Dauphin Island Honors Native Son Blankenship

A native son was honored Monday when the Christopher Blankenship Eco-Tourism Area & Kayak Launch was unveiled to the public on Dauphin Island at Aloe Bay.

The honoree was reared on Dauphin Island and started work as a deck hand on Capt. Mike Thierry's Lady Ann charter boat as a teenager. He continued his Dauphin Island connection as an enforcement officer with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' (ADCNR) Marine Resources Division (MRD). In 2017, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey appointed him as ADCNR Commissioner.

"Growing up on Dauphin Island, this is the best place ever to be a teenager," Commissioner Blankenship said. "This is definitely a special, special place. I started working on a charter boat when I was 14 years old. I used to ride my bike up to the marina at 5 o'clock in the morning to start loading supplies on the boats. You'd fish all day, get back and clean fish. You'd get home about 8 o'clock at night. I made what I thought was a ridiculous amount of money at the time, about $100 a day. I thought as a 14- and 15-year-old, what am I ever going to do with all this money!

"That not only instilled a love for fishing and the outdoors, but also hard work. When you do that at a young age, what we do now seems like a vacation."

The Commissioner met his wife, Allyson Tomberlin Blankenship, on the island, and he said his three children love Dauphin Island. He spent 23 years on the island with MRD, including seven years as MRD Director.

"Dauphin Island is one of a kind with great people, a great quality of life, great pace of life, and great leadership," Commissioner Blankenship said. "Leadership is the key for places that thrive. I have the opportunity to travel all over the state and do work with town councils, county commissions and mayors. I'm not just saying this because my name is on this area, and y'all have been really nice to me, but the mayor and town council at Dauphin Island have done a fantastic job. I can't say enough about Mayor (Jeff) Collier, Gene Fox, Trey Alderman, Shirley Robinson and the rest of the council for their dedication. They don't get rich doing this. They do it because they love their community. They love the people, and they want to do the right thing."

Commissioner Blankenship praised the Town of Dauphin Island staff who have been able to manage major projects with a minimum number of people on the staff to coordinate funding sources and getting the work completed.

"There are more than $203 million of projects either completed, underway or approved for Dauphin Island," he said. "That is amazing. When you put it all together, they are really transforming the island, not only transforming, but also protecting the things that make Dauphin Island special."

Dauphin Island Mayor Collier said there were doubts if the Blankenship project would ever come to fruition.

"It was one of those things that, just when you thought it would never happen, it finally gets to closure," Mayor Collier said. "It took a lot of coming together. Of course, initially, we had to purchase this from the private property owner. You have to have a willing seller. You have to come with a design, and this one was a little more complicated because it had an upland portion but also the living shoreline.

"What you see here today is really representative of what Dauphin Island is and what people come to and enjoy about Dauphin Island. It's the fact you can connect with nature."

Mayor Collier said the total acreage of the project is 83 acres with most of that in Aloe Bay bottom. Features of the Blankenship Eco-Tourism Area include an observation boardwalk, shoreline where people can bask in the sun and fish as well as launch a kayak. The area also offers public parking for single vehicles and those with kayak trailers and has a nice restroom facility.

"I was just talking to a gentleman about the blue heron nests on the property and the osprey nest on the tower here," Mayor Collier said. "It's got the pocket beach and kayak launch. Kayaking as you all know has become more and more popular over the past half-dozen years. So, we think this a good time to fold that into this area as well.

"And we're known for the sunsets. We're the sunset capital of Alabama. This is a really good spot to come in the evenings to enjoy the beautiful sunsets. This checks a number of boxes. We're preserving property. We're enhancing habitat. We're providing access to the natural resources."

Although the Eco-Tourism & Kayak Launch is obviously one of Commissioner Blankenship's favorites, the improvements in and around Aloe Bay are going to elevate the island to new heights. Those projects include the Ladnier Landing Boat Ramp, the Aloe Bay shoreline improvements, the $30 million wastewater treatment plant, the Aloe Bay Harbor Town and the USA (University of South Alabama) outdoor classroom and pier. Funding for the projects comes from the Deepwater Horizon settlement, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, GOMESA, ADCNR, Sport Fish Restoration, USA Foundation, NRDA (Natural Resource Damage Assessment), Town of Dauphin Island and the Mobile Jaycees.

"One thing I think is important to point out is that this is not all one, single funding source," Commissioner Blankenship said. "To be able to do the good work on Dauphin Island, it has taken a matrix of funding opportunities. Combining all of those funding sources just shows the importance of partnerships in places like Dauphin Island. When everybody wants to work together, we can all do good things together."

Commissioner Blankenship said land acquisition for public benefit is the key to maintaining and improving the quality of life in places like Dauphin Island.

"The land acquisition is some of the most important work being done," he said. "The acquired land belongs to the people forever. That includes 8 miles of beachfront on the West End, the Dauphin Island Bird Sanctuary properties, Mid-Island property, the property for Ladnier Landing and property where we're standing today. All of this belongs to the people of Dauphin Island forever."

Commissioner Blankenship said he is thankful for the opportunity to do "good work" for the people of Alabama.

"That's all I've ever wanted to do during my time at ADCNR," he said. "I work with great people who make these type projects come together and get them to the finish line. When I drive down and look at all these projects, starting at Bayfront Park and what's happening along the Dauphin Island Causeway to the new boat ramp that is going to be built at Cedar Point and improvements to the Cedar Point Pier, when I get to the island and see this park and all the changes in Aloe Bay, it is just fantastic. People who didn't grow up here or have only been here for a few years don't appreciate where we came from on Dauphin Island.

"I just want to say thank you for this honor. I don't know of anything more exciting in my career than to have a place as nice as this in your hometown to bear your family name. It's kind of weird, really. It happens for most people when they're dead, so I'm glad to get to see this when I'm alive."