STEVE FOREHAND FOR AWF

Steve Forehand

STORY BY BETSY ILER & PHOTO BY KENNETH BOONE

Putting passion for wildlife to work for future generations

Lake Martin’s Steve Forehand last month was installed as president of the Alabama Wildlife Federation and will move forward an agenda for restoration, research and growth at the state’s oldest and largest citizen conservation organization. An AWF board member for 15 years, Forehand professes a lifetime of passion for the outdoors, stemming from a youth spent on this grandparents’ Fish Pond area farm.

“I grew up hunting small game. It was just part of my family background – part of my DNA, if you will,” Forehand said. “I played in the pond, in the chicken houses, in the woods. It’s just part of my heritage. Working with AWF gives me an opportunity to honor that and do things that will last for generations, preserving the resources.”

Among the projects now under Forehand’s tenure are an ongoing oyster restoration effort in Mobile Bay; turkey research with Dr. Will Gulsby at Auburn University; and an enterprising move that could impact statewide tourism through duck habitat creation. These endeavors ultimately could help to make up for an impending loss in conservation funding as the Baby Boomer generation ages out, Forehand said.

The largest segment of state hunting license holders, Alabama Baby Boomers are turning 65 by the hundreds per day and no longer are required to purchase hunting licenses, the primary funding source for the Alabama Department of Conservation.

“The Department of Conservation has started a great adult mentored hunting program. To piggyback on that program and continue to get funding, we also need to get younger hunters into the system. That’s a big part of funding for conservation, and we must replace it or that budget could be impacted,” Forehand explained. “Fortunately for all these projects, we have a very engaged and talented board of directors and an extremely talented executive director in Tim Gothard.”

Going back to early roots may be part of the answer.

“About 70 percent of what I know about hunting I learned as a kid hunting small game. I hunted squirrels, rabbits and quail. A kid can walk through the woods and learn about the outdoors,” he said. “Part of the thrill of hunting is also the thrill of being outdoors in the woods. And it helps kids if they can develop some small game hunting skills before they decide to move up to deer hunting. There’s a lot of action, and they don’t have to be real quiet.”

In addition to youth hunting and mentorship programs,

LForehand wants to further develop AWF’s waterfowl habitat initiative. Southwest and west-central Alabama are on the perimeter of the Mississippi Flyway and habitat improvements, such as management of abandoned catfish ponds and developing waterfowl rest areas, provide habitat that ducks could use during migration. With good habitat and increased waterfowl use, hunters should find that they don’t have to travel far and wide to enjoy a sporting weekend, he said. Forehand also has been involved with conservation education efforts at the local level through the AWF Wild Game Cook-off series. Proceeds from the annual cook-offs help to fund conservation education, including the Alabama Nature Center in Millbrook. Growing educational opportunities for school children is a priority for AWF, Forehand explained, and the organization will look for ways to expand the ANC footprint. But education efforts are not limited to children. Forehand was honored with the AWF presidency at a banquet last month Part of the mission of AWF biologists is to consult with landowners to manage properties for land health and wildlife. And Forehand is active on the AWF Governor’s Conservation Achievement Awards Committee, as well as other key AWF committees. A project with which he has been involved for at least 15 years – the longleaf pine restoration – is showing early signs of success on Russell Lands property, said Forehand, who is vice president and legal counsel for Russell Lands, as well as legal counsel for Lake Martin Resource Association. “We continue to participate in the longleaf pines restoration, and you can see that in areas where Russell Lands has maintained the timberland to be conducive with the reestablishment of longleaf here. New longleaf pines are establishing in areas where they weren’t planted. We are seeing longleaf reseeding and restoring itself in areas where habitat has been managed for it.” It’s a very full plate for Forehand, who continues to be active in the community with Russell Medical Center, Lake Martin Resource Association, and more. He has enjoyed the support of the AWF board through a rotation that began with the position of third vice president, and he has served as AWF’s first vice president for two years now. The presidency is, by definition, a one-year term, but some past presidents have served two years, and with the preparatory steps to the term, he hopes to serve beyond his first year as president, as there is much to do. And his passion for Alabama’s wildlife could serve the state well.

Tallapoosa Sculpin

This small bottom dweller is found only in the Tallapoosa River

TThere are at least six freshwater fish found only in the Tallapoosa River, including one discovered 15 years ago: the Tallapoosa Sculpin.

This fish is small and camouflaged in dusky browns and blacks to blend into the rocky river bottom. It was not separated as a species until 2007 because it looks very much like other common and widespread species found in the Tallapoosa River, like the Banded Sculpin. The Tallapoosa Sculpin is native in the Tallapoosa

River system from its headwaters in Georgia to the fall line below Lake Martin at Thurlow Dam in Tallassee.

This fish is found primarily in the creeks that flow into the Tallapoosa River, but several Tallapoosa Sculpins were captured in the shoals just upstream of Lake

Martin. Tallapoosa Sculpins are usually found in less than 2 feet of water moving at medium to high speeds over clean gravel or rocky bottoms. These sculpins do not have swim bladders, which means that, unlike a lot of fish that spend time swimming in mid-water, they sink. Sculpins are bottom dwellers with flat bellies and large pectoral fins. They can position their pectoral fins like airplane wing flaps to use the force of the current to hold themselves against the bottom, instead of sweeping them downstream. They also have closely positioned pelvic fins that can help hold them on the river bottom.

Tallapoosa Sculpins grow to fewer than 3 inches long and maintain their dark brown and black colors year round. They have three to four dark “saddles” or bands that go from side-to-side across their backs. Like all sculpins, Tallapoosa Sculpins have very large heads and mouths relative to their bodies.

The scientific name for this species is Cottus Tallapoosae.

Sculpins are mostly nocturnal fish that take cover under rocks and other structures during the day and come out to hunt at night. As juveniles, they eat mostly insect larvae. As they grow larger, they begin to eat larger prey – anything that can fit into their large mouths – such as aquatic insects, crayfish and other small fish. Sculpins ambush their prey by holding still on the bottom and quickly striking as a meal swims, crawls or floats by, or they stealthily move across the bottom, hunting for their dinner. In turn, these

NATURE OF THE LAKE

BY KENNETH BOONE

This sculpin uses its large pectoral fins to help it stay on the river bottom

The Tallapoosa Sculpin has a large head and mouth and dark saddles across its back

fish are preyed upon by larger fish and wading birds.

Female Tallapoosa Sculpins begin producing eggs in early spring. When the water temperatures hit about 54 degrees in March and April, these sculpins spawn in shallow water nests.

The Tallapoosa Sculpin was discovered by David A. Neely, James D. Williams and Richard L. Mayden. Some of the individual Tallapoosa Sculpins used to identify the species were found in creeks around Lake Martin, including Channahatchee Creek near Red Hill; Wind Creek just below Lake Martin; Hillabee Creek near Hackneyville; Little Hillabee Creek near Goodwater; Manoy Creek near Jacksons Gap; Timbergut Creek near New Site; and Hamlet Mill Creek just north of Horseshoe Bend.

Information from this article came from the scientific paper “Two New Sculpins of the Genus Cottus (Teleostei Cottidae) from the Rivers of Eastern North America” by Neely, Williams and Mayden, the Animal Diversity Web at the University of Michigan and outdooralabama.com.