UofA Outdoor Action 2015

UofA Outdoor Action 2015/2016

Spradling Bottom is a place few people know about on Hurricane Creek. It lies just inside the Hurricane Creek watershed above the confluence with the Black Warrior River. It was once owned and farmed by the Spradling family. For many years it was cut off from entry by a sand and gravel pit that has been long since reclaimed. Now it is owned by Dr's Doug and Angelia Woodward. Both are fine physicians from the Tuscaloosa area. They have graciously donated the use of the land to Friends of Hurricane Creek for a downstream takeout for canoes, kayaks, and Creekkeeper patrols.

Spradling Bottom, All photo copyrights by John L. Wathen / Flight provided by SouthWings

The house seen in the top center is the Woodward home. Hurricane Creek is right below the house and makes a horse shoe bend all the way around the bottom field.
   

 For years I have been limited to access to the mouth of the creek for surveillance during rain events due to private and government owned land issues. With this new location I will have permanent access to the mouth of the creek. It is critical to show people the total impact from poorly maintained construction sites, coal mining, poor road maintenance, and other earth disturbing activities In the photo on the left I was able to capture the view from a SouthWings flight.

This is what it looked like at 08:30 AM

The University of Alabama, Outdoor Action group led by Mr. Randy Mecredy showed up at 8:30 AM as scheduled. Student leaders took charge and laid out the marching orders for the days projects.

Anyone not paying attention got doused with the lead organizers water pistol!

             I wondered if by the end of the day if these smiles would still be so enthusiastic. It was going to be a long day after all.

                                                                            

 The project actually started a few days earlier in a swamp near Moundville. My good friends Nelson Brooke and Elizabeth Salter were married on the banks of a beautiful Cypress bog in an old ox-bow off of the Black Warrior River. A large deck was built for the wedding with this view as a backdrop for the ceremony.


Nelson's family owns the land and have been huge supporters of Friends of Hurricane Creek and your Hurricane Creekkeeper for many years. In keeping with their generosity Nelson donated the treated wood to be salvaged from the deck for various projects in and around the Hurricane Creek watershed. Using a crew from Outdoor Action we began taking it apart and re-purposing the wood at Spradling Bottom.

Crews began at once removing screws from the wood and stacking it where we could get it for the new change room for FoHC members who paddle this section to get out of wet clothes.








The deck was screwed together 5 years ago so there was a lot of work just getting it ready for use.

While that was going on another crew began clearing the invasive species, privit from the area where a pavilion will be built later. All nine species of privet currently in the southeast U.S. are invasive. Biological species invasion is considered a main component of global ecosystem change due to changes in biogeochemical cycles and disturbance regimes.
Invasive species such as privet are known to alter the dominant vegetation type, soil properties, animal behavior, and the natural cycling of resources.

Some of the bushes had grown into trees that really took some persuading to get them out!

Once we had a clear working space construction on the change room began in earnest. I could tell that many of the volunteers had little experience with carpentry but is was fun watching their excitement as they improvised ways to get the job done.

Lunch Break!

After a hard morning clearing and cleaning the group took a lunch break. I would normally sit down and rest my old bones on a break but not this group!  Some sat in the newly cleared road and ate while singing while another group went to the water.

The creek was a bit muddy from the rain the night before but that didn't stop the fun.

Some even took advantage of it to have lunch in the water

There were hammocks hung in the trees and used as sofas for those who wanted to sit in the woods and talk.

When the crew came in from clearing the creek of debris I was pleased and disheartened at the same time. The number of tires they removed in just a short stretch of creek was too many. Everything from passenger car tires to huge tractor tires and even one big truck tire someone descried as weighing a ton.

We see this a lot. For some unknown reason there is an element of people who think it is ok to drive to the nearest stream crossing and toss out all manner of trash ranging from old tires to household garbage. We expected to have a lot of debris after the April 27, 2011 tornado but these tires were not from the tornado. They came from people who simply do not care about our waterways.


After lunch and before work began again there was a lot of singing and then the dance lessone broke out... What a hoot to be around these energetic young adults.

At the end of the work day many of the volunteers hit the water. It was great to see this many young adult enjoying Hurricane Creek and hear their remarks about the majesty of it all.

I couldn't be everywhere. We had several projects going on that day that I couldn't go and take photos. I hope the students will soon share any they may have so I can post them but here is what I found when I went to check on the extended projects.

At the Watson's Bend campground privit had choked all beach access for the most part. The group sent to clear it did a fantastic job leaving big wide trails to the water at two separate locations for canoe put it and takeout.

This was the site of many church Baptisms throughout history. It is still a great swimming hole today after several years of help from
U of A Outdoor Action volunteers helping remove the tornado debris.

This site was covered with privit for over a decade that I know of. After the tornado it was the only shady place left in the campground. Once again, using Outdoor Action volunteers as well as a host of other organizations we were able to clear it for camping. This year the group opened up a newer place to take out canoes and just walk down to the creek for summer wading. 




I can say enough nice things about Dr. Fran Oneal, Randy Mecredy and all of the crew at the University for starting the tradition of bringing this workforce to Hurricane Creek. It has been a great relationship that I hope lasts for generations to come.







At the end of the day we had a new location cleared for a take out and entry point to the mouth of the creek,

a changing room framed up for changing into dry clothes after a day paddling,

A large enough spot for a pavilion later to be equipped with picnic tables and a dry roof,











and a road leading to the site wide enough for a canoe trailer to back in.













It would have taken me several weeks to accomplish what this group did in a single day.














I went back after the water cleared to get these shots to show just how beautiful this site really is. Friends of Hurricane Creek volunteer Colin Williams enjoys the view for the first time.

 Looking downstream to the mouth of the creek.

Looking upstream to Watson's Bend.

 On the way out I couldn't resist the sunset over Spradling Bottoms.

Thank you to the 2015/16 University of Alabama "Outdoor Action" group for a great job again. It was great seeing older students who were returning and the many new faces who came to Hurricane Creek for the first time. The smiles and glowing comments sure made my day!

Hurricane Creek Park almost finished

The new PARA park on Hurricane Creek is almost ready for opening. The paving crew has been out there all last week putting the wear layer on the road and parking area.

The road leading to the creek is lined with parking places along the sides.

There will be room for trucks with canoe trailers located closer to the bottom of the hill.

A cul-de-sac at the bottom will allow trucks and cars to offload canoes and then park along the road.

It will be as nice as people let it be. 

I couldn't help noticing the trash thrown around everywhere. Hopefully when the rangers and police can patrol the area better some of this will stop. However, people can make a difference without all of the rangers. It simply takes being careful to use the garbage cans provided and not just throw trash towards the cans. Place all waste in the cans so it can be easily collected by PARA for properly taking it to the landfill.

If you see trash on the ground, pick it up and take it out to the bins when you leave.

If everyone does their part we can have both a park that truly can be the crown jewel of Tuscaloosa County.

The "M" Bent of Hurricane Creek AKA Hurricane Creek Park

Walter Energy fighting to stay afloat financially

Company must make major deadline by Friday

Walter Energy Inc., which owns this and several other mines near Brookwood, faces an uncertain future as it struggles to meet critical financial deadlines this week.
File | The Tuscaloosa News

By Patrick Rupinski
Business Editor

Published: Sunday, May 10, 2015 at 3:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, May 10, 2015 at 3:27 p.m.

This week could be pivotal to the future of one of West Alabama's largest employers, Walter Energy Inc., as it moves to meet a Friday deadline to make a major debt payment. But even if the payment is made — as the company said it would do last week — Walter Energy's still faces an uphill battle.

The Hoover-based company owns Jim Walter Resources, which operates underground coals mines near Brookwood and employs more than 1,000 people in Tuscaloosa County. Walter Energy also has and other coal mines, coal-related facilities and methane gas operations in the state with most of that concentrated in central West Alabama and Jefferson County. Most of its operations and employees are in Alabama but the company also has coal mines in West Virginia Canada and the United Kingdom.

So why is this week crucial to the company?

On April 15, Walter Energy missed interest payments on on its 9.5 percent senior secured notes due 2019 and its 8.5 percent senior notes due 2021. Under the terms of the notes, the company has a 30-day grace period, which it invoked. During that time, it could renegotiate a payment plan with the creditors or come up with other means to make the payment.

The 30-day grace period ends this Friday.

On Thursday, Walter Energy issued a statement saying "that on May 15, it will be making interest payments under its indenture agreements with the holders" of the two affected senior notes.

It said it invoked the 30-day grace period "as it worked with its debt holders to explore alternatives to recapitalize its balance sheet in light of what has been a challenging met (metallurgical) coal pricing environment. The company will continue to engage in such discussions said.

The statement also said Walter Energy "does not have a current liquidity issue, as it had approximately $435 million of cash and investments as of March 31, 2015."

A Walter Energy spokesman said Friday that the company had no comment beyond the released statement.

Walter Energy is a major producer of metallurgical coal, which is used in steel making. The global demand for such coal now is down as is the price paid such coal, which has hurt the company's bottom line.

Wall Street speculation on whether Walter Energy would make the required interest payment by the end of this week increased after Walter Energy released its first quarter results on Tuesday.

The quarterly financial report noted continuing losses. The filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also said that recent events "raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern."

In the 43-page quarterly filing, the company said:

"On May 15, 2015, if the interest payment default is not cured, the default would be considered an event of default and all outstanding notes will become due and payable immediately without further action or notice. An event of default would also trigger cross defaults in the company's other debt obligations."

That could result in the debt holders demanding immediate payment and result in a bankruptcy reorganization filing, it said.

At the end of its first quarter on March 31, Walter Energy said it "had approximately $3.1 billion in principal amount of term loans, senior notes, capital lease obligations and equipment financing obligations outstanding." 

Stock market analysts who follow publicly traded company, have warned for months that Walter Energy could file for bankruptcy reorganization this year.

Walter Energy acknowledged that possibility in its first quarter filing.

"Over the course of the last three years, our results of operations, including our operating revenues and operating cash flows, have been negatively impacted by weak coal market conditions, depressed metallurgical coal prices, reduced steel production and global steel demand. Our cash flows from operations were insufficient to fund our capital expenditure needs for 2014 and 2013, and we expect this trend to continue in 2015. If market conditions do not improve, we expect our liquidity to continue to be adversely affected," it said.

For the short-term, the global demand for coal — particularly the metallurgical coal used in steelmaking and primary coal coming from the company's West Alabama mines — is expected to remain depressed during 2015, with a modest recovery expected in early 2016, Walter Energy said, citing a global report on coal demand.

It said "demand for our premium metallurgical coal products in core markets has remained steady, and we believe that the long-term demand for our metallurgical coal within all of our markets to be strong as industry projections indicate that global steel making will continue to require increasing amounts of high quality metallurgical coal. 

"As such, we are focused on the long-term metallurgical coal market. We remain committed to aggressively controlling costs, improving operating performance and productivity, reducing expenses and increasing liquidity. Although we have responded to the deterioration in market conditions by curtailing, and in some cases idling, higher-cost and lower-quality coal mines, which include our Canadian operations, we have the capability to increase our metallurgical coal production when the market rebounds to take advantage of potential opportunities in this highly volatile market."

Walter Energy's stock closed Friday at 46 cents per share. Its 52-week high was $7.08 per share and its 52-week low of 30 cents occurred last week.

Rainy Day Post

What better thing to do on a rainy day but post pictures of pretty days bearing the fruits of rainy days?

Wild Azalea
(click photos to enlarge)

Azaleas up front, Mountain Laurel behind with Star Anise mixed in

I have been living here for more than 30 years now and honestly believe I have never seen the creek so full of blooms. This is the year for all nature photographers in the area to get out and explore the scenery. Wild Azaleas are in full bloom now with Mountain Laurel quickly opening around it.

Hurricane Creek is one of the special places where all of these can be found growing together.
Wild Azalea...

Pink Alabama Azalea

The Azaleas come in several colors along the creek. They range from hot pink to light pink and white.
My favorite is the Azalea alabamense. (seen below)

azalea alabamense

It has a single yellow tongue on all white leaves. The smell is a delicious lemony fragrance that can be detected throughout the watershed for about 3 weeks.

azalea alabamense

                                                                                                                                                          
Dogwoods are beginning to fade a bit but there are some really pretty ones left if you look for them.

The ground cover is almost too much to photograph with everything from Dwarf Iris to Spider Wort.

Spider Wort

Coreopsis- auriculata. Eared tickseeds

Dwarf Iris

Wild Geranium

I posted this photo of my Huckleberry bush earlier.

 Same bush after a little sun and rain

 Even the Mulberry trees are more abundantly full than I have ever seen them. Looks like it will be a great season for wine and jelly makers!

Take time this season folks to go out in the woods and appreciate the wonderful gifts of Spring!

Don't forget to look up. Many treasures are hidden in the tree tops like this Cross Vine 

(seen above) and the almost unseen Tulip Poplar Trees.

In New Zealand the unfurling fern is called a Koru. It is a symbol of sign of overall renewal.  It symbolizes new life, growth, strength and peace. Hurricane Creek is just that. It is a creek in recovery full of new life every year and one of the most peaceful places on Earth. Everyone should take the time to get out there!

LETTER: Hurricane Creek cleanup successful

Jim Shaddox
President of Friends of Hurricane Creek
Tuscaloosa

Published: Tuesday, March 31, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, March 31, 2015 at 7:50 p.m.

Dear Editor: On a gorgeous Saturday, March 6, Friends of Hurricane Creek hosted their 22nd Creek Cleanup with the help of many volunteers who care about keeping our beautiful creek clean.

A sense of community and caring is something we members of FOHC feel especially good about during and after days like this. It buoys our sense of optimism that others will carry on our work when we no longer can. I want to thank all those who got up early from in town and out to get a little dirty and sweaty for a good cause. A couple dozen or more had the fun of picking up litter from a canoe at a perfect water level for paddling.

Lunch was outstanding as usual, very tasty with good variety, topped off by Nancy Callahan’s coveted banana pudding.

Our board is also to be commended for organizing, donating and working the event that came off so well. Last, but certainly not least, a special thanks to our donors large and small who help fund our ongoing work of which this is a part.

Restoration of Hurricane Creek has been a long, hard struggle. This past Saturday was a celebration of the renewal of our creek as full of life, forever flowing. We look forward to next year’s cleanup and festival, but keep in touch via our web site
www.hurricanecreek.org for upcoming events and news till then.