November 26, 2025
Inspired by a Hale County farm that became a national birding destination, a new $17.5 million initiative seeks to help landowners restore disappearing grasslands across the state.
When Christopher Joe’s father asked his children in 2018 to imagine new possibilities for their family’s 200-acre farm in Hale County, Joe began thinking beyond cattle. After reaching out to conservation specialists and birding groups, including Alabama Audubon, he realized their land could serve a different purpose.
“I’m playing on the farm,” he said. “I’m just trying to do my part.”
According to AL, today, that vision has transformed The Joe Farm into one of the most sought-after stops for birdwatchers visiting Alabama’s Black Belt. It’s now a highlight of the annual Black Belt Birding Festival, where visitors gather to watch Mississippi kites swoop through the sky. Joe, who works with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), helped revive bird populations on the property by restoring patches of native prairie — habitat that once stretched across the region.
A new statewide effort aims to help other landowners do the same. In November, the Alabama Soil and Water Conservation Committee, partnering with the Alabama Wildlife Federation and NRCS, launched the Alabama Black Belt Prairie Initiative, a program that will distribute millions in grants to restore native grasslands on private property.
The goal is to bring back roughly 8,000 acres of prairie, according to committee assistant executive director Ashley Henderson. She said that decades of land-use changes have erased much of the original ecosystem. “When you start changing things, then you start losing species, both plant and animal,” she explained. “A lot of times, people want to restore the habitat, but they don’t know what to do.”
Before European settlement, the Black Belt was a mosaic of bunch grasses, flowering plants such as purple coneflower and black-eyed susans, and wide-ranging wildlife — from bobwhite quail and wild turkey to herds of bison. But the nutrient-rich soil that defined the region also made it prime cotton country, and large prairie landscapes gradually disappeared. The Southeastern Grasslands Institute estimates that more than 90% of the Southeast’s grasslands have vanished since that period.
The losses have had steep consequences for wildlife. Scot Duncan, executive director of Alabama Audubon, noted that prairie-dependent birds are declining faster than any other avian group in the region.
With $17.5 million allocated for grants, the new initiative will support projects ranging from quail habitat restoration to cattle-grazing practices that protect native grasses. Landowners can be reimbursed for up to 85% of project costs.
Joe’s family continues to raise cattle, but eco-tourism has brought more than 1,000 visitors to their property, including students from across Alabama. With new grants supporting a classroom facility and wetland restoration, Joe says the land is now largely self-sustaining. “If you see it, it’s been here,” he said. “We don’t have to do much to keep it going like this.”
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