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UAV Task Force, Legislative Committees and Conservation

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Alabama’s Unmanned Aerial System Task Force is submitting a report to Governor Bentley today. That report will lay the groundwork for regulating unmanned aerial drones throughout the state.

Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries John McMillan heads that task force. He said the privacy of Alabama’s citizens was a great concern when drafting the report, but compared UAVs to another hot-button privacy topic.

“You know, we’re all concerned about invasion of privacy and theft of ID and all kinds of stuff with the Internet but I don’t think anybody’s gonna advocate doing away with the Internet. The opportunities for economic benefits from the unmanned air vehicles is just going to be enormous and we’ve just got to do our best to deal with it in the right manner.”

The Task Force subcommittee reports will be available on their website next week. The full report should be released by the Governor’s office at a later date.

The leadership of key committees in the newly elected Alabama House will look a whole lot like the previous House.

House Speaker Mike Hubbard announced that Mac McCutcheon of Capshaw will be back as Rules Committee chairman for the next four years.

Bill Poole of Tuscaloosa will again lead the House Ways and Means Education Committee and Steve Clouse of Ozark will again chair the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee.

One major change is the appointment of Mike Jones of Andalusia to lead the Judiciary Committee. He replaces Paul DeMarco, who did not seek re-election last year.

All of the committee leaders are Republican. Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh will announce Senate committee chairmanships soon.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is starting up a new conservation initiative nationwide, and the Deep South is a primary focus.

Alabama is included in a group of states receiving $10 million from the USDA directed at the Mississippi River Basin.

One goal is to cut down on nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment getting into the Mississippi and emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. This will improve water quality throughout the region and also cut down on the Gulf's dead zone.

The USDA is spending upwards of forty two million dollars nationwide on various projects as part of this initiative.

Alabama is teaming up with two other Southeastern states for what may be one of the largest animal behavior studies ever conducted in the region.

Researchers from the University of Georgia and Princeton University are turning Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina into one massive research area.

They’ll be studying the coyote population – where they travel, and how they live their lives. This research will continue for two years.

Professional trappers will start placing GPS tags on coyotes this month. Then, researchers will try to work out the threat these animals pose to other wildlife, such as white tailed deer fawns.

This is considered to be the largest study ever of coyote behavior in the Southeast.

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