Gulf State Park plans millions in upgrades

Originally Published by the Mobile Press Register

Federal oil and gas royalties may fund up to $8.4 million in storm repairs, improvements

Sunday, September 23, 2007
By RYAN DEZEMBERStaff Reporter

GULF SHORES -- From its Gulf fishing pier to stands of longleaf pine, a series of projects are planned at Gulf State Park to repair lingering storm damage and update facilities.

What will make most of the work feasible is an anticipated $8.4 million in federal money doled out as part of the Coastal Impact Assistance Program, which distributes oil and natural gas royalties among fossil-fuel-producing coastal states.

Alabama and its two coastal counties stand to receive more than $51.1 million to spend as part of the project, and according to an early budgeting plan a substantial portion of that -- more than 16 percent -- is slated to be spent on Gulf State Park.

"Obviously, the Gulf State Park was a real priority, it's a real jewel in the Alabama State Park System," said Will Brantley, state lands manager for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. "This funding really helps us make a difference in that park."

As early as November work could begin on building a new fishing pier at the park. The old 875-foot-long pier was trashed in 2004's Hurricane Ivan and plans call for a new structure -- about 50 percent wider and extending into the Gulf of Mexico twice as far -- to be built about 350 feet east of the ruined pier, Park Superintendent Hugh Branyon said.

According to the state's spending plan, the new 1,510-foot-long pier will be built to withstand storm-strength wind and waves and will have an octagon with rest rooms at its center and a larger octagon at its terminus. Plans also call for a bait and tackle shop, pavilion and refreshment stand at the pier's entrance.

"I'm hoping that the pier can get started in a couple months," Branyon said. "We've gone out for bids and we've received the bids and it's just a matter of going ahead and finalizing it and getting the money in place."

With $4 million likely coming from the gas and oil royalties, the state plans to add about $1.2 million in insurance proceeds, $2.3 million of Federal Emergency Management Agency funding, and $1.5 million from a state park bond issue to come up with the pier's $9 million price.
Beyond the manmade structures that Ivan and 2005's Hurricane Katrina damaged were hundreds of acres of vegetation at the park that was killed by saltwater intrusion and wind burn.

Particularly hard hit were stands of longleaf pine. In response, state park officials have put together a $420,000 plan to restore a total of about 228 acres of longleaf pine forest by hauling away fallen timber and planting about 500,000 seedlings over the next three years, according to Branyon and the state's plan.

"Ivan came in and did a lot of damage but when Katrina came in, Katrina brought a lot of (saltwater)," Branyon said. "The campground was under six or seven feet of water and the drainage ditches were clogged up, and it just stayed there and killed the trees."

The park's rebuilt campgrounds will also likely get a vegetative makeover: The plan for the oil and gas money calls for $245,000 to be spent over five years planting native vegetation on 76 acres around the camp sites.

Branyon said that besides seeking flora that provides shade, plants that produce nuts and berries for wildlife will be emphasized.

The state park also anticipates getting $750,000 over four years to cut about seven miles of paths through the park that will serve dual roles as fire breaks and routes for naturalists and park officials to use while conducting research and maintaining previously inaccessible ecosystems, according to the plan.

Though most of the park's planned Coastal Impact Assistance Program money is aimed at repairing damage done by storms, $3 million is earmarked in the initial spending plan -- which won't likely be finalized until early next year -- to build a new environmental education center.

The facility will be larger and more sophisticated than the small building on the southern shore of Lake Shelby that now serves as the park's classroom, Branyon said.

Though he said he's not certain exactly where and when it will be built, it will probably be located somewhere along the north side of Alabama 182 between the current building and the park's beach pavilion in a spot that encourages passersby to pull off the highway and stop in.

Katrina brought a lot of (saltwater). The campground was under six or seven feet of water and the drainage ditches were clogged up, and it just stayed there and killed the trees."-- Park Superintendent Hugh Branyon

Gulf State Park officials plan to spend about $420,000 planting about 500,000 longleaf pine trees over the next three years. Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina killed many of the park's trees by inundating their roots with saltwater.

Gulf State Park pier was destroyed in 2004's Hurricane Ivan. State officials plan to replace the 825-foot-long structure with a pier twice as long using a combination of insurance proceeds and federal oil and natural gas revenue.