Despite the tumult caused by Hurricane Sally’s direct hit, the October 10-12 red snapper season is still on for Alabama’s private recreational anglers. The hurdle for many of those private recreational anglers is finding a friend with a boat undamaged by Sally’s Category 2 winds and storm surge. “Our intention is to keep the three-day […]

A scientist in the federal government on Thursday summarized preliminary findings of the Great Red Snapper Count that indicate the famous fish species is much more numerous than previously believed. U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) said in a statement that the data indicates Alabama “can increase opportunities for snapper fishermen without danger to the health […]

Paddlers from across the United States will be racing each other down 650 miles of Alabama’s scenic rivers later this month in the Great Alabama 650, the world’s longest annual paddle race. The second annual Great Alabama 650 begins Sept. 26 on Weiss Lake in Centre. Racers will have 10 days to reach Fort Morgan in […]

Alabama’s largest one-day volunteer event will be spread out over an entire week this year thanks to the pandemic. The 33rd annual Alabama Coastal Cleanup will begin Saturday, Sept. 19 and continue through Sunday, Sept. 27. Angela Underwood with the State Lands Division’s Coastal Section of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) said spreading the event […]

Deer hunters will find two new zones in the 2020-2021 Alabama Deer Zones map with season dates that better coincide with deer rutting activity in those areas. Chuck Sykes, Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Director, said studies have confirmed that deer in Zone D in northwest Alabama and Zone E in southeast Alabama rut […]

Ready for a camping trip to one – or several – of the beautiful Alabama State Parks? Ensuring you’ll have a site for your RV, travel trailer or tent just became much easier when the new online campground reservation system (www.reservealapark.com) went live. When ADCNR Commissioner Chris Blankenship was appointed by Governor Kay Ivey in […]

Biologists have recently discovered a new Indiana bat hibernaculum (a shelter occupied by hibernating bats) in Alabama, bringing the known number of active Indiana bat caves in the state to four. The location is the southernmost known hibernaculum for the species across its range that extends north to Canada. “The Indiana bat is exceedingly rare […]

While Lake Eufaula is widely acclaimed as the “Bass Capitol of the World,” it was crappie that helped Blakely Sweatt reel in the winner for this year’s Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association “Best Fish Photo Contest.” According to a recent release, Sweatt is a seven-year-old girl with special needs. The winning photo came from Sweatt fishing […]

Chris Greene is cautiously optimistic that an invasive fish species that can wreak havoc on reservoir ecosystems has not expanded its range in Alabama’s waterways. The silver carp, which has done noticeable damage in Kentucky and Tennessee waterways, has been found in Alabama’s Pickwick and Wheeler reservoirs. Thankfully, the feared spread of the fish, highlighted […]

Last year, Alabama saw its first sandhill crane hunting season in more than 100 years. The season returns for 2020-2021 with 400 permit holders having the opportunity to hunt sandhill cranes in north Alabama. Registration for the permits opens on September 8. Norman Haley from Scottsboro, Alabama, has hunted sandhill cranes twice in Tennessee and […]

Alabama State Parks have long served as Alabama’s backyard. That’s been more evident than ever in recent months, as Alabama’s 21 state parks remained open thanks to the wisdom of Gov. Kay Ivey, Conservation Commissioner Chris Blankenship and other state leaders. The number of day-use and camping visitors soared this summer, drawn by the variety […]

Alabama Power and the Alabama Wildlife Federation (AWF) are working together to provide a new place to fish off the Alabama coast. The two deployed an artificial reef Thursday about 8 miles off the coast of Dauphin Island. The reef is made of three repurposed tanks from Barry Steam Plant near Mobile. The tanks, which were used to […]

The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) on Saturday announced the addition of three days to the state’s 2020 private angler recreational season for red snapper. The decision came after the department’s Marine Resources Division completed a review of data from the red snapper season that ended July 3. The division determined the additional days […]

North America’s waterfowl breeding population annual survey is another aspect of the outdoors that has been impacted by COVID-19 restrictions. Seth Maddox, the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries’ Migratory Bird Coordinator, said virus-related travel restrictions would not allow the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to conduct the aerial survey of the prairie potholes regions […]

The Alabama Wildlife Federation Governor’s Conservation Achievement Awards ceremony was Friday, Aug. 7, representing the highest conservation honors in the state. Honorees at this year’s ceremony included: Dr. Mike Drummond, Forest Conservationist of the Year; Carl Jamison, Land Conservationist of the Year; and The Alabama Rivers and Streams Network, Water Conservationist of the Year. Over the past 45 […]

The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ (ADCNR) Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) provides several youth dove hunt opportunities throughout the state each fall. A simple hunting setup combined with a fun, family-friendly atmosphere makes WFF’s youth dove hunts an ideal way to introduce young people to the outdoors. Registration for this year’s hunts will […]

Hunters and anglers who pursue game or fish in Alabama will have new options to make purchasing licenses for the 2020-2021 seasons easier. The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is offering packages that will cover license requirements when pursuing white-tailed deer and wild turkeys or fishing the state’s abundant opportunities for freshwater and […]

More Alabama cities are discovering, or rediscovering, the allure and economic development potential of their waterfronts. In the coming months, at least two Alabama cities located along Alabama Power reservoirs expect to open new waterfront parks – not only to support community recreation but to draw new visitors, residents, businesses and revenue.

Just when it appeared that the 2020 red snapper season was a wrap, private recreational anglers are likely to get one more opportunity to fish this year. Scott Bannon, Director of the Alabama Marine Resources Division (MRD), said the preliminary harvest numbers for the private recreational sector indicate about 100,000 pounds remain in the quota […]

On a steamy July morning, along a quiet stretch of the Tallapoosa River north of Wedowee, a small team of biologists from Alabama Power and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) eyed the fast-moving water. The prior day’s rain had turned the river murky – not the best circumstances to search for an elusive and threatened […]

With Alabama’s 2020 alligator season only a couple of weeks away, the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division wants to remind those lucky tag holders about the no-cull rule in effect. With the exception of the Lake Eufaula Zone, tag holders are not allowed to release an alligator after it has been captured. The […]

For someone who really doesn’t care for insects, Hailey Sutton has put her fears behind her to share Alabama’s great outdoors via her increasingly popular “Hiking with Hailey” segments on Montgomery’s WSFA-TV. Sutton, who hails from Red Oak, Texas, has been in Alabama for less than a year after her first TV gig in Montana. […]

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the State Lands Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) will conduct its hunting lease program without a live auction for 2020. Patti Powell McCurdy, State Lands Director, implemented a program in 2010 that aligned all leases under State Lands’ control to operate on a five-year public […]

The 2020-2021 hunting season will bring big changes for white-tailed deer hunters in a few parts of Alabama with the creation of two new deer zones. The newly created zones D and E will allow hunters to gun hunt before and during the peak of the rut (deer breeding season) in those locations. Zone D […]