The Alabama wild turkey season, which ended on May 3, will likely have to include an asterisk in the record books for a variety of reasons. Obviously, the COVID-19 restrictions played a role as did a renewed push for successful hunters to report their turkey harvests. Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Director Chuck Sykes […]

After quadruple bypass surgery several days ago, Lenny Hawes is fortunate to be alive. Quick action by the staff at Oak Mountain State Park made it possible for Hawes to get to the hospital for his eventual surgery. Hawes, a park employee, was playing golf on his day off when he was stricken. “Mr. Hawes […]

While I and my family have been blessed during the COVID-19 pandemic with basically no ill effects, the virus robbed me of the chance to say farewell to one of the people most influential in my career covering the outdoors in Alabama. Robert Lee Rivenbark of Fairhope did not succumb to the coronavirus. He lost […]

The red-cockaded woodpecker is making a slow but steady comeback at a site near Lake Mitchell. On a remote hill along the shore of Lake Mitchell, a spring ritual is underway once again. It’s nesting time for the federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker. And this spot, dotted with longleaf pines, is one of a few privately held […]

It’s like a recurring nightmare. Thankfully, that bad dream has only occurred once every 10 years or so. Unfortunately, it’s not a dream. For the charter boat fleet and inshore fishing guides along the Alabama Gulf Coast, the shutdown caused by the COVID-19 virus has caused flashbacks to the spring of 2010 and the Deepwater […]

With the exception of those essential workers like healthcare, first responders and transportation, to whom we owe a great debt of gratitude, the COVID-19 outbreak has most of the world at a standstill. Schedules had to be adjusted when Alabama Governor Kay Ivey issued the directives to minimize the spread of the virus. One of […]

With most people confined to their homes during the COVID-19 crisis, escaping to a beautiful park or public greenspace has been one of the few healthy respites from coronavirus cabin fever. Shelter-in-place rules that have been imposed across the state generally have an exception to allow people to walk or bike or hike in their […]

Thankfully, with a few exceptions, Alabama State Parks remain open during the COVID-19 restrictions. And as diligent as always, our park rangers are on duty to deal with any situation that might arise with everything from a welcoming wave and helpful hand to rescuing park visitors in peril. That peril was particularly apparent last December […]

While Governor Kay Ivey and Dr. Scott Harris, Chair of the Governor’s COVID-19 Task Force, work hard alongside other state, national and private enterprise leaders to mitigate the effects of the novel coronavirus and bring its spread to a conclusion, it is important that people maintain the social distancing and other health recommendation standards. “We […]

You couldn’t blame B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin if he lobbied to make Birmingham the permanent host of its flagship event – the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk. Personally, Akin would be very comfortable with that move. “I would love that,” the Homewood resident said. “I could stay in my own bed […]

The 2020 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic, which was held for the 13th time in Alabama, shattered previous attendance records, B.A.S.S. officials announced Friday. According to a press release, “The total Classic Week attendance of 122,814 was recorded at a variety of activities across Alabama, including the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo in Birmingham, daily […]

The Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division was both enjoying the spotlight and working behind the curtains during last week’s 50th Bassmaster Classic weigh-in at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (BJCC). The Classic, with Academy Sports + Outdoors as its title sponsor, pitted the world’s best bass anglers on one of the nation’s top bass […]

Southern Living magazine published a ranking of the Southeast’s best beach towns this week, and a pair of Alabama cities were jointly listed at number one. Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are described as “old-school beaches all about family fun.” The two Baldwin county towns placed just ahead of Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Tybee […]

It doesn’t look like much from the road – just an unassuming tributary of a local creek that flows into a man-made pond in a pleasant, historic subdivision, south of Bessemer. But the volunteers who gathered at the site to yank out invasive plants and remove piles of brush knew they were helping to preserve […]

The first Alabama Conservation Advisory Board meeting of 2020 resulted in a wealth of good news and one disappointing statistic. The good news included a 35-day, state-managed red snapper season, a productive oyster season, an increase in the number of hunting licenses sold for the 2019-2020 season and a significant reduction in the number of […]

Alabamians angling to catch some red snapper can begin baiting their hooks on May 22 this year, per an announcement from the Alabama Department of Conservation on Monday. According to the Department, the season will consist of all the four day weekends, Friday through Monday, between May 22 and July 19. The addition of Mondays […]

When the 200 shooters in the Alabama 4-H State Shotgun Championship arrive in April at the Red Eagle Skeet and Trap Club on the outskirts of Childersburg, Alabama, those participants will be able to compete at one of the top shotgun shooting facilities in the South. Because of its long history of working with the […]

The lower chamber of Alabama’s state legislature passed a bill Tuesday that instructs the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to sell lifetime hunting and fishing licenses to disabled veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces at a reduced price. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Andy Whitt (R-Harvest). The legislation passed with a 102-0 […]

Anyone who has fished the beautiful waters of the Alabama Gulf Coast in the past decade knows that one of the premier inshore species, southern flounder, has been scarce. A well-documented decline in the southern flounder fishery started about 2008 and, unfortunately, the population hasn’t rebounded. Marine scientists don’t have any definitive reasons for the […]

Another warm winter left Alabama’s duck hunters frustrated, but those who were lucky enough to score permits for the first sandhill crane season in the state in 103 years were elated. Although not all of the 400 crane permit holders were able to harvest one of the large birds, those who did raved about the […]

For years, bicyclists who’ve cruised through central Birmingham have looked longingly to the right as they rode east along First Avenue South past Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark toward the resurging Avondale neighborhood. Just south of the road, there’s a strip of land that has long been eyed as a potential walking and bike trail connection to […]

The high water in January that shut down the oyster season in Alabama has finally subsided, and the oyster catchers were recently cleared to resume the harvest of the state’s prized oysters by the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH). This may not seem like big news for some, but it is great news considering […]

For the staff at Alabama’s Environmental Studies Center (ESC), one mission stands above all: to help others love nature as much as they do. “I have been here for 26 years,” said Susan Clement, a biologist at ESC. “I still love it as much as the first day I started.” The ESC is a natural sciences […]

The consensus was that the recent 2020 Buckmasters Life Classic event may not have been the warmest at around 70 degrees for the three-day January deer hunt, but it was probably the wettest. Persistent rains during the event at one of Alabama’s premier wildlife properties, Sedgefields Plantation near Safford, failed to dampen the enthusiasm of […]