Our Alabama Gulf Coast Beaches
It is a pleasure to live and play along the Alabama Gulf Coast! As Gulf Coast residents, we are fortunate to have our famed white sand beaches, but we can also enjoy the exceptional Gulf State Park and wildlife preserves right at our doorstep! These natural lands provide bountiful recreational opportunities for outdoor fun along our bays, lagoons, rivers, and bayous. They also provide vital habitat and breeding grounds for a rich and varied population of fish, sea creatures, and birds, including bald eagles, osprey, owls, and brown pelicans, and land animals, such as tortoises, lizards, frogs, alligators, bobcats, deer, foxes, and more! Coastal Baldwin County is also home to a few rare plants that exist in only a few spots in the entire world, like our carnivorous pitcher plants!
Unfortunately, storms, people, and time can place wear and tear on these delicate natural resources. Therefore, these habitats need to be preserved and protected, and occasionally they also need to be restored. We are so thankful to have community organizations, along with local, state, and federal government groups, that work together to achieve the preservation and rejuvenation of our precious coastal lands.
Beach Restoration Project 2023
There are two high-profile restorations nearing implementation. The largest is the beach renourishment project. Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, and the Gulf State Park groups have been collaborating for a couple of decades to ensure that our shores can be rebuilt when the beaches erode. The project is approaching the final steps of approval and funding to increase the width of the beaches between existing structures and the waterline by approximately one-hundred feet, from the western edge of the Gulf Shores city limit east to the Alabama state line. This impressive project is expected to begin following the 2023 tourist season.
For more information, visit https://www.gulfshoresal.gov/documentcenter/view/11401 and review the Public Meeting presentation. The picture below is one of 19 slides from that June 2022 event.
Source: https://www.gulfshoresal.gov/documentcenter/view/11401
Perdido Bay Islands Restoration
The second large scale restoration project is restoring the islands in Perdido Bay near the bridge at Alabama Pass. Orange Beach took the first step in preserving these islands in the early 2000s by purchasing them and making them a park. Orange Beach and The Nature Conservancy have been working on plans to secure funding to restore the islands after storm damage on Robinson, Walker, and the ever-popular Bird island. The picture below is from the site https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/lower-perdido-islands/, This site outlines the studies done and more details of the habitat restoration.
Source: https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/lower-perdido-islands/
There are numerous other preservation and restoration projects in the area. Below are links to a sample of local organizations focused on maintaining the wonders that draw us to this precious coastline.
Little Lagoon Preservation Society
Below are some of the preservation initiatives in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach
Little Lagoon Restoration Project
Laguna Cove NRDA restoration project
Perdido Key Habitat Conservation
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