National Wildlife Refuges

Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge (BSNWR)

• Bon Secour NWR Habitat Management Plan (2006) (PDF)
• Bon Secour NWR Fact Sheet
• Bon Secour NWR Bird List
• Bon Secour NWR Pine Beach Trail Guide
• The BSNWR was established by the US Congress in 1980. It consists of over 6,800 acres on the Fort Morgan peninsula and Little Dauphin Island. It is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• The BSNWR is home to the endangered Alabama beach mouse, serves as an important stop over point for migratory birds, and serves as nesting sites for green and loggerhead sea turtles. Habitats include beaches and sand dunes, scrub forest, fresh and salt water marshes, fresh water swamps, and uplands.
• Foxes, coyotes, bobcats, and more common residents such as alligators, squirrels, opossums and armadillos may be seen throughout the year.
• Houses at the end of Mobile Street belong to private landowners who owned the land before the Refuge was established. These landowners have decided to keep these “inholdings” rather than sell them to the Fish and Wildlife Service. There are a few private “inholdings” within the refuge off the Pine Beach Trail. These landowners have legal access to their property by way of the trail.
• Perdue Tract was the first tract of the BSNWR. The Perdue Tract contains the Pine Beach Trail, Gator Lake, and borders the Little Lagoon.
  • Skipper Tonsmiere, a local home builder and Baldwin County resident, called Myrt Jones in 1979 and asked how to go about saving land. Skipper gave her a copy of the developer’s plan (who had an option on the property) to place a golf course on the sand dune area, home, condos, and businesses throughout. The Nature Conservancy, met with the five leaders: Skipper, Myrt, Nancy Garrett, John Borom, and Jack Friend. They needed congressional support in order to get the necessary funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which was used to acquire coastal lands, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Congressman Jack Edwards was approached by the group and said that he couldn’t do anything as long as this developer had the option. He told the group that he couldn’t give his support if Myrt was in the foreground. The developer lost his option. Chase Manhattan Bank in New York was asking $10,000,000 for the property. The Fish and Wildlife determined it fit all the requirements for acquisition and purchased it for $3,000,000- $6,000,000. – Myrt Jones
• Little Dauphin Island is the only north-south barrier island along the Gulf of Mexico. After Hurricane Frederic hit the Alabama coast in 1979, there was an exit ramp to Little Dauphin Island from the Dauphin Island Bridge being rebuilt. Chris Delaney, a local attorney, was the major owner and wanted to sell the island. The Fish and Wildlife did their study and determined it fit into the requirements, and it was acquired for $2,000,000-$3,000,000 and became the second parcel (Mobile County) in BSNWR. – Myrt Jones
• The Nature Conservancy bought 1,800 acres known as Little Point Clear immediately east of Pilot Town for $410,000 in 1994, with Geo Resources retaining mineral rights.
  • Little Point Clear’s owner was an “oil giant,” Pace Oil, and its owner (Mr. Page) had determined that the little natural brackish water inlets could be canalized and he could construct Florida-like homes with bulkheads. He requested a permit, but he had to have a deep access channel from Intra coastal Waterway, and this required extensive permits from the state Department of Conservation, Lands Division and Marine Resources, ADEM, Fish and Wildlife, COE, EPA, etc.. Eventually Mr. Page’s plans were stopped. This property was acquired and became the third largest parcel of the BSNWR.  – Myrt Jones
• The Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge added 105 acres along Oyster Bay to its protected lands which will become part of the Fort Morgan sanctuary’s Sand Bayou Unit, which now includes about 1,000 acres bordered by Oyster and Bon Secour bays and the Intracoastal Waterway. The 105 acres were originally purchased for protection in 2004 by The Nature Conservancy, which named the tract the Scott B. Ireland Preserve. Scott Ireland’s father, Bill Ireland Sr., is a Birmingham conservationist who summers in Gulf Shores and wanted to preserve the property in honor of his late son, who lived in Magnolia Springs. The Wildlife Service paid $160,000 for the tract. The Nature Conservancy also acquired some of the Gulf-front tracts that eventually became the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. – PR 11/23/07
• The Nature Conservancy considered buying the Pilot Town tract and another 210 acres the bar pilots had owned nearby, estimating the 300 acres to be worth $87,000. The Nature Conservancy lost interest in the property in 1994 because of its legal problems; in 1998 the price was too high. In 2001 the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which runs the refuge, offered the Langans $2 million for about 90 acres they had bought in a 1998 auction for $620,000, but the bid was rejected

Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge

• The Grand Bay NWR was established by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 1992. It consists of 14,060 acres in Jackson County, MS and Mobile County. Partners are Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, and The Nature Conservancy Grand Bay Bioreserve.
• Major habitats consist of tidal marsh on the south portion and pine/pine savanna on the central and north portions. Federally listed threatened species that are on or may visit this refuge include the brown pelican, gopher tortoise, and bald eagle. The pine savannas are managed with controlled burning.
  • The United States Department of Commerce and the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources created the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.  Forever Wild has acquired 2500 acres as a nature preserve near Bayou La Batre. In 1998 the Nature Conservancy acquired through donation approximately 1200 acres from International Paper Company, that was incorporated into the NWR.

Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

• The Reserve is managed by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and is also a part of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the U. S. Department of Commerce.
• The Weeks Bay Reserve Interpretive Center is located on U. S. Highway 98 just west of the Fish River Bridge. The Center houses a multitude of exhibits, habitat models, specimen collections and a diorama. Associated with the Interpretive Center are over 5,000 feet of elevated boardwalks and over two miles of primitive ground trails. Some of the special opportunities available at the Weeks Bay Reserve include a native pitcher plant bog, hummingbird and butterfly gardens, historical and archaeological displays, and scenic vistas of the Weeks Bay estuary. A $1.39 million education center on the site of the old Lulu’s restaurant will open in 2008
• The Weeks Bay Reserve Foundation supports the Reserve

Wildlife Management Areas

• Mobile-Tensaw Delta WMA
• Upper Mobile Delta Map (2009)
• Mobile-Tensaw Delta and W.L. Holland WMA Map (2009)

State Parks

• Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores consists of 6,150 acres with 2 miles of beaches, modern and primitive camping, cottages, trails, and an 18-hole championship golf course near Lake Shelby, a 900 acre lake with freshwater fishing, skiing and swimming.
• Meaher State Park is a 1,327-acre park is situated in the wetlands of Mobile Bay with modern camping, boat ramp and fishing pier, and two nature trails including a wetland boardwalk.
• 5 Rivers Delta Resource Center opened in 2007 on the north side of the Mobile Bay Causeway. It is the terminus of the Bartram Canoe Trail, while features 6 campsites (4 of which are floating). It also has a visitor’s center, reception hall, and hiking trails.
  • The center’s Delta Hall has true heart pine wood was custom milled after being retrieved from the bottom of the Choctawhatchee River. In the 1930s and 1940s, timber was placed on rafts and floated to market. Sometimes an entire raft would sink. Timber can deteriorate for three inches or so when submerged, making a protective crust around the log and what is inside crystallizes. Some people dive for the logs, but it is illegal to remove them from Alabama Rivers. People were caught doing this and the timber was stored and used for state’s evidence. It became a ruling that this was state property and was used for the nature center. – Kathy Ferniany, Spanish Fort Sun, 11/18/07
• Alabama Coastal Birding Trail Map and Pamphlet
• Alabama Scenic River Trail
• Fairhope Boat Company outfitters

Nature Conservancy Reserves

• Splinter Hill Bog is located in the headwaters of the Perdido River along Dyas Creek in northern Baldwin County. It is forested by longleaf pine savanna/seepage bog communities with interspersed sandhill habitats. Much of the site is occupied by some of the largest and most visually impressive white-topped pitcher plant bogs globally. It is open dawn to dusk from March 1-October 15 and can be accessed only by written permission between October 15 and March 1. Forever Wild and The Nature Conservancy have acquired over 2,100 contiguous acres
• The Grand Bay Savannah Bioreserve is part of the Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
  • It also includes the Dennis Cove  preserve at the mouth of the Fowl River at the southern tip of Mon Louis Island. The Dennis Cove site is inaccessible to visitors and can only be seen by boat.
• Rabbit Island is a 26-acre island off of Ono Island. This preserve can be visited only when prior arrangements are made.
• The Nature Conservancy also protects the, Gulf Islands, Mobile-Tensaw River Delta, Weeks Bay NERR
• The Nature Conservancy purchased 14,119 acres along the Perdido River from International Paper Corporation in 2006. The deal protected more than 15 miles of river frontage. The Conservancy sold 9,300 of the acres to the Forever Wild Program for a total of $13.3 million and has nominated the balance to Forever Wild for future transfer. The tract is adjacent to 4,000 acres owned by the state of Alabama.

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  • This was part of the largest conservation project in the history of the South — a landmark purchase of 218,000 acres from IP of forestland across 10 states. The Nature Conservancy had the money on hand when International Paper Corp. began selling all its timber land and bought it immediately. The nonprofit land preservation group and the state had been planning to work together to help the state buy the land.
  • The Conservancy is allowing the state to make the entire tract available for public recreation as a Wildlife Management Area.
  • In a unique partnership among The Nature Conservancy, International Paper, and the state of Alabama, pine plantations on the land will be managed for timber harvests while the plantations are restored to native longleaf pine forests. This will result in improved habitat for the rare animals that rely on longleaf pine forests for their survival.
  • The Conservancy is working to protect additional lands along the Perdido River to form a corridor of conservation land that will protect the entire river and stretch across southern Alabama to the conservation lands in the Mobile Delta. Florida is working to conserve the other side of the river so that it could ultimately become one of the few rivers that is preserved from headwaters to mouth.
  • The land boasts some of the state’s most rare and precious habitat types, with some pitcher plant seepage bogs, upland longleaf forests and sugar white beaches in addition to the cedar swamps.