Barbour County’s Day to Shine

By Jimmy Hatcher, Soil Conservation Technician, Clayton Field Office, AL

Some people believe that if you make it on TV you have had your “fifteen minutes of fame!” The Barbour County Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) recently had its “fifteen seconds of fame.” This occurred when Ron Jolley, a photographer/videographer/cameraman, with the Outdoor Alabama TV program came to Barbour County to get some late season duck hunting footage for the program.

Outdoor Alabama is developed by the Alabama Department of Natural Resources. The hunting and filming took place on the private land of Kenny Childree, a Barbour County landowner and cattle farmer.

Mr. Childree had recently completed a shallow water impoundment and wanted Outdoor Alabama to tie his duck pond to the duck hunting footage that Mr. Jolley was filming on another part of the farm. Mr. Childree also wanted to involve the Barbour County NRCS since the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) assisted with the development of the shallow water impoundment by providing technical assistance and cost-share funds.

The program is scheduled to air next fall or winter during duck hunting season. There is good video of the recently completed shallow water impoundment and Mr. Childree is excited about planting and developing good waterfowl habitat.

WHIP is a voluntary program, which encourages the development of wildlife habitat on private lands and is administered by NRCS. These habitats are established with the desire to help threatened, endangered, and declining species as well as bobwhite quail, waterfowl, wild turkey, and neo-tropical migratory birds. The habitats themselves consist of declining, rare, endangered, or unique ecosystems such as longleaf pine, blackland prairie, early successional vegetative habitat, waterfowl and wading bird habitat, quality upland and bottomland hardwood stands, and riparian forest buffers.
 

3/2007

< Back to Success Stories