Which counties are part of the Alabama Black Belt Heritage Area?
Culture of Renewal, Reconciliation, and Conservation
A New Era in Race Relations
(This section is composed of excerpts from publications, Selma to Montgomery and Selma to Montgomery: A March for the Right to Vote, produced by the National Park Service for the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail)
Restoration of the Cultural Landscape
Few sections of the Deep South have a stronger sense of place than Alabama’s Black Belt. The fields and pastures, trails and roads, plantations and farmsteads, churches and cemeteries, villages, courthouse squares and major towns are set in a landscape of rolling hills and prairies, oak and pine forest, swamps, creeks, and river banks.
Conservation of the Natural Landscape
According to the Alabama Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy, Alabama surpasses all eastern states in plant and animal diversity, ranking fifth in the nation after California, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. Alabama ranks first in the nation in freshwater species diversity, including more than 750 species of freshwater fishes, mussels, aquatic snails, and crayfishes. Unfortunately, no state east of the Colorado has more wildlife species at risk than Alabama. Only Hawaii, California, and Nevada have more imperiled species, and only Hawaii has lost more species to extinction.
