You only need to travel as far as downtown Dothan to glimpse some of the beautiful wildlife of the Wiregrass.

Artist Eddie LeRoy has completed a lifelike mural that features wild turkey, quail, whitetail deer and bobwhites along with bobcats and red fox. It appears on the walls of the new Bob Woodall Air Care Systems building at Burdeshaw and St. Andrews streets.

LeRoy, a commercial artist from Eufaula, has established a reputation for his work, having been featured on stamps in Alabama and other states, and on covers for magazines including Field & Stream.

“These murals are part of the big picture,” said Payne Henderson, chairman of Murals of the Wiregrass. “Tourism is the second-largest industry in our area, bringing $263 million into the Wiregrass each year. This type of attraction is what makes people stay that extra night in our area.”

A section of a newly completed mural by Eddie LeRoy on the walls of a downtown Dothan building depicts wildlife of the Wiregrass area. (Linda Brannon/Alabama NewsCenter)

A section of a newly completed mural by Eddie LeRoy on the walls of a downtown Dothan building depicts wildlife of the Wiregrass area. (Linda Brannon/Alabama NewsCenter)

A section of a newly completed mural by Eddie LeRoy on the walls of a downtown Dothan building depicts wildlife of the Wiregrass area. (Linda Brannon/Alabama NewsCenter)

A section of a newly completed mural by Eddie LeRoy on the walls of a downtown Dothan building depicts wildlife of the Wiregrass area. (Linda Brannon/Alabama NewsCenter)

Members of the Alabama Power Service Organization stand in front of a new Dothan mural depicting wildlife who populate the wildlife refuge around Alabama Power’s Farley Nuclear Plant. (Linda Brannon/Alabama NewsCenter)

Murals of the Wiregrass chairman Payne Henderson speaks at the dedication for the newest of Dothan’s 24 downtown murals. (Linda Brannon/Alabama NewsCenter)

The Wildlife Mural is the 24th mural in downtown Dothan. They tell the history of the area and, according to Alabama Regional Extension Agent Phillip Carter, Dothan city and Houston County fourth-graders will soon begin seeing the murals as part of their Alabama history curriculum.

“This mural is about wildlife preservation,” Carter said. “Many of today’s youth have not grown up being exposed to the wildlife indigenous to our area. This mural will give them the opportunity to view, study and discuss some of that.”

A refuge for wildlife

The wildlife depicted on the mural live near Farley Nuclear Plant. Of the 1,850-acre plant site, only about 400 acres are used for electric generation. The remaining acreage is a nationally certified wildlife refuge and was the inspiration for the new mural.

The Murals of the Wiregrass partnered with the Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO) to complete this project. Plant Farley is owned by Alabama Power, and many of its employees belong to the service organization.

Mural in downtown Dothan displays area wildlife from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

“Our top priority at Plant Farley is the safety and health of the communities we serve,” said Neecie Tarrant, APSO member and Plant Farley spokesperson. “That community includes not just our neighbors outside the fence, but also our employees at the site and the environment of the work site itself.

“We are committed to environmental stewardship because it is simply the right thing to do,” she said. “Our commitment is to ensure that the natural resources of the water, the land and the air are always found in better shape than when they were first placed in our care.”