Gulf Shore Getaway

A U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service proposal would set aside more habitat territory for the federally protected Alabama beach mouse.

The new proposal could affect Gulf Shores condo plans, as it expands the habitat territory beyond the dunes immediately adjacent to the beach. Originally it had been believed these dunes were the primary domain for the Alabama beach mouse, but the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has found that their territory is actually larger than that.

We've found out that some of the higher elevation dunes found in the scrub line are very important, especially in hurricanes. - Fish & Wildlife Service spokesman Mike Groutt of Daphne

The proposal would redraw the sandy habitat of the Alabama beach mouse to include areas beyond the beach front dunes that were originally believed to be its main home. For Gulf Shores this means that 1,298 acres would be designated as "critical habitat." This means special permits would be needed in order to build there.

The proposed changes are the result of a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity in 2003. They brought suit because they felt the Fish & Wildlife Service was not acting quickly enough on its own acknowledgment three years earlier that critical habitat for the Alabama beach mouse should be expanded. A federal judge ordered the habitat revised in 2004.

The Alabama beach mouse has been listed as endangered since 1985.

The public is invited to comment on the proposal April 3. The and the Fish & Wildlife Service plans to file a final proposal by January-2007.

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