Heritage and Culture

Preserving our coast’s heritage and culture is crucial to MBNEP’s work and a core community value of Coastal Alabama. Many worry the bay and coastal waters they enjoyed as children won't be there for their children and grandchildren. Our heritage here spans millennia, from the ancient oyster shell mounds on Dauphin Island and remnants of old Native American cultures to sunken Civil War ships, the French-influenced names of Coastal Alabama residents, and the French-inspired historic architecture of our coastal towns.

Heritage and culture encompass more than just fishing villages and working waterfronts. It includes our grandparents' memories of a clear Dog River free of shoreline trash, a navigable D’Olive Bay not clogged with sediment, a flourishing Delta without dying trees or eroded marshes, and intact, sea oat-covered sand dunes. Heritage and culture is about protecting these cherished aspects of Coastal Alabama so they can be experienced firsthand for generations to come, not just remembered through books or screens.