SPRINGVILLE — The St. Clair County Economic Development Council and elected officials from the county and city of Springville celebrated the groundbreaking of the highly anticipated Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve on Thursday.
The nature preserve will offer recreational opportunities to the residents of St. Clair County that will include hiking and horse riding trails along with canoeing and kayaking opportunities.
According to the EDC, the groundbreaking is the beginning of simple foundational aspects of the preserve property including improvements to the entrance road and the initiation of its first hiking trail. Once completed, the trail will create the first one mile loop in a series of trails that will eventually cross the preserve.
The preserve has also been officially recognized as a Forever Wild project. According to Candice Hill with the EDC, this means the nature preserve is owned by the Alabama State Lands Division who will help keep, maintain and protect the area.
“We’re excited about it. It’s always going to be used for recreation and it’s always going to be used for preservation and it will always remain a greenspace in the heart of the city of Springville,” Hill said, adding that this will also make both the city and county more attractive for potential residents and tourists.
“It’s always our hope that we’re going to bring in more tourism assets to the county that will see spin-offs to local restaurants, gas stations and see people just come up and see nature and enjoy St. Clair County.”
During the groundbreaking, Springville Mayor Dave Thomas commended those who helped make the project possible and said the nature preserve is something that is near and dear to his heart.
“This is something that I truly try to live daily, to enjoy God’s gift to us all, and that is nature,” he said. “This particular project has the potential to be so far reaching beyond just Springville, but the county and region as well.”
Many of those who spoke expressed their gratitude to both the city and county commission for their part in making the nature preserve happen, however, Director of the Alabama State Lands Division Patty McCurdy said that this is a rarity to have both entities work so well together. She noted that only 15 percent of nominations reach the acquisition stage and garnering local support helps the board be able to make that next step.
“I can’t tell you how many people, when I talk about, ‘Hey, I think the board would really get interested if you could show local government support,’ and how many have collapsed at that point and say, ‘I can’t get the city to work with us,’ or ‘I can’t get the county,’ and it’s so rare to get both the city and the county working together,” she said.
County Commission Chairman Paul Manning said the commission is always willing to collaborate with its municipalities on projects that advance tourism and economic development.
“This is not just a Springville project, this is a project that will reach far beyond our borders and make way for outdoor experiences for many years to come,” he said. “Creating greenspace and areas where our community can enjoy being outside, like our county’s arena in Odenville and boat launch on Neely Henry Lake, improve the quality of life for all of our residents.”
Doug Morrison, chairman of the Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserves Partners organization, also expressed his excitement for the project that he says has been over 15 years in the making.
“We want to continue to grow the amenities on this property that complement it and highlight how special it is while teaching those coming up how to conserve and preserve their local environment,” he said. “There are many special organisms, flora and fauna on this property, which is why it ranked so highly on Forever Wild’s list of potential properties.”
By Josie Howell, St. Clair Times Assistant Editor
Original article: https://www.annistonstar.com/the_st_clair_times/springville-breaks-ground-on-big-canoe-creek-nature-preserve/article_924a56a6-9b3d-11ec-9bfa-1b33768bf070.html
