On Alabama’s coast, preserve the environment or protect the economy?
Would you rather preserve the environment or protect the economy?
What if I told you that, right here in Alabama, we’re coming up with creative solutions that benefit both our environment and our economy?
South Alabama is one of the most politically conservative areas of the state. It also happens to be one of the state’s most environmentally aware communities. Those two characteristics aren’t at odds with each other.
Alabama’s coastal areas face significant challenges in keeping their waterways open for business and recreation. Over time, sediment fills many rivers and tributaries; take Fowl River, for example. The river, which discharges into Mobile Bay, is authorized at eight feet. Recently, the mouth of the river has been as shallow as three feet. That creates economic problems when boats can’t safely navigate for commercial purposes or use the channel as a safe harbor during hurricanes.
The environmental problem is equally troubling. Many of Alabama’s wetlands are threatened, due to storms and turbulence from human activity. They are important environments for many species of plants and animals, but they also serve as critical buffers against hurricanes and the storm surges they bring.
A Republican state senator, who happens to also be a global business consultant, is working on a solution. Yes, that’s right. A conservative industrialist is attempting to protect Alabama’s environment and its economic interests at the same time.
State Sen. Bill Hightower, R-Mobile, is not amused that Alabama has “given the sovereignty of our waterways to the federal government.” The Army Corps of Engineers simply does not have enough money to keep many of Alabama’s waterways regularly dredged. “Alabama has more navigable waterways than almost every state in the nation,” notes Hightower. “We must take a strategic approach to the care of our own waterways.”
According to Hightower, the corps prioritizes dredging projects based on cargo tonnage passing through waterways. Alabama’s economic activity involves plenty of volume, such as fishing or shrimping, but is relatively light in terms of tonnage.
Back to Fowl River
Hightower has supported an effort, actually a patchwork of different programs, to dredge Fowl River and restore the wetlands on nearby Mon Louis Island.
The project includes funding and expertise from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources-State Lands Division, Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile County and Fowl River LLC. There was not enough money to complete the dredging and restoration work, so Hightower asked Gov. Robert Bentley to facilitate the groups working together to make sure the resources and expertise materialized.
It worked, and the project is slated to get underway shortly.
“The project is an excellent example of how these entities have solved the problem of limited resources, using creativity with collaboration,” said Hightower.
But it’s not as simple as dig and drop. The dredge from the river is too full of silt to place on Mon Louis Island. To solve the problem, sand from Mobile Bay goes to Mon Louis Island and the dredge from Fowl River will fill the hole in the floor of the bay.
That sounds like a lot of work for one project, but frankly, that’s the type of creative leadership we should expect from the people we elect. If real solutions to our problems were as easy as throwing money at them, most of our politicians would be heroes.
Funding and leadership will always be challenges, but perhaps the greatest hurdle of all is rejecting the false choice that we can’t protect our economy and our environment at the same time.
Hightower Letter to Bentley Regarding Fowl River by David Cameron Smith
