Dauphin Island Restoration

Q&A: Only the Few?

Doesn't a West End solution serve just the interests of a few?

A restoration of the West End south shoreline has support from a wide variety of people - West Enders, East Enders, off-islanders, renters and even day-visitors who have no financial stake in keeping the West End intact.

Property owners and visitors alike love the island and want to see the south shore restored. People enjoy being able to walk the beach, and swim or fish in the Gulf waters off the West End. Since so much of the public beach has eroded, we now have to walk under houses or turn back.

Also, it is estimated that West End properties provide 70% of total revenue for the island. (See Revenue.) This is hardly serving the interests of only a few. The public services provided by the Town of Dauphin Island - which serve the entire island - would surely be impacted if revenue from the West End was severely diminished or lost entirely.

Other coastal communities manage to secure tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of dollars in local, state and federal funding to restore and maintain their beaches and shoreline. Why shouldn't Dauphin Island get similar help?

Most importantly, note that the Task Force seeks restoration solutions for ALL shoreline areas, particularly public beach areas. We do emphasize the most in-crisis areas of the West End at the present time because of the exponentially accelerating erosion there, and the imminent danger to homes and infrastructure. But our interest is in preserving the entire island. We are all in this together. Any reduction of public beach, public amenities or public services anywhere on the island (as well as loss of private property) reduces our tax base, tourism revenue and ultimately, our quality of life on the island. Of course we care about the entire island!

See our Downloads page for a slide show which outlines a proposal for an interim shoreline stabilization solution to address all public beach areas of the Gulf-front shoreline.