To say Traci Wood has a passion for bears would understate her love for the small black bear populations on opposite ends of the state in northeast and southwest Alabama. A beaming Wood, State Wildlife Grants Coordinator with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ (ADCNR) Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division, recently was […]

Cathedral Caverns in Woodville officially unveiled new campground territory this week at a ribbon-cutting ceremony that included state officials, legislators, local government and business leaders. The new campgrounds host 25 full-service campsites with 50/30 AMP power, water and sewer service, picnic table, fire ring and grill. Each of the sites can accommodate slide-out awnings. The […]

Governor Kay Ivey recently signed legislation to make Alabama the 22nd state in the nation to adopt a constitutional carry law that eliminates the requirement for a person to obtain a concealed carry permit to lawfully carry a pistol. The new law goes into effect on January 1, 2023. The state’s constitutional carry law was among […]

Some people look at wood on the ground and see something to burn. Carl Smith sees something to turn into art. Through his studio, Natures Art, Smith transforms wood and vines of all shapes and sizes into sculptures, wall art, pedestals, tables, jewelry and more. The Fairfield artist has been working with wood for more than […]

Alabama’s 2022 red snapper season for private recreational anglers will follow the same schedule as the 2021 season, but Scott Bannon, Director of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) Marine Resources Division (MRD), would be surprised if the 2022 season closes in similar fashion. The 2022 season opens the Friday (May 27) […]

Helena resident Billie Bridges hesitantly drove down the unpaved road to the shooting range at Cahaba River Wildlife Management Area. She was on her way to an introduction to handguns class offered by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR). “I’m a bit frazzled,” she confessed as she sat down with the other […]

Chuck Sykes, Director of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ (ADCNR) Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division, confirmed that a second white-tailed deer in Lauderdale County in northwest Alabama has tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a report to the Alabama Conservation Advisory Board (CAB) Saturday in Montgomery. “Unfortunately, we knew […]

The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ (ADCNR) Marine Resources Division (MRD) announces that Alabama state waters and federal waters will open to private and state-licensed charter vessel anglers for red snapper harvest on Friday, May 27, 2022. The season will consist of four-day weekends, Friday through Monday, beginning Friday, May 27, and continue […]

The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) announced the results from additional Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) prevalence testing of white-tailed deer in northwest Alabama. A second case of CWD in a hunter harvested, white-tailed deer has been confirmed in Lauderdale County. The first case of CWD in Alabama’s deer herd was detected in […]

Alabama’s chapters racked up numerous awards at the recent National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) Convention in Nashville, and one of the state’s game wardens was selected for a prestigious honor. Conservation Enforcement Officer Drake Hayes of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ (ADCNR) Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division was named the NWTF’s […]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed Eurasian H5 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in a wild, hunter-harvested American wigeon in Limestone County, Alabama. In January 2022, Eurasian H5 HPAI was detected in South Carolina and has since been detected in 14 additional states. HPAI H5 viruses […]

Did you know legendary conservationist Benton MacKaye’s original vision for the Appalachian Trail (AT) called for it to run the entire length of the Appalachian Mountains by linking Maine and Alabama? Conservationists in Alabama and Georgia have been working for the last few decades to turn this dream into a reality by adding approximately 314 […]

Auburn University’s Southeastern Raptor Center recently released a rehabilitated 5-year-old bald eagle into the wild at Lake Guntersville State Park. “It’s a great honor and privilege for the raptor center team to give injured, ill and orphaned raptors a second chance at living a full life back in the wild and to continue to contribute to the wild […]

Keith Henderson, Fisheries Development Supervisor with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division, is busy tweaking the annual BAIT report on bass fishing in the state. The Bass Angler Information Team (BAIT) report takes bass tournament results from across the state and creates a comprehensive summary of the […]

The Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association has created a new podcast all about North Alabama. The Unexpected Adventures in North Alabama podcast spotlights everything that makes the Mountain Lakes region so special. From the well known to the unknown, it’s all there, just a listen away. Host Melea Hames takes the listener through the towns […]

Chelsea Hunter needed some peace, quiet and the fresh air, a combination she knew she’d find in the solitude of a deer stand. Little did she know she’d find something else. Hunter’s spur-of-the moment hunting trip on family land in Macon County ended with the 24-year-old Tallasee resident harvesting a 242-pound, 13-point buck that’s “by […]

Recent approval of the Alabama Aquatic Nuisance Species Management Plan opens avenues of federal funding for the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR), Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division and Marine Resources Division to deal with aquatic invasive species in Alabama’s abundant waterways. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey submitted the aquatic invasive species plan […]

For Vance Wood, Conservation Enforcement Officer with Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, helping new or less experienced hunters achieve success is one of his main endeavors. Those opportunities occur in a variety of ways but none quite like Wood’s interaction with Dan Collins in the China Grove community of Pike County. Collins was in the […]

The winners of the sixth annual Eagle Awards were honored Saturday during a luncheon at Lake Guntersville State Park. The Eagle Award – sponsored by the State Parks Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources – is presented annually to people and organizations who have made outstanding contributions in support of Alabama […]

The winners of the 2022 Outdoor Alabama Photo Contest are listed below. As usual, the judges had a very difficult time selecting the winning photos from among the thousands entered. The 2023 contest will be announced later this year. “The abundant diversity in Alabama’s landscape and native wildlife make it a photographer’s paradise,” said Chris […]

Matt Kelley and his hunting companions were celebrating the harvest of an 8-point by one of the group, but they were in for a surprise when the whitetail was hoisted on the skinning rack. The deer had no visible male reproductive organs, only female. Kelley holds fund-raising deer hunts in Sumter and Greene counties for […]

A seldom-used overlook at Frank Jackson State Park near Opp has been transformed into a memorial that honors the men and women who served in the nation’s wars. A project of AMVETS (American Veterans) Post 23, the Veterans Memorial Scenic Overlook is the brainchild of Paul Norris and the late Danny Donaldson, Opp-area residents who […]

The media continue to attempt to remake society into a place where Critical Race Theory is the sole job of public schools and where everyone must present vaccine passports before they go to the grocery store. If you actively work to oppose this, as newly-elected Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) has, CNN’s Jim Acosta says […]

The Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) has designated Saturday, February 5, 2022, as the second of the 2021-2022 hunting season’s Special Youth, Veteran and Active Military Personnel Waterfowl Hunting Days. The first of the two special waterfowl hunting days took place November 20, 2021. On February 5, youth under age 16 who […]