Contact Alabama Coastal Foundation if you are interested in volunteering or would like more information.

Bring your canoe, kayak, or small motor boat (apple snail free!), as well as GPS units and a camera if you have them. The fun starts at 7:30 am at 4470 Windsor Road.

This volunteer-led shoreline project will assess the relative health of Fowl River by looking closely at the physical and ecological conditions of the near shoreline and river. The assessment will be conducted by volunteers who will paddle the river looking at parameters such as erosion, stream and bank characteristics, invasive species and sedimentation. All of these characteristics will be able to be observed from a small boat.

This project will serve to educate the public as well as community leaders about Fowl River and the pressures it faces. The data can be used in the long-term to protect valuable habitat by identifying areas suitable for preservation, restoration or recreational use, and will provide decision-makers the tools needed to make sound policy decisions regarding the future growth and development of the areas surrounding Fowl River. The project will also seek to identify potential sources of pollution, including evidence of illegal dumping, sedimentation and erosion, septic system failure or other discharge sources. A central objective of this assessment is to generate a product that is useful to local decision-makers.

Volunteers will be assigned portions of the river to assess based on their paddling capabilities and time constraints. Each volunteer team will receive a package on the 6th  that will include data sheets for recording observations, maps, aerial photographs, clip boards, pencils and markers and any other needed supplies. Data sheets that will be provided include: invasive species datasheet with photographic key, water quality information sheet, and a points of interest datasheet which will be used to collect observations volunteers make along the shoreline or in the river. These can include but are not limited to: debris, degraded shoreline, discharge points, evidence of septic failure, or unusual odors. Volunteers will mark the location of these items on the map provided.