Priority shift: Profiting to preservation

Two hundred million gallons of crude oil, and a decade after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Gulf of Mexico’s beaches of Baldwin County, Ala., have returned to life. Environmentalists say lessons learned from that catastrophe has shifted from profiting from nature to preserving it. Agencies and grass-roots groups have turned the disaster into opportunity. It took years of negotiations, but end results were millions of dollars allotted to Alabama: $356M in criminal claims under the Clean Water Act; and under the RESTORE Act, about $1.3B was made from civil claims. That money is divided among projects and research focused on the coast. Many of those dollars can already be seen along the beach, waterways and inland ecosystems that find lead to the GoM. “I think the oil spill caused us to look at a lot of things. Maybe we took for granted the beauty we have here,” said Chris Blankenship, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. “Since 2010, we have been more cognizant of the beauty and blessings we have and have a real desire to protect that.” Gov. Kay Ivey announced in April that the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation awarded $24M from spill-related funds to four new projects. In Baldwin County, the funds allow Alabama Forever Wild Land Trust to permanently protect 2,300 acres of coastal habitat where the Blackwater and Perdido rivers meet. The area includes four miles of frontage along both rivers, 1,200 acres of wetland and a 90-acre lake. Also, those funds will be used to restore highly-eroded riparian banks and stream channels in the Lower Fish River Watershed, which drains into Weeks Bay; and restoration of an unnamed tributary to Fish River near Marlow. This project will reduce sediment and nutrient pollution into Weeks Bay, improving water quality and enhancing seagrass beds and oyster reef habitat. The three additional projects include Gulf State Park Lodge and Associated Public Access Amenities Project; Fort Morgan Pier Rehabilitation Project; and the Laguna Cove Little Lagoon Natural Resource Protection Project. )(Source: Gulf Coast News Today 04/24/20) http://www.gulfcoastnewstoday.com/stories/protecting-what-was-nearly-lost,92318?