Johnston new director of Wild Alabama

POPLAR SPRINGS - Out in the country, away from traffic noise pollution, on a back porch during an early fall rain, a woman sat still. In a couple of minutes without moving, she watched the multiple hummingbird feeders as the birds began to feed. The avian bullies would smack away their fellow hummers if they showed up to “their” feeder even though plenty of others were available. She mentioned this could be a life lesson about wasting energy unnecessarily.
This lady is known in many circles in the area. Her name is Maggie Johnston, and she retired from Camp McDowell as dean of education July 31. Instead of retiring and relaxing, she is concentrating on a new adventure with Wild Alabama. She was named the new executive director on Oct. 5.
“I’m going to miss Camp McDowell terribly,” Johnston said. “The youthful energy of working with 25-35-year-olds is constant. I planned to work a few more years at Camp McDowell, but then COVID-19 hit. It was a good time to step out of the line of that work. McDowell has some wonderful people there.”
Johnston mentioned Beth Dille and Scotty Feltman can do the work she wanted to see done at the camp, which receives between 11,000-12,000 kids each year.
Wild Alabama works with the US Forest Service to protect, promote and educate about Alabama’s National Forests and the three wilderness areas, Sipsey, Cheaha and Dugger Mountain. Wild Alabama trains volunteers to help with trail maintenance and sets up at trailheads to pass information along to hikers, such as maps, and answer questions. Some of their staff also serve on search parties when a hiker is lost in the forest or wilderness area. In addition, they train wilderness rangers.
The protocol for this training has been adapted all over the country. Due to restrictions in wilderness areas, much like the Sipsey, mechanized equipment such as four-wheelers and chain saws are not allowed. In this instance, Wild Alabama trains volunteers on using a cross-cut saw on trail maintenance and will take groups on hikes.
“The organization as a whole puts a lot of emphasis and energy into doing things to take the load of the forest service,” Johnston stated. “With COVID-19, the numbers (of hikers) have gone up at least 50 percent higher than pre-COVID-19 during the same time period.”
Johnston volunteered recently at the Sipsey Recreation Area, and she reported 120 people passed through that day and many were campers.
“This has been very common the last few months on weekends. It’s awesome that many people want to explore and get out in nature and the woods. That’s a connection a lot of us didn’t realize we needed to have.”
A restructuring is taking place within Wild South with each state receiving separate non-profit status. What originally started in 1991 by Lamar Marshall of the Bankhead National Forest as the Bankhead Monitors eventually became Wild Alabama in 1996, expanding into other forests in the state. Then it became Wild South in 2004. It retained the name when it merged with the Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project, of Asheville, N.C., which was announced Nov. 7, 2007. It has come back to its roots as Wild Alabama with headquarters in Moulton, Ala.
Each state of Wild South is receiving more independence, and since Maggie has followed the organization since its beginning as the Bankhead Monitor, she felt a calling to the newly-formed Wild Alabama.
“(The Bankhead Monitor) focused on monitoring the U.S. Forest Service and practices that were going on at that time, like clear-cutting,” she said. “It was looked at in the 1990s as a resource to grow trees instead of recreation.” What started out as an adversarial role with the U.S. Forest Service, Wild Alabama now partners with the government entity and receives some funding in return for trail maintenance.
The uptick of hikers also results in a problem for the wilderness area. It is one known by wilderness protectors throughout the country. The problem is lack of etiquette in the woods and the trash left behind.
“Twice per week, all through the spring, summer and fall, Wild South (volunteers) would be out having to clean up behind those groups,” Johnston said. “Kinlock Falls is a nightmare of litter sometimes. They’ve been going there once a week (to pick up litter).
“One thing I’ve noticed is if you leave a place pristine and clean, people think twice about leaving stuff. If someone enters an area and already sees trash, they think that’s what everyone does. The more we keep a place clean and show it respect, the greater the respect other people will show, too.”
Johnston mentioned the staff at Wild South in Alabama had dwindled to two: Kim Waites and Janice Barrett.
“These two are amazing ladies. I would get them to come (to Camp McDowell) and do staff training because they know the flora and fauna so well. Most of the McDowell staff comes from out-of-state. They come to Alabama with a lot of knowledge, but it’s not local. They’ve held together the Alabama portion of Wild South for the last 10 years or so. They’re the ones who started a real push to want to have that independence and make local decisions based on our local community and forest.” Waites is the wilderness stewardship coordinator for Wild Alabama and believes Johnston is the perfect choice for director.
“When I learned that Maggie is going to be our new executive director for Wild Alabama my first thought was, ‘Wow! Maggie Johnston? The Maggie Johnston?’ I’ve admired her work from afar, seeing all she accomplished for Camp McDowell. I feel confident that under her leadership, the spirit of our wild places in Alabama will continue to thrive. Bringing our sense of direction and stewardship back to Alabama is a true homecoming.”
“I want to encourage people to learn about the national forests in their area,” Johnston continued. “People here in Winston and Lawrence counties are so lucky, and so many have never reached outside of their comfort zone and put on a backpack and say I’m going to try this. You can call Wild Alabama and we will help you to find the way to get in there safely. That’s one of our goals: to educate people. We envision doing a lot of education with youth and adults.”
To help preserve and protect the wilderness and forest areas, Wild Alabama does accept donations.
“Once you have seen the value in something, you need to put some energy into it, whether it’s being a volunteer donating your time or donating money.”
The transition back to Alabama has been an easy one according to Johnston. Those based in North Carolina have been supportive.
“They’re wanting to see the Alabama people be successful,” she said. “In fact, there is a group in Tennessee who want to do the same thing. They want to have a Wild Tennessee. We see this as an opportunity to be a model for what other states can do.”
Generous donations have been given recently in an effort to boost support for coming back to Alabama.
“When the emphasis left Alabama and moved to North Carolina, some were not donating any more,” Johnston explained. “We have gotten large checks, like $10,000, because people want to see this happen. They’re excited about the concept of protecting and educating our own backyard.”
The motto of Wild Alabama is to value, enjoy and protect. These core values are shared with Wild South and both organizations will still be working together.
“We believe the same things,” Johnston said. “We just see the value of that local control and that local decision-making happening right here.”
She also explained donations were a good reason for having control in Alabama. For example, if someone locally wrote a check for $100, it would have been mailed to North Carolina.
The Bankhead and Talladega forests are where Wild Alabama will be concentrating, and Johnston hopes within a few years, the Conecuh forest will be included.
“It’s got some pretty special places, too.”
Johnston assumed the job Nov. 2. The other Wild South Staff will transition to Wild Alabama Jan. 1. To find out more, visit wildal.org. You can also e-mail Johnston at maggie@wildal.org.