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By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

Back when I first started attending the University of Montevallo, I was an idealistic conservative who did not care one bit about environmentalism. I was the kind of person who would stare in awe at the concrete megastructures of a big city but wrinkle my nose at a sea of trees. My perspective was soon changed in a natural and formative way though thanks to the educational structure at the University of Montevallo.

During my junior year, in order to mark off certain requirements for graduation I reached a point where I needed to take a select group of extracurricular classes and it just so happened that one of them was Environment 101—a situation that I begrudgingly conceded to.

Though I did not agree with certain philosophical aspects of the class and its more ecocentric worldview, I was slowly won over by its material, ideas and approach.

I’ll never forgot our professor taking us out in the field to observe local natural areas. I remember seeing leftover evidence of a beaver trying to build a dam at Ebenezer Swamp and I’ll never forget the relaxing waters of the creek gently flowing at Shoal Creek Park.

I realized that perhaps maybe we shouldn’t fill the ocean with plastic. Maybe we shouldn’t let factories pollute our drinking water. Maybe instead we should be proper stewards over this world the Lord has entrusted to us.

Now, as I continue to cover my hometown for a living, I’ve continued to see all of the amazing green spaces that Shelby County has to offer with locations like Oak Mountain State Park, Double Oak Park and Orr Park.

Every day as I drive from my home in Westover to Columbiana for this job, I am thrilled with the overwhelming amount of green that surrounds the roads. Despite living in Shelby County for almost my whole life, I never truly realized how blessed and lucky this county is to have so much greenery. Greenery that provides a gracious reprieve from the glare of the sun as well as an aesthetic boost to any location.

After it came out recently that the Montevallo City Council had considered Shoal Creek Park—one of my favorite green spaces—as the potential site for the city’s new community center, I was concerned and so too, were multiple residents who spoke against the idea. At the same time, however, I am happy to see that the council has approved and supported multiple improvements and efforts to the park, including trail work and an effort to study the historic cemetery on its grounds.

The city of Pelham has long supported OMSP and the city of Alabaster has continued to develops its own selection of parks and an upcoming trail system that they hope interconnects much of the city. The Shelby County Commission has continued to show its support of developing natural areas, especially in regard to its efforts to create Double Oak Park and its continued work in the Dunnavant Valley area.

One of my favorite parts of Shelby County is its parks and natural beauty, and I am extremely grateful and excited that local municipalities have continued to support that key aspect of our home.