ATLANTA – Southern Company, one of the nation’s largest energy producers, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation today announced that five additional grants under the Power of Flight and Longleaf Legacy partnership programs have been awarded to conservation organizations and natural resource agencies.

Additionally, it was announced that the Turner Foundation of Atlanta has joined as a new funding partner for both the Power of Flight and Longleaf Legacy programs.

“The tangible results that we’re seeing from both the Power of Flight and Longleaf Legacy programs across our service territory is very impressive,” said Chris Hobson, senior vice president of research and environmental affairs for Southern Company. “By receiving additional funding from the Turner Foundation, we’re increasing our level of impact in targeted areas by improving the quality of the environment for Southern birds and their habitats now and for years to come.”

For more than two years, Southern Company and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation have partnered to award 41 grants resulting in a commitment of more than $2.2 million. With matching dollars from grant recipients totaling more than $3.8 million, there has been an on-the-ground conservation impact of more than $6 million since the partnership began.

“By joining with National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and private conservation groups, Southern Company is helping accelerate restoration and conservation efforts for a host of uniquely Southern species,” said John Berry, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation executive director. “The partnership is a catalyst for on-the-ground conservation that will benefit wildlife and people.”

The five-year Power of Flight program, launched in August 2002, is the largest public/private funding effort for bird conservation in the South. Through bird habitat conservation and education, the program focuses on uniquely threatened, endangered or declining Southern bird species, including bobwhite quail, the red-cockaded woodpecker and coastal species. Southern Company provides $250,000 annually to the program with matching funds from both the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and grantees, providing an annual impact in excess of $1 million. The company also donates $50,000 annually to support the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s bird conservation programs.

Results from the first two years of Power of Flight projects alone yielded a far-reaching, long-term conservation impact, which included improving habitat for bobwhite quail on more than 37,000 acres, restoring nearly 900 acres of wetlands and 600 acres of longleaf pine ecosystems, as well as exposing more than 1.4 million people to environmental education messages at parks, nature centers and birding trails across the South.

The following two organizations were recently awarded Power of Flight grants:

• Avian Research and Conservation Institute – To produce site-specific management recommendations for swallow-tailed kite nesting habitats on industrial, corporate, and private timberlands in Georgia and northern Florida and for research on kite migration and natural history on their wintering grounds in Latin America. The swallow-tailed kite is a uniquely Southern species that nests in the forests of the southern United States and migrates to South America for the winter. Funding for this project will help scientists develop management plans that could slow the decline in kite numbers.

• Georgia Southern University –To create a unique waterfowl pond outside the university’s new Ornithological Center which will complement the Center’s bird educational programs.

The Longleaf Legacy program, which began in August 2003, is a five-year program focused on restoring the South’s signature longleaf pine ecosystem to conserve biological diversity and sequester carbon. Southern Company contributes $500,000 annually to the program, also with matching funds from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and grantees, resulting in an annual impact of at least $2 million. The company also donates $100,000 annually to support the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s longleaf restoration efforts.

In the first year of the Longleaf Legacy program, six projects were funded that will result in more than 1.3 million seedlings planted on nearly 2,600 acres, thus helping to restore an ecosystem that provides habitat for bobwhite quail, red-cockaded woodpeckers, gopher tortoises, and a host of other uniquely Southern species. The seven grants awarded in 2005 will add an additional 428,000 seedlings on nearly 1,100 acres

The following three organizations were recently awarded Longleaf Legacy grants:

• The Nature Conservancy of Georgia – To restore approximately 600 acres of longleaf pine habitat in Coffee and Early counties in Georgia. In addition to the planting of longleaf pine trees on the Nature Conservancy Broxton Rocks and Shackleford Landing properties, the project will greatly expand the harvesting and planting of wiregrass and other native herbs, as well as re-establish prescribed fire to maintain proper habitat balance.

• The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division – To expand the longleaf pine ecosystem restoration project on 500 acres of the Mayhaw Wildlife Management Area in Miller County, Georgia. Through this project, longleaf trees will be planted in small- to medium-sized gaps in the existing wildlife management area. In addition, the project will promote the development of a groundcover market for wiregrass seeds and plugs through incentive payments to landowners for growing season burns.

• Berry College – To re-establish longleaf pine habitat on 60 acres of introduced loblolly pine forest damaged by southern pine beetle infestation. This project also will help restore about 10 acres of the160 acres of existing longleaf stands, which contain some relic longleaf trees dating back to the late 1700s to early 1800s, in order to promote natural longleaf pine regeneration. The project will provide hands-on education and research opportunities for the students and others at the college, located in Rome, Georgia.

Conservation initiatives under the Power of Flight and Longleaf Legacy programs focus on areas within the service territories of Southern Company’s five operating companies: Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, Mississippi Power and Savannah Electric.

To review individual fact sheets on the Power of Flight and Longleaf Legacy programs and/or see a complete listing of awards granted, please visit our website at: www.southerncompany.com/planetpower .

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is a non-profit organization established by Congress in 1984 and dedicated to the conservation of fish, wildlife and plants, and the habitat on which they depend. The Foundation creates partnerships between the public and private sectors to strategically invest in conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources. The Foundation distributed 709 grants in 2004 and has leveraged – with its partners – more than $305 million in federal funds since its establishment, for a total of more than $918 million in on-the-ground conservation. For more information, visit www.nfwf.org.

With more than 4 million customers and nearly 39,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier super-regional energy company in the Southeast and a leading U.S. producer of electricity. Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states, a growing competitive generation company and a competitive retail natural gas business, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are 15 percent below the national average. Southern Company has been ranked the nation’s top energy utility in the American Customer Satisfaction Index six years in a row. Southern Company has more than 500,000 shareholders, making its common stock one of the most widely held in the United States. Visit the Southern Company Web site at www.southerncompany.com.

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