By Gary Lloyd
PINSON — Turkey Creek Nature Preserve Manager Charles Yeager in a blog post has named five key plans for 2015 at the Pinson preserve.
Yeager said 2015 is shaping up to be busier than previous years with more public programs, educational offerings and enhancements.
The five plans are:
- Three miles of new multi-use trails for mountain biking, hiking and cross-country running. Funding is provided through a grant from the Alabama Department of Economic Community Affairs RTP program.
- An addition of 240 acres that could host more than 12 miles of new trails for the future
- Amenity improvements such as additional parking, changing rooms, enhanced security, handrails on stairs to the falls and more informational signage
- Wilderness Ranger Training provided by Wild South
- Summer camp programs
In the blog post, Yeager said despite all the support the preserve is provided by partners and volunteers, it still needs the public’s help to keep operations going.
“Consider for a moment: we do not charge admission, we have only one full-time staff member, and we are doing all of this on less than a shoestring budget,” Yeager wrote. “Imagine what we could do if we received more support from people like yourself.”
Yeager listed several recent enhancements to the preserve, including restoring more than 100 feet of Turkey Creek’s banks with native vegetation and erosion control; improved parking; 113 programs with more than 6,000 participants; and approximately 100,000 visitors annually.
“The last few years have been a whirlwind at the Turkey Creek Nature Preserve,” Yeager wrote. “It has been difficult to keep up with all of the wonderful advancements and developments as they are occurring and almost impossible to share those things with the public, who will certainly enjoy them the most.”
For more information, visit https://turkeycreeknp.wordpress.com/support-2.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.