Project Page

Dauphin Island West End Acquisition

Implementing Organization

State of Alabama; US Department of the Interior

Overview

DWH Project Funding

$7,938,770

Known Leveraged Funding

$0

Funding Organization

Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees (NRDA)

Funding Program

Natural Resource Damage Assessment NRDA

Details

Project Category

Environmental

Project Actions

Species Restoration

Targeted Resources

Birds/Bird Habitat

Project Description

This project will entail acquiring approximately 838 acres of privately owned beach/dune habitat at the west end of Dauphin Island, developing a management plan, and implementing initial management actions based on recommendations in the management plan. The western end of Dauphin Island encompasses a diversity of coastal habitats — sweeping dunes, salt marsh, and beach flats. Sea turtles and several bird species, including the federally listed piping plover, use these habitats. The beach and dune areas serve as nesting habitat for the least tern and the snowy plover. Initial unpublished 2018 data from the Birmingham Audubon Society’s Alabama Coastal Bird Stewardship Program and other bird surveys from the previous decade indicate that this property also provides foraging habitat for Wilson’s plover, snowy plover, Reddish egret, American oyster catcher, Least tern, and other coastal bird species. Public ownership of this large parcel will facilitate the protection and management of its habitats for the benefit of bird species injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The acquisition will include an appropriate land protection instrument to ensure that the purpose of restoration is maintained in perpetuity.

Contact

Amy Hunter
(251) 621-1216
Amy.Hunter@dcnr.alabama.gov
Project Website
Project Partners

None

Affiliated Institutions

For official trustee information regarding the Deepwater Horizon NRDA, including information regarding the NRDA process and the status of projects, see https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/

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