Located just 15 miles outside the Birmingham city limits, Turkey Creek Nature Preserve in Pinson is widely regarded as the crown jewel of Alabama’s Forever Wild program.
Since 2008, the Southern Environmental Center (SEC) at Birmingham-Southern College has managed this popular nature preserve, and has initiated a number of hands on educational programs for area middle and high school students.
Despite having to rely on just one full time staff member and the occasional volunteer, SEC was able to provide freshwater ecology, natural history, and related STEM based programs to some 5000 schoolchildren at TCNP in 2017.
Unfortunately, an equal number of students had to be turned away, due to inadequate staff, inclement weather protection, bathroom and parking facilities. Lack of parking is also a problem for the thousands of mountain bike enthusiasts that annually use TCNP’s new 3.2 mile trail.
Learn more about Turkey Creek's campaign to raise funds on BhamNow.
Turkey Creek Nature Preserve. Photo from the Southern Environmental Center.
