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The Nature Conservancy in Alabama Alabama Contact Places We Protect Field Trips & Events News Room Volunteer Ways of Giving |
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Roy B. Whitaker Preserve
 Paint Rock River, Bill Snow © Copyright Here |
Located on the Paint Rock River in Jackson County, this 323-acre preserve covers an expanse of bottomland forests and pasture lands with over 1.5 miles of river frontage. The Nature Conservancy with the aid of the NRCS and the US Fish and Wildlife Service is focusing on restoring bottomland hardwoods throughout the site. This site will serve as a demonstration area for restoration of agricultural and pasture lands along the Paint Rock River, a critical strategy to maintaining the significant biodiversity of the river. Restoration of these lands will help improve water quality, buffer the river from run-off and increase habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife.
Location
Jackson County, In the town of Paint Rock along the Paint Rock River. Located between Scottsboro and Huntville on U.S. Highway 72 just east of County Road 65.
Plants
The forested areas of the preserve contain plant species similar to other forested bottomland areas of the Southern Cumberland plateau. Dominant tree species include shellbark hickory, green ash, hackberry, water oak, swamp chestnut oak, sweetgum, shumards oak, bitternut hickory and cherrybark oak. Understory trees include ironwood and water locust. The herbaceous cover is very diverse with numerous species of sedges, grasses and forbs.
Animals
The Paint Rock and its major tributaries (Estill Fork, Hurricane Creek and Larkin Fork) total some 90 miles of free-flowing river habitat and the watershed encompasses about 318 square miles. The system supports an extremely diverse array of aquatic life, including some 100 species of fish and about 45 different mussel species. Five globally imperiled mussels and twelve globally rare mussels are found in the Paint Rock River and its tributaries. Two of the mussel species (pale lilliput and Alabama lampshell) are found nowhere else in the world and one fish species (palezone shiner) is confined to the Paint Rock River and one stream in Kentucky. Another three globally imperiled fish (sawfin shiner, blotchside logperch, and snail darter) occur in the Paint Rock River.
Imperiled species known from this part of the Paint Rock River include: Lampsilis virescens
Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
The Paint Rock River and the surrounding mountains in NE Alabama are a haven for globally imperiled and rare species. The Paint Rock River watershed has long been a focus of conservation efforts. This site which borders Fern Cave National Wildlife Refuge will be a demonstration site where efforts will focus on restoring bottomland hardwoods along the river.
What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
Efforts at this site will focus on restoring bottomland hardwoods along the river and creating a warm season grass demonstration area. The site is also part of the North Alabama Birding Trail.
