Grants Accepted For Little Dauphin Island Restoration

The Mobile County Commission recently accepted $13 million in National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grants to restore Little Dauphin Island using dredged material from the Mobile Harbor Ship Channel Operation and Maintenance Project. The Little Dauphin Island Restoration Project will restore approximately 130 acres of degraded beach and dune habitat using approximately 1.1 million cubic yards of material dredged during routine maintenance of the recently deepened Mobile Ship Channel. Rather than placing dredged material offshore, it will rebuild the barrier island, restore wildlife habitat and strengthen its ability to protect the waters and shorelines behind it from erosion and storms. The restoration project is a partnership among the Mobile County Commission, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Town of Dauphin Island. The grants require no local match.