Alabama is Forever Wild--or at Least for Another 20 Years

Election Day 2012. National politics dominated the headlines. There were a lot of things at stake: the Presidency, control of the Senate, perhaps even a shifting in the balance of power in the House. Many people expect that 1 or more Supreme Court Justices will retire in the next term.

However, Alabama also had a little Amendment to the State's Constitution--one that would keep the funding mechanism in place to support the Forever Wild program for another 20 years. Created by constitutional amendment in 1992, Forever Wild is a land trust that purchases land for conservation and public use. Its 20 year charter was expiring. Essentially the people of Alabama could vote to continue funding Forever Wild, or let it drop by the wayside.

Some background. Alabama has the smallest percentage in the Southeast (less than 4%) of public conservation land. Forever Wild owns close to 166,000 acres permanently, or approximately 1/2 of 1% of Alabama's total land area. Forever Wild is active in the hunting, fishing, and boating communities. They act as a liason for reservations at State Parks. They have been instrumental in developing new recreational areas, such as the Coldwater Mountain bike trails, for public use.

Nevertheless, most of the people in Alabama aren't what you probably think of as "tree huggers." The state is reliably "red" in that it consistently votes Republican, and the general sentiment is not one of wanting more government regulation or intrusion into the rights of individuals.

Further, a friend of mine goes to a local Baptist church. Separation of church and state aside, his church issued "voter guides" on how the congregation should vote. (He gave me one of these guides). Stewardship of the Earth apparently did not rank with this group. They were told to vote AGAINST the Forever Wild extension. Similarly, the local Tea Party also opposed the extension.

Now, what's amazing is that in this economic and political climate, at a time when the country is more polarized, more distrustful of government than at any time I can remember, the voters of Alabama voted to KEEP Forever Wild! It wasn't even close. Roughly 75% of the electorate voted for extending Forever Wild's charter for another 20 years.

I'm not sure what to make of this? I'd like to think that somewhere, despite all of the political chattering and accusations (whether true or false), that people still have a connection to natural places. Perhaps this is even moreso in a relatively rural state like Alabama? You can talk about clean coal, or drill baby drill, or the energy technologies of the future, or government regulation, or... At the end of the day, people know that an unspoiled forest or stream has value. Maybe, just maybe, the message is getting through to people that we need to take care of this wonderful planet.