RE: NANFA-L-- Around Pigeon Mountain

Bruce Stallsmith (fundulus-in-hotmail.com)
Mon, 18 Jul 2005 20:45:29 -0400

Hey Casper, you've written a good account. I've seen the same thing around
north Alabama, especially this summer. Creeks and springs that used to have
a range of native fishes (especially flame chubs...) according to museum
records no longer have all or many of these species. I've been working a
list of streams in Jackson and Madison counties, Alabama, with sobering
results. The city of Huntsville is rapidly expanding, and what used to be
remote farmland or woodland is now subdivisions with names like "Hickory
Ridge". Stream damage is widespread, obvious when you wade down a stream and
your feet kick up puffs of loose red clay. I foud some still intact systems,
but. . . we can only hope.

--Bruce Stallsmith
also close the Tennessee Divide
Huntsville, AL, US of A

>I ended my day with a few other quick small creek snorkels and a last light
>dip into the Little River which was several miles driving further south.
>The
>sun was setting and the water turbid from a recent rain and crowds of
>wading
>Mexicans enjoying the sandy, silty beaches. I almost grabbed a motel room
>for
>a return snorkel the next day in hopes of settled waters. The Little River
>has offered some wonderful snorkeling in the past, but i was worn and
>weary
>from a full day and decided to return home for a nights rest and a Monday's
>work. I'm again saddened by what i see, and see often on these trips. It
>takes
>much effort to locate clear water that offers natural habitat and is
>undamaged
>by man's activities. Season, weather, rains and luck play a big part in if
>a
>day spent searching will be productive in snorkeling. A return in another
>week or month could be better or could be worse. My time is limited. But
>for
>certain it is plain to see the difference between natural sheltered
>flowing
>water and disturbed ground pouring itself into a stream's substrate. Yes i
>think
>we are seeing the disappearance of many, many species of our native fish.
>They have nowhere to go but where they are and have been for generations
>and
>ages. Then we clear the forests, til the ground and pave the earth. We all
>eat,
>build and drive. There are many of us.
>Casper,
>dang near straddling the Tennessee Divide
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