The Land Trust of North Alabama aims to purchase 91 acres of lowland farmland in the Paint Rock River Valley. The watershed has a significant conservation value because it contains a high diversity of aquatic and plant life, including at least 100 threatened and endangered species. The land trust will continue its maintenance of the Riparian Forest Buffer program and plans to restore the land to its natural state as a bottomland hardwood forest. In 2013, the US Fish and Wildlife Service authorized Paint Rock River as a refuge, but the land trust hasn’t been able to afford a suitable plot of land. If it can raise $223,000 by November 1, the land trust will begin an “extensive wetland restoration project.” Once acquired, the area would be closed to public access. Read more HERE.