained those.
Although he did a very rough sketch of the front of the house initially, Jeff says he really didn’t draw any formal plans. “It was all in my head,” he says. “My wife was very supportive. She didn’t know from one day to another what I had in mind or what I’d be doing.” Semi-retired as a ski resort mountain operations manager (he still works at a resort in Pennsylvania two weeks each month during the winter), he had the tools and the skills needed for construction. “We talked about it for years,” Jeff says. “But what we talked about was not what we wound up with. Normally, barndominiums are only one floor. We have a balcony all the way around the inside.”
View from the balcony
“He told me the kitchen will be here, the bedrooms there, but other than that, I really didn’t have any idea of what he was going to do,” says Shelley, who, after 32 years of marriage, has learned to trust Jeff’s instincts. “I wasn’t sure about the front (inside), but it worked out for a dining room.”
The inviting front porch is filled with rocking chairs, plants and a swing. It leads into a small foyer, with the dining area to one side. The Great Room, its measurements of 40 x 40-feet – defining the word “great” – is flanked by three bedrooms and three-and-a-half baths, a kitchen, pantry and dining room. There’s an entryway at the front and a breezeway at the back that is really more of a breezy room than a breezeway. “I got the breezeway idea from the Looney House (historic home of dogtrot design), but that one went all the way through, front to back,” Jeff says. “I couldn’t talk her into that.”
Jeff made the two chandeliers, one on the front porch, and the other in the center peak of the Great Room ceiling. They are wagon-wheel styled and covered in deer antlers he found in the woods of Pennsylvania. The inside of the 37-foot tall chimney is hollow, with a metal flue and a ladder for accessing the inside of the chimney.
Downstairs floors are poured concrete. “The fireplace is a see-through, so you can see it from the breezeway behind it,” Jeff says. “We had the concrete work and fireplace contracted out.” They purchased the wood for the tongue-in-groove ceiling and the planks for the walls flanking it, but Shelley cut it, and Jeff installed it.
On one side of the Great Room is the kitchen, which features granite countertops, a brick backsplash, dark-green painted pine cabinets made by Joe Dickert of Big Rock Cabinet and Woodworks just up the road, a gas cooktop and two electric wall ovens. Next to that, on the outside wall, is a walk-in pantry lined with shelves on one side and a countertop on the other that has a small sink, coffee pot and microwave oven.
The wide-plank pine floors in the kitchen, like those upstairs, are 1 x 12s.“I’m going to build an island with another sink in it between the kitchen and Great Room,” Jeff says.
A guest bedroom suite also occupies a portion of that side of the house. Its walls painted gray, it features a stone sink with a slate backsplash and slate above the shower walls. The Master Suite and another bedroom and bath are on the opposite side of the Great Room. The Master Bedroom features a 12 x 12-foot cedar-lined walk-in closet that has its own furniture. The cedar came from fallen trees on the Ashville property. The closet has its own chest-of-drawers, dresser and some built-in shelving and storage.
The bedroom has yellow walls, and floorsthat Shelley stained, sanded, painted and sanded again to look like a white wash. Furnishings include a king size bed and a 4 x 8-foot mirror. In the adjoining bathroom, gray pebbles line the walls above the shower stall and create a backsplash behind the double sinks and granite countertops.
Shelley likes to make mobiles from shells and beads and “twisted sticks” from hand-sanded twigs she decorates with yarn and beads. She has her own craft room next to the breezeway. “This is my room,” she says. “That’s my son, two grands and three great-grands,” she adds, pointing to pictures on her walls and counters.
The house has two small, separate garages flanking the breezeway and craft room. There’s a storm shelter under one of them and a side porch off that garage that will eventually connect with the wide front porch. Standing on that side porch after a rain, you can barely hear yourself talk over the noise of the frogs and crickets. “They get really loud when it’s (weather) wet,” Shelley says.
Upstairs are his-and-hers seating areas that are bigger than their modest home in Pennsylvania. Hers, at the front end and overlooking the lake, is 15 x 40-feet, while his, measuring 20 x 40-feet, is at the back end. Walkways down each side of the loft connect the ends.
Her area features plants and what-nots on wide windowsills and picture windows overlooking the front porch, and two seating areas. One area has chairs and a daybed facing each other, along with a small television.
Shelley has a view of the lake from her side of the loft
The other has a chaise lounge facing the front windows, which are stacked, with the 60 x 60-inch version across the bottom and the 72 x 60-inch on the top. The latter is in a V-shape pointed toward the sky. An old quilt made by Shelley’s great-uncle hangs on the nearest loft rail, and one of Shelley’s twisted sticks rests atop the rail.
The walkways between the his-and-hers spaces display family treasures, such as WWI and WWII paraphernalia from both Shelley and Jeff’s dad and one granddad, including an Army jacket, rifle and two American flags.
At the back end of the loft is Jeff’s area, his “man cave,” as Shelley calls it. One side has large leather couches from their home in Pennsylvania, a bookcase displaying his collection of toy Hess trucks, and oodles of stuffed wildlife, most of which he killed himself. There are deer heads, turkeys, a coyote and a bobcat that was hit by a car on the road next to their house. The couches are on one side of the man-cave, a log futon and matching chair on the other, along with more display cases.
“We brought most of the furniture with us from Pennsylvania,” Shelley says. “A lot is family furniture, like the pedestal table in the dining room and the small, drop-leaf table in the Great Room that was my great-granddad’s.”
The china cabinet near the chimney displays glassware, jewelry, old gloves and other treasures that belonged to her great-grandmother.
All 6,000 square feet are cooled by a seven-ton air conditioner and heated by the fireplace and four mini-splits scattered about the rooms. Shelley admits the master suite is a bit chilly at times, though. She estimates they have about $200,000 to $220,000 wrapped up in materials, while Jeff believes that he probably saved about $300,000 by doing most of the labor himself. Shelley’s favorite feature of the house is its open, airy feeling, while Jeff most enjoys the fireplace.
In addition to the kitchen island, he has yet to finish the outside of the barndominium. This Spring, he plans to stain the outside walls a dark colonial gray.
So, what will they do when they are finally finished?
“It’ll probably never be finished,” Jeff says. Shelley just smiles.
The most entertaining way to showcase watercraft and more
Story by Linda Long Submitted photos
Brand new and tech ready. Tech ready? Yes, indeed. Seems boating has gone computer in a big way. From pontoons to fishing boats, today’s vessels are equipped, with everything from big screen monitors to stereo systems to USB charging ports and even cruise control.
In a word, boats today are just plain “smart.”
Boats showcased at this year’s Logan Martin LakeFest and Boat Show are no exception. The 14th annual, admission free event is set for May 10-12 at Lakeside Park.
Logan Martin is the perfect lake to host an on-water boat show
Though LakeFest features music, fireworks and a lot more, Eric Housh, event coordinator said, “the boat show, of course, is the centerpiece. Folks come out to see the boats because of the latest and greatest technology out there. Brand new boats do all sorts of stuff now.”
Lee Holmes, one of the LakeFest founders, and co-owner of Sylacauga Marina and ATV, agreed, saying he “never thought he’d see the day” when boats would be computerized. But, they have conquered it, and it seems to be working real well.”
Some boats today “basically have a touchscreen that, with the push of a button, controls everything on the boat. They’ve got new systems now and the water and fuel gauges are all digital.”
The hottest new thing in pleasure boats these days is the Wake Boat. “They create waves for people to ride wake boards. That’s where they can do flips and turns and all that kind of stuff. You can control the size of the wake. You can make it bigger or smaller,” Holmes said.
“It’s controlled through touchscreens, and if you’ve got four or five people in your family, you can set a profile for each. That profile gets copied every time so it can go 8 miles an hour or 18 miles an hour, whatever the speed that was copied. So, it automatically knows which guy is fixing to ride and at what speed to set. It repeats exactly what it has done before,” he explained.
Rodney Humphries, owner of Rodney’s Marine Center in Cropwell, cited “all the amenities” on pontoons and tri-toons these days, from Bluetooth stereo to LED lighting. “We sell one that even has USB chargers on all the seats. I guess that shows how dependent we all are on our phones these days,” he smiled.
Beachside view of the festival
But it’s in fishing boats where he sees, perhaps, the most innovative technology. “Most of them are equipped with a trolling motor which can actually hold its position and the electronics and depth finders are very advanced from just five years ago.”
Humphries, who has lived on Logan Martin “all my life,” marvels at some of today’s technical enhancements, particularly the depth finders that anglers are using. It’s so advanced it seems almost unfair to the fish.
“A lot of them have three depth finders on the boat,” Humphries said. “The depth finders have 12- to 16-inch screens. This means they can see where the fish are, actually see them on the screen. People really seem to enjoy this technology.”
As well they should, but do the fish have even a fighting chance? “Yes,” laughed Humphries. “They’re still pretty hard to catch.”
It’s not all about technology, as Housh points out. “Every year, manufacturers are coming out with more and more things that are more comfortable and useful. For example, the pontoon boat seats don’t get hot anymore. They’re covered in a special fabric that’s easier to maintain. It doesn’t fade, and it’s more comfortable to sit on.”
Among the pontoons featured at LakeFest, “we’re going to see these luxury brands, and they’re going to have state-of-the-art entertainment packages on them from speakers, GPS systems, cruise control, things of that nature. Every year, you’ll see a couple boats out there that are just decked out with the latest and greatest. It’s interesting to see how these manufacturers keep innovating to deliver just world-class products.”
How big of a dent will these “world class products” put in your pocketbook?
“Honestly, you can spend as much as you want to spend,” Humphries stated, from $20,000 to $200,000. “There are different price points for everybody.”
Holmes concurred. “We sell $100,000 boats. We sell $200,000 boats, and we sell $20,000 boats. We got fishing boats that start at $14,000 and we’ve got fishing boats at $110,000. There’s really a boat out there for everybody.”
And that’s where LakeFest comes in.
As a mega, in-water boat show, boat dealers will be on hand to demonstrate all the latest innovative technology. With over a dozen lines of watercraft and more than 80 models, there’s going to be plenty to see.
“The ability to put product in the water and to put somebody behind the wheel of a boat to test drive it is special,” Housh said. “You can’t do that in a dealer showroom. It’s a try it before you buy it sort of plan. It’s really a great opportunity to see how the boat feels while it’s actually on the lake.
Housh has been with LakeFest since its beginning. “I was volunteered by a friend,” he chuckled. That means he’s been planning, organizing, handling communications and coordinating it for over a decade. During that time, he has seen the event’s mushrooming popularity. This this year’s attendance could top 50,000.
“I never thought I’d see the day that 40,000 people would show up. That first year, we sat down there on the lake in front of those condos (Horizons), it was just me and Jerry (the late Jerry Woods, Woods Surfside Marine) Maybe, we had two or three vendors. There was hardly anybody out there, but we had a good sale, and it just started growing and more and more people wanted to participate.
“It was all Jerry’s idea. All I did was answer the phone when he called to see if I wanted to participate.”
As he does on every LakeFest weekend, Housh is hoping for fair skies and good weather.
“Luckily, we’ve never had a bad thunderstorm. We’ve never had to shut the event down. But, he admits, he’s come mighty close.
“One year, I remember, we were watching the radar, and this real gnarly looking storm was bearing down on us. We were certain we were going to have to call the event – to shut it down. But, that that storm broke up and went right around us, on either side like you just parted the waves.”
“And, I remember another year on Saturday, we were watching the forecast for what was coming down on Sunday,” Housh said. “The team that puts LakeFest together, we are exhausted by this time. Now, the forecast called for 100% chance of rain. So, we made the call just to shut down a day early. We made the announcement and took all the precautions, and I want you to know it did not rain a drop.”
But, whatever the weather, Housh says “We’ll deal with it. We always do. It’s just the magic of that weekend.”
In addition to boats and financing on the spot by America’s First Federal Credit Union, other activities include dozens of vendors with food, arts and crafts, home goods, apparel, lake lifestyle items, home services and more. Other activities are a fireworks show, a salute to veterans, music all weekend, including a concert by the Velcro Pygmies on stage Saturday night. Mother’s Day is that weekend, so there are free Mimosas for Moms on Sunday.
“We’re trying to design it so it will be family friendly and offer a little bit of something for everybody. It’s also a pet friendly event. I know some of the vendors actually set up little pet friendly areas providing water bowls and a little shade so they can get out of the sunlight.”
While folks are encouraged to bring their pets, “we also encourage them to bring plastic bags to pick up after them and to keep them on a leash.”
Multiple Pell City expansions mean new investments and jobs for region
A pair of expansion announcements in Pell City in recent months underscore the upward trend for economic development in St. Clair. They represent new investments of nearly $35 million, creating more than 50 new jobs, and the continuation of the county’s economic momentum in 2024 and beyond.
Douglas Manufacturing, acquired in early 2023 by Rulmeca Holdings, has already begun the $11.7 million expansion of its production facility, which will add four production lines. The $23.2 million expansion by Ford Meter Box Company Inc. includes construction of a 60,000 square foot building and manufacturing equipment to enhance production.
Douglas Rulmeca and Ford Meter Box are located in Pell City’s industrial park.
Douglas Rulmeca breaks ground
At a groundbreaking ceremony in February, Fabio Ghisalberti, executive vice president and managing director for Rulmeca, called it “a new great day for Rulmeca. When the acquisition of Douglas was announced last year on April 20, we declared that investments would have been realized in Pell City increasing manufacturing capacity and product line. Now, just 10 months later, we are proud to keep the promise, celebrating this first significant step towards a brilliant future for Douglas.”
Noting the location, he added, “I am pleased this takes place in Pell City, St. Clair County, where we are looking forward to contribute to the prosperity of the local community aiming to add great value to our customers thanks to a significant investment plan both in manufacturing space and high-tech equipment.”
Douglas Rulmeca is a leader and innovator in the conveyor industry.
“We are excited to break ground on our new idler plant, which will enable us to meet the growing demand for our idler product line and keep our customers moving ahead,” said Paul Ross, president and CEO of Douglas Manufacturing. “This project is not only an investment in our company, but also in our community. We are proud to be part of the economic growth and development of Pell City, St. Clair County and Alabama.”
Ross thanked local and state leaders for “their support of this significant investment by Rulmeca.”
The new idler plant will feature the latest equipment and automation technologies. It will adopt the premium Rulmeca PSV idler design, offering improved sealing, stability and durability, officials said.
Project completion is expected by the end of 2024, enabling the company to significantly increase its production capacity for key components such as pulleys, lagging, idlers, magnetics, impact beds and take-ups.
As a member of the Rulmeca Group, Douglas is one of 18 global manufacturing and sales companies with 1,200 team members and customers in over 85 countries.
The expansion is expected to create more than 50 jobs over a two-year period with an average annual salary of about $45,000, according to the Alabama Department of Commerce.
“We are excited that Douglas Manufacturing has decided to expand their footprint in Pell City,” said St. Clair County Commission Chairman Stan Batemon. Douglas was founded in 1978. “The combination of Douglas with Rulmeca will allow for continued growth and success of the company, and we are honored to see them growing here in St. Clair County.”
Ford Meter Box expanding in Pell City
Ford Meter Box expands … again
Ford Meter Box Company, Inc., a manufacturer of underground waterworks products, is upping its investment in the county, a move it has made multiple times in the past.
Headquartered in Wabash, Indiana, it is expanding its Pell City facility with a $23.2 million expansion that allows fabrication of large-diameter steel components and increased production capacity in the 60,000 square foot new construction.
Noting that the Ford Meter Box Company has had a presence in Pell City since 1982, Senior Vice President and General Manager Zachary J. Gentile Jr. said, “We are grateful for the continued support we have received from Pell City, the Pell City Industrial Development Board, St. Clair County and the St. Clair County EDC.”
“St. Clair County always welcomes new investment and quality jobs to our community,” said Batemon. “We are happy to be able to work with the City of Pell City to encourage growth among the companies in St. Clair County. This investment opens doors for new opportunities for our citizens now and in the future.”
With a nod toward the company’s history of expansions and investments in the county, Commissioner Tommy Bowers said, “We are excited that Ford Meter Box continues to grow their presence in Pell City and St. Clair County. They are a long-standing member of our business community who have always been great corporate citizens. We are excited about this latest project and wish Ford Meter Box continued success.”
Pell City Mayor Bill Pruitt echoed the sentiment. “The City of Pell City is proud to see the continued growth and success at Ford Meter Box’s Pell City facility. New investment and job growth will stimulate the local economy and highlight the fact that Pell City is a great place for business. We congratulate Ford Meter Box on their success and wish them nothing but success going forward.”
The Ford Meter Box Company, Inc. is a manufacturer of water meter setting and testing equipment, service line valves and fittings, and pipeline coupling, repair, and restraint products for the waterworks industry and ancillary markets.
We wake up and before we know it, it’s over … the day. … the season. … the year. The life.
Unavoidably, it will all come to an end one day, and we will have no choice but to reconcile with the life we created, the choices made and how we used the time we were given.
But that’s not today. We still have time – to make revisions, right our wrongs, try again. But there’s a trap we often fall into the older we get … We begin to adopt the “old dog” mentality. This false belief that we’re past the point of revision … that ‘we are who we are’ and can learn no new tricks. Thus, we’re forevermore limited by the choices we have already made. We buy into this ridiculous notion that once we reach a certain age, we’re beyond modification because our true selves, and life plans are drawn in permanent ink. We’re not. They’re not.
The overarching narrative of our lives can always be revised. We can’t change the past, but we can always refine ourselves and change the trajectory of our current lives at any time.
I believe we were created under the idea that we never stop ‘becoming’… we should, by all accounts, remain under constant revision until the bitter end. The work of being human isn’t meant to stop until we do.
We are complete upon our last breath. … Never before.
– Mackenzie Free –
Wife, mother, photographer & current resident of the unassumingly magical town of Steele, Alabama
Story by Roxann Edsall Photos by Mackenzie Free and Roxann Edsall
John Liechty and Richard Edwards chat about old times as they turn along a switchback on Slab Creek Trail at Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve in Springville. The two have spent countless hours hiking together over their nearly three decades of friendship.
Edwards got Liechty hooked on hiking when the two worked at the same company in Columbia, South Carolina. The friendship grew when the two moved their families to Birmingham to open a new office for that company.
Liechty has since moved back to Tennessee, where he was born, but hiking, and their passion for it, continues to be the thing that brings them back together.
The Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve has been open less than two months, but the word is out about this hidden gem.
Doug Morrison, the driving force behind it all
Liechty and Edwards heard about it in a newsletter update from the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Recourses. “We’ve done a lot of hiking, lots of backcountry stuff,” says Liechty. “The trails here are great with the elevation, the rise and fall. It’s all good. Y’all have a good thing here.”
The 422-acre Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve is a Forever Wild Land Trust property, owned by the state of Alabama and managed by the City of Springville. It boasts four hiking trails, for a total of 7.3 miles of trails. Creek Loop Trail is designated solely for hiking. Fallen Oak Trail and Slab Creek Trail are open to biking also, while hikers on Easy Rider Trail share the space with horseback riders. Benches along the trails offer a place to rest or to bird watch, with picnic tables and portable restrooms available in the parking area. While you can canoe or kayak the creek, there is currently not a put in or take out point on the property. Plans include adding pavilions for outdoor education.
Preserve Manager Doug Morrison says environmental education is a top priority at the preserve. “Personally, I’d like to make 70% of our mission about education,” he says. “The recreation is going to happen. There are so many things to enjoy here. But if you can somehow get the message out that you can enjoy nature and not love it to death, that’s a good goal.”
Morrison’s personal motto is “explore and discover,” and it’s what he hopes people will do at the preserve. “I love to see kids outside learning and discovering things as they run around this place. There’s a lot to learn in nature. We had a home-school group out here yesterday, and they had a great time.”
With a little research, a visitor might learn that the area provides critical habitat for many aquatic creatures. One might discover that clean, moving water is necessary for mussels to thrive, and that the existence of several species of mussels in the Big Canoe Creek watershed is a testament to its cleanliness. One might further note that 18 miles of Big Canoe Creek has been listed as a “critical habitat” under the Endangered Species Act.
John Liechty and Richard Edwards
After moving to the area in 1999, Morrison began kayaking the creek and learned about the environmental importance of Big Canoe Creek. He helped to form the group “The Friends of Big Canoe Creek,” which at the time was mostly neighbors who loved the creek.
They learned about the critical habitat that is provided by the Big Canoe Creek watershed and about the threatened and endangered species that make their homes there, including the threatened Trispot Darter and the endangered Canoe Creek Clubshell mussel, found only in the Big Canoe Creek watershed.
The 50-plus-mile-long Big Canoe Creek, runs through the nature preserve and is touted as the “Alabama’s crown jewel in biodiversity.” More than 50 fish species can be found in Big Canoe Creek.
In 2010, and again in 2018, this exemplary biological diversity was explored and documented during what scientists call a “BioBlitz,” a 24-hour-long period where experts from various environmental fields survey and catalog all forms of life found in the specified area. Finding such biodiversity and both threatened and endangered species is what helped in the efforts, spearheaded by The Friends of Big Canoe Creek, to preserve and protect the land for future generations.
Had Morrison and The Friends of Big Canoe Creek not stepped in as advocates, the area might look very different today. When they learned of a developer’s plans to build a subdivision on the property, the The Friends of Big Canoe Creek petitioned the developers to make changes to ensure the creek would be protected.
When the economy took a downturn in 2008, the planned development stalled and gave members of The Friends of Big Canoe Creek a chance to talk to the landowners about nominating the land for purchase by the Forever Wild Land Trust.
Established in 1992, Alabama’s Forever Wild Land Trust purchases lands to expand the number of public-use natural areas to ensure they will be available to use freely forever. It took nine years to get the initial 382-acre parcel and another 40 adjacent acres approved for purchase, but by 2019, the combined tract officially became Forever Wild property.
“In conjunction with the Economic Development Council of St. Clair County, Freshwater Land Trust nominated Big Canoe Creek to be acquired by the Forever Wild Land Trust,” said Liz Sims, Land Conservation Director of Freshwater Land Trust. “We are elated to see such a large portion of the Canoe Creek watershed and its biodiversity protected, including the threatened trispot darter fish habitat.”
Horse trails are a highlight
Since that time, Morrison, along with the The Friends of Big Canoe Creek, has worked with the City of Springville, the St. Clair County Economic Development Council and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to develop plans for the property.
In 2022, Morrison was hired by the City of Springville to officially manage the project. After 15 years of work to protect and preserve the land and creek, Morrison is finally seeing the joy it is bringing to visitors. He is seeing crowds of at least a hundred on weekdays, with weekends and holidays swelling to nearly twice that number.
Vicki and Kevin Folse heard about the preserve on Facebook and came out to hike. “It is absolutely beautiful,” says Vicki. “We took some time to sit on a bench on the trail and had some quiet time with God.” She thanked Morrison and all those who worked on the project for the opportunity to enjoy the property.
Jeff Goodwin lives just four miles from the preserve. “I come a couple times a week,” he says. “I’m a big hiker, so having this land to hike on this close is a huge benefit. And it’s way more interesting than walking through the neighborhood. I’m hoping they add some longer trails.”
While the trails are not the longest they’ve ever hiked, Richard Edwards and John Liechty agree they are well planned. Edwards, who grew up just minutes from a section of the Appalachian Trail, has spent countless hours hiking trails around the country. His longest hike was 160 miles on the John Muir Trail in California.
Six years ago his sight began to deteriorate due to a condition called nonarteritic anterior ischemic optical neuropathy. “I’m almost blind,” explains Edwards, “so rocks and roots are hard on me. These trails are really a dream.”
Even so, Liechty walks in front of his friend to alert him to any potential hazards. “We’ve kind of had a role reversal,” laughs Liechty. “He led me to hiking, but now I’m leading the hikes.” They agree that time spent together enjoying nature is good therapy.
Good therapy in the form of outdoor recreation can be enjoyed at Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve Wednesday through Sunday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. now through October, with closing time shifting to 5 p.m. from November to February. Admission is free.
If you go in the afternoon, take a good look at the metal fish on the left side of the entry gate. The color of the Trispot Darter changes as you move to the left and right. It’s just another thing that’s unique to this beautiful piece of paradise. And it’s forever protected, forever yours to enjoy.
Editor’s note: Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve is located at 1700 Murphree’s Valley Road in Springville. If you would like to help support the preserve, you can make a tax-deductible donation online at bigcanoecreekpreserve.org.
