A New Vision for the Lower Coast Plain Substation
Partnering with Wilcox County, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System are developing the Lower Coastal Plain Substation as a stop for ecotourists along the proposed Alabama Black Belt Nature and Heritage Trail.
This stop along the trail is just one of many projects envisioned for the Natural Resources Education Center being established at the LCPS.
"The mission of the center is to bring together various partners to make use of the natural and historical resources of this area for the economic benefit of all," says Jim Bannon, director of outlying units for the AAES. "Being part of the Black Belt Nature and Heritage Trail is a great start for us."
Ecotourists who include the LCPS stop on the trail will drive along a one-way improved gravel road that winds through several of the habitats on the LCPS highlighting the unique flora and fauna of the Alabama River region. Construction of the tour drive should be completed by spring or summer of 2008.
"We’ve already met with a state biologist to discuss the 10 to 12 stops along the 2.5-mile drive and have started to come up with a list of what can be featured at each stop," says Mary Jeanne Packer, a consultant from Fermata, Inc., the company hired to assist the AU committee charged with rethinking uses for the LCPS.
Rebecca Barlow, one of the committee members and an assistant professor in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, has outlined ideas for the ecosystems to be featured along the route, including chalk outcrops, upland timber and bottomland forests along the Alabama River.
"It is estimated that only about 1 percent of prairie lands remain in the Black Belt region today," says Barlow. "Development, lack of fire and intensive cultivation for farming are some of the things that have contributed to the loss of this distinctive ecosystem."
When completed, the LCPS tour drive will include signage and an audio description for each of the 12 stops on the route. The audio description will be accessible by audio cassette, CD or cell phone.
The drive will begin north of the substation’s auditorium near the planned Wilcox County visitor’s center in the new ferry terminal building. It will end about 300 yards from the Gees Bend Ferry landing near a US Army Corps of Engineers recreation area, which the Corps will develop into an additional tourist stop.
"The location of the tour drive in the Lower Coastal Plain Substation is perfect for the kind of partnering that’s occurring here," says Packer. "Auburn University has been a wonderful partner in this development. How all the parties have come together has been almost magical."
Plans for revitalizing the LCPS have been under way since 2002 when a general study was conducted; a more detailed feasibility analysis began in fall 2006. Final plans for the LCPS Natural Resources Education Center will be released in the spring of 2008.