Forever Wild Program
Forever Wild, Alabama’s land acquisition program, is now in its 20th year. The program’s purpose is to acquire land for conservation and outdoor recreational purposes, and it is highly successful.
With a modest budget, especially compared to many other states’ similar programs, Forever Wild has delivered on what it was supposed to do. The program’s success is the result of the carefully thought out decisions of its board members, personnel within the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources who have administered the program and the overall support of the public.
Forever Wild was developed in response to the loss of land available to the public for hunting and outdoor recreation. Since its inception, Forever Wild has protected over 220,000 acres, of which 197,000 are in 14 Wildlife Management Areas.
As successful as Forever WIld has been in protecting unique habitats and providing public recreation lands, this progress has only allowed us to keep pace with the loss of other private-lease lands enrolled in the state’s public hunting Wildlife Management Area system. During the 2012 election, voters will have the opportunity to extend Forever Wild’s funding to support the purchase of more public hunting lands. That vote will decide the course of the legacy we will leave to future generations that depend on Alabama’s heritage of public hunting lands.
To learn more about Forever Wild, visit www.alabamaforeverwild.com.
To learn more about the effort to protect Forever Wild and continue the program’s funding so more land can be purchased, visit www.protectforeverwild.org.
For recreational locations and hunting go to www.alabamaforeverwild.com or
call 1-800-LAND-ALA.
