Send your articles on a diskette through your State Conservation Engineer or Unit Engineering Leader to Philip Christensen, NRCS, Room 6136, Washington, D.C. 20013. Alabama Soil Bioengineering efforts have been underway on Choccolocco Creek in east central Alabama for over a year. Work such as selective clearing and snagging, isolated sediment removal, minor channel modifications, and streambank protection has been done in phases with close monitoring by an Interagency Biological Evaluation and Monitoring Team. Soil Bioengineering began in February 1995 in an effort to be more ecologically sensitive to bank stabilization efforts and to stretch the dollars being spent on the project. After only one year, the effort appears to be successful and cost-effective when used in conjunction with a reduced quantity of riprap for toe protection.
More soil bioengineering work is planned for the coming phases of the project.
Inc. Bethabara Park has significant historical importance as it was the site of the first Moravian settlement in North Carolina in 1753. Instructors from the Wetland Institute, Inc., were Dr. Robert Pierce, Wendi Goldsmith, and Dr. Gary Pierce. Instructors from NRCS were Construction Engineer Don Shanklin, and Plant Materials Specialist Wayne Everett. Bioengineering techniques are being used to restore the tributary to a wooded stream condition, similar to its original condition when the Moravians settled Bethabara. This project is the first part of a park proposal to restore the entire stream system that runs through the park.