Josh Bryan, Tyler Bulloch, Erin Kennedy, Josh Kirkley, Jiayu Lu, Benjamin Rothschadl University of Alabama
TUSCALOOSA LAND TRUST 2 Introduction: We believe that Tuscaloosa, Alabama would benefit from a land trust organization. The organization would work to protect and conserve the land in Tuscaloosa. If land was protected and taken care of, we could provide educational and recreational resources for the community. If we received grant money from the state it would be used to purchase land throughout Tuscaloosa and convert it to resemble an old growth forest, natural to the state of Alabama. We would also use money towards maintaining parks that already exist in Tuscaloosa. Tuscaloosa is also home to a major university of which its students would benefit from having well maintained outdoor environments for recreation.
Background: The main goal of land trusts is conservation. Having a land trust in Tuscaloosa could be a basis that could lead to recreational and educational facilities. Currently there are 8 total land trusts in Alabama, however only three are accredited: Freshwater Land Trust, Land Trust of North Alabama, and Weeks Bay Foundation. An example of a project that Freshwater Land Trust worked on is the purchase of Red Mountain Park in Birmingham, AL from U.S. Steel to create 64 miles of greenways between Bessemer and Mountain Brook. This project allowed people to bicycle through the greenways without facing vehicular traffic. Freshwater Land Trust was also able to clean up the most polluted stream in Alabama, the Five Mile Creek in Jefferson County. Similarly, one of our goals as a land trust in Tuscaloosa would be to clean up the Black Warrior River. Tuscaloosas beloved Black Warrior River is home to many different species and the pollution of the river is causing a decline in biodiversity. Additional goals include purchasing land throughout Tuscaloosa that was destroyed by the tornado and converting it into old growth forests and parks, and consequently preventing it from being commercialized.
Method: We collected our data via a survey posted on Survey Monkey. We received thirty responses from both male and female students of different ages. Thirty responses is an appropriate size sample of the community, and from that sample we were able to receive the information we needed regarding support, or the lack of, for our organization.
Results: Of the people who took our survey, the majority, 93.33%, are Alabama students. Although 90% are not originally from Tuscaloosa, 41.38% of the students are seniors, followed by juniors with 27.59%, and then graduate students, 17.24%. Thus, the students who took our survey are familiar with Tuscaloosa. 96.55% of the students answered yes to the question asking if they enjoy participating in outdoor activities, and each of the activities we listed were selected more than once. A positive correlation shows between the students who enjoy outdoor activities and the need for more recreational space in Tuscaloosa County, 79.31% believe that yes there is a need. 80.65% of the students who took our survey believe that the pollution from the Black Warrior River affects the ecosystem of Tuscaloosa County, directly correlating to the 90.32% agreement that Tuscaloosa would benefit from an organization that would manage the state parks TUSCALOOSA LAND TRUST 3
and rivers. The results from our survey lead us to believe that Tuscaloosa would, indeed, benefit from a land trust organization.
Discussion: Our findings from analyzing our surveys state clearly that a land trust organization in Tuscaloosa would be beneficial and accepted by students that are members of the university. We believe that our project is feasible due to this overwhelming support of the students as analyzed in the surveys. We hope that student support will help us receive sponsorship from the university. We also hope to receive federal grants to provide the community with an organization that would help to protect the lands and recreational facilities that appear to be popular among the students whom completed our survey. Our organization would work towards cleaning up the Black Warrior River and Hurricane Creek, as well as local parks such as Kentuck Park, Bowers Park, and parks affected by the tornado such as Harmon Park and Jaycee Park. We would also work to create old growth forests in Tuscaloosa by purchasing and restoring land through planting trees that are native to Alabama. With the land we purchase we would also have the ability to create recreational parks for the community to enjoy. If we were to purchase the land it would prevent the ownership and growth of companies that would intend to build upon the land. These companies would potentially create waste as a by-product of their operation, thus adding to the existing pollution in the Black Warrior as well as natural runoff water. As an organization we would make a point to encourage companies and the general public to not pollute the land and rivers in Tuscaloosa by advertising via signs, billboards, fundraisers, social media, and the like. Tuscaloosa used to be known as the Druid City, its written all over the place, whether it be walking along campus or driving by the hospital. However, ever since the 2011 tornado struck, our city has slowly but surely moved away from having more green than gray. Where trees and parks used to stand now there are apartment complexes and shopping centers. Companies and private investors moved in like sharks to the kill soon after the tornado, looking to buy up the land that was destroyed, not to restore it, but to use it to build more buildings we dont need. Our organization would make an effort to purchase land before the companies get a hold of it and restore it to the green space it was before the tornado. Along with the anticipation of sponsorship and federal grants, purchase of the land by Tuscaloosa Land Trust would give opportunities for charity events. As a conservation and charity event, a draw hunt could be offered. This would raise money for a designated charity as well as potentially raise money for the maintenance of the land and parks. A similar charity fishing opportunity would be available on the river, and would draw attention to the conservation effort of fish and wildlife by the land trust. A complication that we foresee is competing against companies when we are asking for grants and investors. We are confident, however, that our appeal is strong enough and that we have enough support from the community to beat out the companies that want to buy the same land for commercial use.
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Limitations on Research Design: Our research was done in the form of surveying a portion of the community and researching information about projects that other land trusts have completed. The surveys provided overwhelming support for a land trust in Tuscaloosa and adequate evidence that the community would indeed benefit from what we would like to accomplish. A limitation may be in what we researched about other land trusts. We know of the projects that the Freshwater Land Trust has worked on however we do not know the details of the process of finding funding for their projects, or if we could find similar funding for our prospective projects.