Baldwin County Times: New feature added to watershed conference Mobile Baykeeper to lead session on local water protection issues; registration deadline is Feb. 12

FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Environmental leaders from across Alabama and around the nation will gather three weeks from today in Montgomery for the 12th Annual Watershed Leadership Conference.

“This year’s conference will feature the first ever Alabama Water Rally, a four-day event geared toward informing citizens about key water issues affecting our state and ways that citizens can become involved in protecting their waters,” said Elizabeth Salter, watershed organizer of the Birmingham-based Alabama Rivers Alliance, which has hosted the conference since its inception. “With environmental issues playing such a key role on the national stage, concerned citizens from all backgrounds have much to gain from attending this rally.”

Each year the conference brings together more than 100 attendees from a variety of backgrounds such as agency employees, elected officials, scientists, lawyers, engineers and concerned citizens, to share, network and learn, said Salter, who is lead organizer this year.

“I’d always wanted to know what I could do to get involved in protecting the environment and first heard about the conference in 2004 and decided to see what it was about,” Salter said. “Five years later, I am now a staff member with the Alabama Rivers Alliance and in charge of organizing the conference for other people who want to learn about Alabama’s environment.”

The four-day event starts Saturday afternoon, Feb. 27, and will combine two days of traditional conference sessions with an additional two days of visits to the state Legislature, field trips, tours of state environmental agency offices, and a screening of the movie “FLOW” (For the Love of Water) in the historic Capri Theater in old Cloverdale. The field trip options include paddling down the Alabama Scenic Water Trail, a private tour of Alabama Wildlife Federation’s Lanark Property, and a self-guided walking tour of Alabama’s civil rights history.

Casi Callaway, executive director of Mobile Baykeeper, is scheduled to lead a session Sunday morning on local water protection issues. Other groups scheduled to lead workshop sessions include: Alabama Rivers Alliance, WildLaw, Cahaba River Society, Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Alabama Sustainable Agricultural Network, Alabama Organizing Project, The Nature Conservancy, Alabama Water Watch, World Wildlife Federation, American Rivers, United Mountain Defense, Flint River Conservation Association, Alabama Scenic Rivers Trail, Wildlands Network and Auburn University Water Resources Center.

The conference’s keynote speaker is Janisse Ray, the award-winning author of “Ecology of a Cracker Childhood,” a book that combines elements of ecology and autobiography. An activist and memoirist, Ray alternates chapters between her childhood in rural southern Georgia and the ecological history of that region.

“The primary goal of the Alabama Water Rally is to encourage citizen participation in government and bring water issues to the forefront during this important election year,” Salter said. 

Registration for the event ends Feb. 12 and scholarship applications must be received by Feb. 10. For information, contact the Alabama Rivers Alliance at (205) 322-6395 or esalter@alabamarivers.org, or register online at www.alabamarivers.org.