SOUTHEASTERN WILDLIFE CONSERVATION GROUP A Non-Profit Organization created with a
mission to "Protect, Conserve and Re-Establish the Southeastern
United States Diminishing Wildlife and their Habitats"
The
Southeastern Wildlife Conservation Group plans to establish an
Educational Outreach project at Spanish Fort Elementary in the City of
Spanish Fort in Baldwin County, AL. This educational outreach project is
called the “Alabama Beach Mouse Habitat Restoration Program”. The project
will provide a permanent educational display at the school with
interpretive dune plants and cantilevered displays to educate elementary
grade students all year long. Behind the educational outreach
interpretive stations will be a 40 foot by 24 foot area used to grow sea
oats and other native dune plants. 1,500 dune plants will be grown twice
per year (3,000 total). Here, the students will not only be able to read
and learn about the coastal dune ecosystem and its importance, but will
also be able to see their conservation activity in progress through
growing dune plants that will be used in the restoration program. The
plants grown at Spanish Fort Elementary will be transported to Bon Secour
National Wildlife Refuge twice per year where students will first be
educated on-site about the Alabama Beach Mouse, the dune ecosystem, its
other inhabitants, and both of their importance.
The Alabama
Beach Mouse Habitat Restoration Project at Spanish Fort Elementary will
directly benefit the Alabama Beach Mouse and other animal and plant
species of the Alabama Coastal Dune Ecosystem. By growing sea oats and
other dune plants and planting them to restore the lost dunes from
Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina, the SWCG, Spanish Fort Elementary and US
Fish and Wildlife Service can successfully help to re-establish one of
the Alabama Beach Mouse’s last remaining habitats.
In addition to
the benefits to the Alabama Beach Mouse, many other species that inhabit
the coastal dunes and beaches will also be benefited by increasing their
habitat as well. Endangered sea turtles will benefit by creating the dune
shading needed to steer hatchlings toward the open waters of the Gulf of
Mexico. Re-establishing the dunes will also provide the needed nesting
areas for many coastal bird species.
This
Restoration Program will benefit many different individuals and
organizations through conservation education and habitat restoration
actions. Spanish Fort Elementary and its students will benefit by
providing the students a hands-on educational project which they have
never had before. This project will be one that the students can grasp
and take pride in for they will have personally grown the dune plants,
performed habitat restoration, and have effectively helped the plight of
the endangered Alabama Beach Mouse and other animal species that inhabit
the sand dunes. The Alabama Beach Mouse Restoration Project, through its
hands on approach, will not only educate the students but also give them
“ownership” in the project.
The community
will be benefited by first and foremost creating future stewards of our
coastal environments. With the serious implications of our coastal
environments future from climate change and population growth, we need
more people than ever to seriously take an interest in stewardship. The
best place to start is with our youth while they are still at an age
where their minds are open and looking to be enlightened natures wonders.
The Southeastern Wildlife Conservation Group has always felt that working
with young children creates a better probability of truly reaching the
students and in making future caretakers of the Earth.
The Southeastern
Wildlife Conservation Group has received grants for the initial start-up
of this program but needs financial contributions to sustain the Alabama
Beach Mouse Restoration Program. If you would like to join the SWCG and
make a small donation, please click the link below.
The
Southeastern Wildlife Conservation Group plans to establish an
Educational Outreach project at Spanish Fort Elementary in the City of
Spanish Fort in Baldwin County, AL. This educational outreach project is
called the “Alabama Beach Mouse Habitat Restoration Program”. The project
will provide a permanent educational display at the school with
interpretive dune plants and cantilevered displays to educate elementary
grade students all year long. Behind the educational outreach
interpretive stations will be a 40 foot by 24 foot area used to grow sea
oats and other native dune plants. 1,500 dune plants will be grown twice
per year (3,000 total). Here, the students will not only be able to read
and learn about the coastal dune ecosystem and its importance, but will
also be able to see their conservation activity in progress through
growing dune plants that will be used in the restoration program. The
plants grown at Spanish Fort Elementary will be transported to Bon Secour
National Wildlife Refuge twice per year where students will first be
educated on-site about the Alabama Beach Mouse, the dune ecosystem, its
other inhabitants, and both of their importance. 
This
Restoration Program will benefit many different individuals and
organizations through conservation education and habitat restoration
actions. Spanish Fort Elementary and its students will benefit by
providing the students a hands-on educational project which they have
never had before. This project will be one that the students can grasp
and take pride in for they will have personally grown the dune plants,
performed habitat restoration, and have effectively helped the plight of
the endangered Alabama Beach Mouse and other animal species that inhabit
the sand dunes. The Alabama Beach Mouse Restoration Project, through its
hands on approach, will not only educate the students but also give them
“ownership” in the project. 
