Description
Splinter Hill Bog is home to a variety of habitats, from sandy upland longleaf pine forests to seepage bogs to inundated small stream swamp forests. Much of the site is covered by some of the largest and most visually impressive white-topped pitcher plant bogs in the world.
Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
The Splinter Hill Bog Preserve and the adjacent state-owned Forever Wild Preserve contain some of the most intact seepage bog communities remaining on the Gulf Coast. Numerous rare and declining species associated with seepage bogs, upland longleaf forest and coastal blackwater streams are known to occur within this site.
What the Conservancy Is Doing
The Conservancy is working in cooperation with Alabama's Forever Wild Program to acquire and manage a significant portion of the remaining natural habitat in the Splinter Hill Bog area. To date the State of Alabama and The Nature Conservancy have acquired over 2,100 contiguous acres and will work cooperatively to manage this property using periodic prescribed fire and working to control non-native invasive species such as cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica).
About the Preserve's Name
In 2014, Splinter Hill Bog Preserve was renamed in honor of Mary Ruth McClellan Abronski. A native of Clay County, Alabama, Mrs. Abronski was a computer specialist for Sun Oil Company in Philadelphia for 37 years. She and her husband Dick Abronski retired to Fairhope, Alabama, and are donating their estate to conservation.
