MUDDY CREEK MITIGATION SITE DEDICATION IS POSTPONED

Construction delays are the reasons for postponing the Oct. 30 planned dedication of the Muddy Creek wetlands mitigation nature acreage. The dedication was set for 10 a.m., but unforeseen delays in completing the trail by next week have caused Alabama State Docks to postpone the dedication date. Dedication will likely take place about the first of the year. 

The project received the national award in the American Association of Port Authorities Environmental Improvement Award in the Mitigation Category last month. The site had been expected to be ready for public visitation by November 1, but construction delays at the site have slowed completion. 

The area, consisting of 200 acres and located along Muddy Creek, came into being because of the construction of the Marine Liquid Bulk Terminal on the Theodore Channel. The State Docks offered to return the acreage to a natural setting for perpetuity in exchange for impacting acreage at the terminal site. 

In cooperation with the Alabama Department of Corrections, state prisoners cleared the area of debris and non-native, or exotic plant species. They then planted 12,000 native tree and shrub species to replace the extracted exotic plant species and prevent their re-growth.  

A ground trail made of mulch donated by Alabama Power covers two miles for walking through a newly planted longleaf pine thicket and along the creek, where beavers have created two large beaver ponds. A boardwalk has been placed in some of the wetter locations, and identification markers for the vast varieties of trees and plants will be appropriately placed.