Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has announced that the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) recently awarded nearly $24 million from its Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund (GEBF) to four new projects in the state of Alabama.
The projects, developed in consultation with state and federal resource agencies, are designed to remedy harm and reduce the risk of future harm to natural resources that were affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The Alabama projects address high-priority conservation needs, including the acquisition and protection of important wetland habitats.
“The funding of these projects continues reinvestment in the Alabama Gulf Coast communities that were impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill nearly 10 years ago,” Governor Ivey said. “I appreciate the work of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and our partnership with NFWF as we continue to recover and build a more resilient coast.”
Blackwater River South Tract Acquisition
This project, in partnership the Alabama Forever Wild Land Trust, will acquire and permanently protect 2,300 acres of coastal habitat at the confluence of the Blackwater and Perdido rivers. The subject tract includes four miles of frontage along both rivers, more than 1,200 acres of wetlands, and a 90+ acre lake.
Wetlands and other diverse habitat types found on the property support a variety of bird species and other wetland-dependent species.
Dauphin Island Causeway Shoreline and Habitat Restoration Project
A $9,392,000 award under GEBF will create and protect important coastal habitat, reducing vulnerability of the only access route between south Mobile County and Dauphin Island. This project will design and install breakwater and create intertidal marsh habitat to provide protection against future erosion and storm damage.
Project activities will be co-funded through NFWF’s Emergency Coastal Resilience Fund.
The Emergency Coastal Resilience Fund will provide an additional $4.9 million toward the Dauphin Island Causeway Shoreline and Habitat Restoration Project.