Mobile County Commission Votes to Accept $2.2 Million Grant for Lower Halls Mill Creek Protection Project

Posted on: Mar 14th, 2022

MOBILE COUNTY, Ala. - The Mobile County Commission approved, on March 14, 2022, accepting a $2.2 million grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s (NFWF) Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund to purchase and permanently preserve approximately 291 acres of undisturbed, high quality, pristine wetlands in the Dog River Watershed.

The Lower Halls Mill Creek Protection project will require no matching funds from the Mobile County Commission. The County will purchase the land from willing sellers, using NFWF grant funds, strictly for conservation and environmental protection purposes.

“This NFWF grant is another great opportunity for Mobile County Commission to leverage available resources; this time to preserve and protect our unique ecosystem, which is so important to our overall quality of life,” said District 3 Commissioner Randall Dueitt. 

Preserving these 291 acres of extreme biodiversity helps protect critical vegetation as well as habitats for endangered species like manatees and bald eagles. It will also contribute to the long-term health of the Dog River Watershed.

According to the grant, the parcel to be purchased “is comprised of one of the largest, and most pristine, contiguous undeveloped acreages of bottomland hardwood wetlands remaining in the Greater Dog River Watershed.”

Both the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program's Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan and the Dog River Watershed Management Plan list conservation and protection as top priorities.

Mobile County Commission has recently accepted other grants from NFWF including

• $30 million in 2021 for the Dauphin Island Causeway and Shoreline Habitat Restoration,
• $9.4 million in 2020 for a Living Shorelines Project along Dauphin Island Causeway, and
• $12.7 million in 2017 for Salt Aire Shoreline Restoration Project.