Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft signed closing documents this week placing 836 acres of wetlands along the eastern shore of Oyster Bay under a permanent conservation easement, ensuring the property can never be developed and setting the stage for a long-term restoration of fish and wildlife habitat in the area.
Craft signed the agreement alongside Weeks Bay Foundation Executive Director Connie Whitaker, formalizing years of planning aimed at protecting one of Baldwin County’s more significant remaining tracts of undeveloped coastal wetland. The easement covers land the city acquired in 2017 and guarantees it will remain undeveloped in perpetuity, while also directing resources toward restoring habitat, protecting water quality and guarding against saltwater intrusion into the surrounding marsh.
The protected acreage is made up of two adjoining parcels the city bought three years ago using $12.5 million in federal funds. The larger of the two, a 370-acre tract known as the Oyster Bay Nature Preserve, sits south of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and east of Oyster Bay. The second parcel, a 465.29-acre property named the Emmet O. and Vina Wenzel Wetland Preserve, lies north of the Intracoastal Waterway and County Road 4. Together the two preserves form a nearly continuous swath of protected land stretching across a stretch of Baldwin County that has otherwise seen rapid growth in recent years.
The purchase and easement were funded through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund, part of a broader program that channels money toward repairing environmental damage caused by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Oyster Bay project falls under what NFWF calls its Bon Secour/Oyster Bay Wetlands Project, one of a number of habitat restoration efforts funded across the Alabama and Mississippi coasts in the years since the spill.
City officials described the easement as a milestone in Gulf Shores’ broader push to balance growth with environmental stewardship. “The city of Gulf Shores is committed to protecting critical habitat,” said Dan Bond, the city’s environmental and grants coordinator. “This wetland conservation project is a great way to protect the environment for years to come. We are pleased to work with the Weeks Bay Foundation and NFWF to get this project done.”
Whitaker, whose Fairhope-based nonprofit works to conserve land and water resources throughout the Mobile Bay watershed, called the signing a turning point for a county that continues to see some of the fastest development pressure on the Gulf Coast. “This is an exciting day in Baldwin County and in Alabama,” Whitaker said. “As Baldwin County continues to develop, the pressure to convert remaining natural areas will continue. We highly commend Mayor Craft and the City of Gulf Shores for protecting these important parcels. The ecological benefits, as well as the health and wellbeing of those impacted by a clean water supply and protection from excessive flooding and stormwater, are immeasurable.”
Gena Todia, president of Wetland Resources Environmental Consulting, led the baseline documentation work on both preserves ahead of the easement. She said keeping the land free of clear-cutting, timber harvesting and residential or commercial development is essential to preserving habitat and the broader ecological benefits wetlands provide to people living nearby. “As has been recognized in the Bon Secour River, Oyster Bay, and Skunk Bayou Watershed Management Plan, and by the City of Gulf Shores, it is becoming increasingly important to protect certain remaining natural areas, which benefits all citizens of Baldwin County and the State of Alabama,” Todia said.
Much of the Oyster Bay Nature Preserve consists of wetlands, which perform functions that extend well beyond the boundaries of the property itself. “When water is slowed down and held in place, it can infiltrate the soil and recharge groundwater, a resource that every Baldwin County citizen relies on, from drinking water to agricultural irrigation,” Todia said. “Wetlands filter out sediment, chemicals, and other pollutants before they reach aquatic areas, resulting in cleaner water in which to fish and swim. Wetlands and associated streams also provide important habitat for fish and wildlife, some of which depend on these systems for their life cycle processes.”
Todia’s baseline survey also turned up a mix of invasive and native plant life across the two properties. Invasive species identified in the report include Chinese privet, Japanese climbing fern, cogongrass and Chinese tallow trees, commonly known as popcorn trees, alongside a lengthy inventory of native vegetation. Engineering firm Volkert Inc. developed a habitat management plan for the properties that includes controlling those invasive plants along with prescribed burning, a practice Whitaker said plays an important role in restoring native plant communities and improving conditions for wildlife.
Wildlife expected to use the property includes white-tailed deer, coyotes, bobcats, rabbits, southern flying squirrels, neotropical migratory birds, resident songbirds, game birds and wading birds, according to the habitat assessment. Bald eagles, osprey, hawks and owls are also likely to make use of the preserve, along with several species of turtles. “With proper reintroduction of fire and control of invasive exotic species, habitat quality can be greatly improved over time,” Todia said.
The easement is expected to remain in place permanently, meaning the acreage will stay off-limits to future development regardless of how the surrounding area continues to grow. City officials and the Weeks Bay Foundation both pointed to the agreement as a model for how coastal communities can use federal restoration dollars to secure long-term environmental protections even as development pressure on Baldwin County’s remaining natural areas continues to build.