FLT Staff Visits Camp Coleman for Yearly Monitoring

Camp Coleman in Trussville, a serene space on the Cahaba River, has been an established camp for the Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama for 99 years, making it one of the oldest Girl Scout camps in the country. The gently sloping woodland dotted with mossy boulders makes a perfect setting for camp activities like archery, riflery, and outdoor theatre. Easy access to the Cahaba River, which winds right through the middle of the camp, allows scouts to take advantage of canoeing, kayaking, and fishing, and provides a unique environment for riparian species identification.

Freshwater Land Trust has maintained a 29-acre conservation easement (CE) with Camp Coleman since 2003. The easement includes the riparian buffers on both sides of the Cahaba, as well as woodland habitat consisting of mixed hardwoods.

On our annual monitoring visit earlier this month, we enjoyed a sunny, but cool trek under a canopy of leaves that had only just started to show an autumnal tint. Bigleaf and umbrella magnolias shaded the trails high above oakleaf hydrangea and Carolina silverbell. Nearer to the water, river oats and blue mist flower were found in large, healthy clumps.

Sam, our Land Stewardship Director and resident herpetologist, wasted no time in searching for salamanders, which he found on his third rock-flip; a plump dusky salamander. Further along, we happened upon a very sleepy box turtle resting trailside and a well-camouflaged bullfrog amongst wet leaf litter and pebbles. Both Sam and I were delighted by the amount of species found on this short visit; within 90 minutes, we’d added 8 deer, a flock of turkeys, a crow, and a groundhog (also known as a woodchuck) to our list!

The CE at Camp Coleman ensures that this special place is protected for the Camp’s next 99 years and beyond. We are proud to call the Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama partners in conservation.