The newly established 9,000-acre Mountain Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge is part of the 40,000-acre Fort McClellan Army training facility. Fort McClellan was closed on September 30, 1999 leaving behind an aggressive reuse and redevelopment campaign. The natural areas of the former military base include a unique and endangered ecosystem described as a "mountain longleaf pine forest". Protecting this area is important for a number of reasons:

1. the endangered longleaf pine ecosystem – 400 years ago longleaf pines (Pinus palustris) covered 60-90 million acres of the southeast, today about three million acres remain,
2. large, unfragmented forest tracts – and associated ecological values such as erosion control, creation of microhabitats, soil formation, groundwater recharge, flood-flow alteration, nutrient cycling, food chain support, pollutant detoxification and conservation of genetic diversity,
3. old-age timber – some isolated stands average 180 years old with individual relic trees up to 250 years old,
4. abundant diversity – with more than 200 known species of plants, over 200 bird species, approximately 40 kinds of mammals, an array of reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates,
5. numerous undisturbed and unusual local environments – such as acid seeps and calcareous outcrops,
6. few exotics, and
7. minimal habitat disturbance – such as decreased logging frequencies.

USFWS Refuge Biologist, Bill Garland, shows visitors 
from the Birmingham Audubon Society a map detailing 
the Mountain Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge