~ Restored Outdoor Park and a New Nature
Preserve ~
Perry County, Alabama
Tuscaloosa News
... an interview with the AL Department of Conservation officials
and with Thomas Wilson ( Jan. 2008)
Letter in Support of the Preservation of the Marion Fish
Hatchery Woods and Perry Lakes Park...a response (posted with
permission) to the above Tuscaloosa News article of 22 January,
2008
Alert...Warning!
The Fisheries Section of the Alabama Department of Conservation and
Natural Resources is considering logging the mature trees in the Marion
Hatchery Woods. This warning is current until posted otherwise on this web
site. I will post the State Management Plan when it is made available to the
public. Thomas Wilson, 19 January, 2008.
Map of Proposed
Logging of "Perry Lakes Park"
Here is one of the majestic
100+ year old Loblolly
Pines that may be cut for cash. Loblolly pines are
native trees of the Cahaba River bottomland
forest. Imagine the damage to the Park that will be done by cutters, skidders,
and logging trucks!
Recommendations for a
forestry management plan for the Marion Hatchery Woods and for Perry
Lakes Park ... made by the Friends of Perry Lakes
Park
Website developed,
maintained and paid for by
Thomas
Wilson, Marion, AL
(images by Thomas
Wilson) |
Judson College Earth Team members recently
asked Governor
Bob Riley to please "Don't let the Department of Conservation
log the big trees from the Marion Hatchery woods." These big trees make up the
heart of Perry Lakes Park. Miles of developed interpretive trails wind through
the areas that are proposed for logging.
Perry Lakes Park and the
adjacent Marion Hatchery woods represent a bottomland hardwood forest of the
Cahaba River. Preservation of this type of habitat is a top priority for the
Alabama Department of Conservation... all the more reason to not log the big
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Judson College Earth Team members lobbied
Senator Hank Sanders to help save the old trees at the Marion Hatchery woods.
Senator Sanders asked Governor Riley and Commissioner Lawley to "please do not
cut the old trees which represent an irreplaceable resource for the Black Belt
and for Perry County."
February, 2006 |
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Perry Lakes Park, the Barton's Beach
Cahaba River Preserve, and the Marion State Fish Hatchery represent wonderful
and exciting nature areas which provide outstanding opportunities for
recreation and education in a remote and undeveloped West Central Alabama old
growth river bottom. Visitors will experience exceptional birding, hiking,
interpretive nature trails, and recreational opportunities in the three
adjacent natural areas. The mature hardwood canopy of these ecosystems
represents a rarely experienced component of nature that is well worth
preservation and deserves a visit.
The Park gate is opened at sunup and
is locked at sundown...every day of the year.
ATVs and horses are not allowed in the Park. We are
trying to protect this natural environment for outdoor education and for
research. Visitors and Park creatures deserve the peace and quiet of nature.
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There is no entrance fee to visit Perry Lakes
Park. We want the Park to be available to all citizens, especially the people
of the Black Belt region.
There is no budget for the Park. Volunteers
designed, created, and maintain the Park.
Please follow the
rules....especially the No ATVs in the Park
rule.
The gate is locked at sundown... Read the
sign!
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Google Earth Image of Park
Environment
Waymarking, Geocaching, Benchmarking in the Perry
Lakes Park...maps, GPS numbers |
The Perry
Lakes Park (Recreational Area) project is a restoration and expansion of a park
constructed in 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Perry Lakes Park was
closed in 1974 due to the theft of fish from the nearby State Hatchery.
The Park is located five miles east of Marion, near the State Fish
Hatchery on State Hy 175.Perry Lakes Park is positioned between the Marion
State Fish Hatchery and the Barton's Beach Cahaba River Preserve. The Park area
was leased (20 yrs. beginning in 1999) from the Ala Department o f
Conservation.
The four oxbow lakes of the Park and the bright white sand
of Barton's Beach can be seen in this image.
A map of the Park is
available in the Map Box at the entrance to the Park. |
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ADECA and the U. S. Department
of the Interior designate Perry Lakes/Barton's Beach as a Cahaba River Nature
and Canoe Trailhead. Read this interesting sign about the
"Protection and Purpose of Perry Lakes
Park.".
Bennie Oglesby, green shirt on
left of sign, framed the sign. Bennie made the Park map box and all of the
trail signs for the Park. |
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The Montgomery area Sierra Club held a
workshop/tour of Perry Lakes Park in March, 08. Greg Harber of the Birmingham
Audubon Society joined the group and taught us to recognize bird songs. The
Norther Parula was singing up a storm throughout the
woods.
The members are shown cleaning the observation
platform on Fern Trail. A Pileated Woodpecker cavity was observed about 50 feet
from the platform.
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The Atamasco lily (right) is one of many nature
images taken by Curtis Miyasaka (3rd from right in above photo) in Perry Lakes
Park, Barton's Beach and the Golden Club Arum Swamp. Here are some of Curtis's
photos ... let's hope Curtis will spend many more days in the
Park.
Perry Lakes Park, Barton's Beach and the Golden Club Swamp ....
images by Curtis Miyasaka. |
Zephyranthes atamasco (L.)
Herb. |
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West
Alabama Sierra Club members visited the Park and nominated this Florida Maple
to the State Champion Tree Program. The Sierra Club has adopted the Park as a
preservation project. Dr. Wilson led the study tour. Carol Myer, Club
President, is to Dr. Wilson's left (March, 08). |
Applied Botany students from Judson
College, Stacy Lawton, Elizabeth Graverson, and Rikki Morrison, installed a tip
box for the Park security guard. A project directed by Thomas Wilson,
environmental advisor (Dec. 06). |
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The
Atamasco Lily can be found in late March in many of the depressed, wet areas.
This group of lilies is beside the Pawpaw Patch Bridge at the end of the
Devil's Walking Stick trail...well worth the hike. |
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Bald Eagles have nested in a giant Loblolly Pine
tree in the Marion Hatchery woods at the entrance to the Park since 2005
(March, 08).
Greg Harber, Birmingham Audubon Society, took this
image on Sunday, 29 Feb., 2006. |
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 Ridge Trail
leads to the new Birding Tower |
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| Judson College students Elizabeth
Graverson, Stacy Lawton, Kati Eubanks, Tiffany Jernigan and Melissa Adams enjoy
the view from the tower top. Ball Cypress trees present a soft texture to the
forest from 100 feet in the air. The mix of Swamp and Water Tupelo along with
Blackgum completes the oxbow lake swamp ecosystem of the Park. |
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The Auburn Rural Studio Birding Tower is now open (22
April, 2006).
Come look at the floodplain forest and the birds in the
upper canopy from a view few people have experienced. Perry Lakes Park is a
special place... we need to realize how wonderful and important this ecosystem
is and do everything to protect and preserve the entire woods and recreation
area. |
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Important Park Links |
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| Canoeing and Birding the
Four Park Swamp Lakes |
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| 60 Native Tree Species in Perry Lakes
Park/Barton's Beach |
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| Rare and
Declining Species List |
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Barton's Beach, which is owned by The Nature Conservancy, is
the largest sand/gravel bar on the Cahaba River. A footpath leads from the
Perry Lakes Park to Barton's Beach.
Barton's Beach
Cahaba River Nature Preserve |
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| Students in the Judson College Chapter of the
Cahaba River Society study the river on another rewarding day with Randy
Haddock and Glen Black of the Cahaba River Society. |
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Barton's Beach Cahaba River Preserve contains the
largest sand/gravel bar on the river. Beaver ponds, hardwoods, and occasional
open areas add to the diversity of this area. The educational and recreational
experiences available in this wild and scenic riverine and riparion ecosystem
are limited only by one's imagination....more
information |
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(Image ©
Rick Mark)
Bird
List
Breeding Bird List
Nature trails through a mature canopy, swamp
lakes, hatchry ponds, and a beautiful gravel bar on the Cahaba River make the
Marion State Hatchery/ Perry Lakes Park/Barton's Beach ecosystem an exciting
place to visit. This list contain 206 species of
birds.
Perry
County, AL Bird List |
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The natural diversity of the park and the
nature preserve makes this area special and well worth a visit! |
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