Little River State Forest in danger.

[mkarnott]

Little River State Forest, 2000 acres near Atmore, has become a burden the state can no longer maintain.  The land was donated to the state with the stipulation that the recreation area remain open to the public or the land will revert back to private owners.  We can't let this happen!  A few weeks ago all personnel were laid off and the state now says it will close the facility September 30.  Any private parties interested in contracting to run this facility need to step forward immediately.

Generations of people in that area remember growing up swimming and picnic-ing at Little River.  The CCC built the dam, trails, and buildings there.  The forest is a major link in the Alabama Hiking Trail Society's plan to build the Alabama Trail, a long path connecting Fort Morgan on the Gulf to the Natchez Trace.  AHTS maintains the trails there now and is in the process of building a bridge.  We have to save this place.

[ednotmilkman]

do we know if the original owner(s) are thinking of something other than public use for the property?

[mkarnott]

I believe the original owners are long gone.  I was told by someone close to the situation, but I have no way to verify this, that the grandson squandered away his inheritance and has designs on getting his hands on the property.  This doesn't sound like a good thing, but I don't have any other information.

[Joshua Szulecki]

There isn't any real information out there. All of it is secondhand from what I can tell.

Here is a little media coverage... Not enough information for my taste, mostly nostalgia, very little hard fact.
http://www.atmoreadvance....4/22/lifestyles/life2.txt

AHTS links to a blog about it, which in turn links to the above: http://lahiker.blogspot.com/

Incidentally, and presumably unrelated, the Monroe Journal reports that The Nature Conservancy has purchased 1,786 acres in north Monroe County with the intent that it be transferred for recreational use to the state with the help of the Forever Wild Land Trust, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. http://www.nature.org/whe...bama/press/press4481.html