Forever Wild is a state program that preserves land for recreation, hunting, hiking and other public use. To pay for the land it uses 10 percent of the revenue from the Alabama Trust Fund, the annual earnings from royalties from offshore drilling for oil and natural gas.

A mine on Hurricane Creek is polluting the waters that flow into the Black Warrior River and its owner should be forced to begin meeting its permit, according to a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit groups Black Warrior Riverkeeper and the Friends of Hurricane Creek.

Fall is the perfect time to turn your backyard into a bird-watching paradise.