South Alabama Land Trust Hires Coordinator, To Add Easements

The South Alabama Land Trust (SALT) of Fairhope has announced that Katherine Kuhnhas accepted the position of outreach and volunteer coordinator for the nonprofit, which supports the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Kuhnhas said she lived in multiple states growing up but later found herself wanting to live close to the coast. She attended Spring Hill College in Mobile, where she earned a BS in Marine Organismal Biology. Shortly after graduating, she began a fellowship program with the Alabama Coastal Foundation, where she later worked as its coastal relations coordinator for two years. She was a graduate of Mobile United’s Connect Mobile Young Professionals class of 2019. In 2020, she completed training in Seattle to become a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries-certified North Pacific Fisheries Observer in Alaska for two terms. Kuhnhas now lives in Orange Beach.

SALT also announced it plans to acquire more than 20 parcels of land to add to its easements on Dauphin Island via a $2-million grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). Continuing its 20-year partnership with the Dauphin Island Bird Sanctuaries (DIBS), lands acquired through the project will be directly deeded to and managed by DIBS, while SALT will hold their conservation easements. According to Connie Whitaker, executive director of SALT, the primary goals of the project are to acquire and protect land for long-term conservation, ultimately helping restore and maintain the ecological functions of landscape-scale coastal habitats, beaches and coastal marshes, and increase the locations’ viability and resilience. Dauphin Island is recognized as one of the most important bird habitats in the country and is part of the Mississippi Flyway, one of North America’s most important rest stops for migratory birds.