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May 24, 2005 Mobile, AL. The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (Mobile Bay NEP) announced today that preliminary planning has begun to investigate restoration opportunities for enhancing Isle Aux Herbes (also known as Coffee Island) in Mississippi Sound. A public meeting will be held on June 2, 2005 in the lobby of the Bayou La Batre Community Center (Padgett Switch Road) from 5:30 until 7:00 to gather public input to enhance this planning process. Isle Aux Herbes is an approximately 29 acre, state-owned and tidally inundated island in Mississippi Sound in Mobile County. Over the years, Isle Aux Herbes has experienced severe erosion and loss of fringing marsh area. The purpose of the restoration is to prevent further decline of nesting habitat for colonial and migratory birds by creating a second nesting site similar to the one existing on nearby Cat Island. Preliminary considerations include building up certain sections of the island above the high tide line and expanding the marsh area through the beneficial use of dredge material generated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). Additional considerations may include creation of fringing hard bottom (oyster reef) and sea grass planting if feasible. The Corps is currently preparing a Preliminary Restoration Plan (PRP) and will be present at this meeting. Once the PRP is completed, the Corps may make a request for funding either as either Combined Planning and Design Report (PDR) or an Environmental Restoration Report that includes feasibility analysis and design specifications for the project. Actual construction or restoration work will be dependent on obtaining federal and matching funds. As a parallel and complementary effort, the Mobile Bay NEP and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources are coordinating citizen participation and development of a post-construction monitoring plan. Working in conjunction with the Corps is the Mobile Bay NEP, Alabama Department of Conservation’s State Lands Division, Mississippi - Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Dauphin Island Sea Lab. This project supports objectives in the Mobile Bay NEP’s Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan to “foster partnerships among agencies and private property owners to… better manage existing publicly owned sites, and to restore former colonial and migratory bird nesting sites.” For More Information Contact: Contact:
David Yeager or
Roberta Swann
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