Photo courtesy of the Nature Conservancy of Alabama.
Nature Conservancy of Alabama
Councilman Jim Sharp speaks with members of the Nature Conservancy in Alabama.
Take a trip to Little Shades Creek and the sight of 400 tree seedlings awaits you.
Over two dedicated planting days in late March, Francesca Gross, urban conservation associate with the Alabama field office of The Nature Conservancy, led the volunteer effort, organized to provide a natural anchor along the banks of Little Shades Creek.
The planting days brought out more than two dozen volunteers, who rolled up their sleeves and drove down their shovels in an effort to stabilize the erosion that has plagued the area since the early 2000s.
“I am grateful for the efforts by the homeowners to pull together the team that made this project happen,” said Vestavia Hills City Engineer Christopher Brady. “These efforts have afforded us an opportunity to make a positive environmental impact on a situation that often goes overlooked and neglected, or one that no one really wants to step up and say, ‘Let’s fix it.’”
Back in 2007, members of the Ashley Wood Homeowner’s Association reported erosion issues in their backyards, including the exposure of a Jefferson County sewer pipe. Complicating matters was the fact that the area is private property owned in part by the homeowner’s association. While the city of Vestavia sympathized with their situation, there was little it could do to help.
With the help of Kellie Johnston, executive director of Cawaco RC&D, whose group had overseen a stream restoration project in Jasper, the Little Shades Creek Restoration Team was formed.
Through the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the group obtained funding, which was matched by The Nature Conservancy.
“We had many partners who helped us in kind with that effort, which took a year and a half to complete,” Johnston said. “But then we did it. It looked awesome and it solved the problem.”
Until the flood of April 2014, which tore right back into the stream bank.
“We’ve essentially just completed a really robust repair through the cooperative efforts of many selfless people,” Johnston said, cautioning that this won’t be the last time the area requires such attention.
“Any time you change the hydrology of the stream, which is what’s happened here, with the development around Rocky Ridge and the surrounding areas, you will have impacts on the water. Any time we change the landscape, these natural areas will always require some type of maintenance.”
This latest effort should yield a lush landscape along the banks of Little Shades Creek, now populated with cherry bark oak and willow trees donated by the Alabama Forestry Commission.
For more information about the Little Shades Creek Restoration Project, contact Kellie Johnston at warriorcwp@hotmail.com or Francesca Gross at Francesca.gross@tnc.org.
