Community Based Restoration Initiatives

Demonstration projects, community outreach, college student involvement, and natural resource professional trainings were all a part of this successful Extension-Education USDA 406 grant. Five spotlight communities were selected in different regions of Alabama to serve as community partners for the Auburn University Landscape Architecture program and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System Water Program. The students considered these spotlight communities ‘clients’. County extension agents, local watershed groups, and local government representatives stepped the college students through land use and water resource concerns in each community. The students were charged with creating and presenting a menu of innovative solutions to address the water resource concerns. As you would expect, each ‘client’ had a unique concern that challenged the students to be creative and inventive. Solutions included onthe-ground practices, educational practices, and suggestions for updated regulations / ordinances. The outcomes were increased knowledge in watershed management, stormwater management, and stream improvement among the college students and the communities. The students benefited by building their portfolios from the exposure to real world situations and made contacts that served them well after graduation. Alabama as a state benefited from the increase in new, young professionals with different perspectives on watershed management and community planning. Importantly, local water quality and stream health were also improved in the communities where on-the-ground projects were installed as a direct result of this project.