Fines from BP oil spill will be used to teach future generations to protect environment; Cousteau associate Travis Langen already teaching students that nature is self sustaining

Fines from BP oil spill will be used to teach future generations to protect environment; Cousteau associate Travis Langen already teaching students that nature is self sustaining

By John Mullen
It’s fitting that fines generated from the 2010 BP oil spill will be earmarked for teaching future generations to protect the environment through the Gulf Coast Eco Center.
“We want to get people to understand the region, understand the environment and understand how tourism can actually positively impact a place by basically leaving it better than they found it,” said Travis Langen with the Center for Ecotourism.
“The model is that we show kids how nature works, and then you realize that nature works really well at conserving resources at being self-sustaining of its system, so we have a lot of lessons we as humans can learn from nature,” said Langen.
The curriculum, designed in collaboration with the Gulf Shores State Park Nature Center, will focus on beach ecology, environmental conservation, and sustainability in nature and communities. Students will participate in field studies and ecological restoration activities in the State Park and Gulf Shores area, as well as team-building exercises, kayaking, hiking, organic gardening and much more.
Other programs will include day programs for local school groups and Gulf Coast tourists and visitors, weekend retreats, arts & ecology summer camps, family camps, and special events and workshops. The Center will also engage universities and industry groups throughout the region to establish partnerships and develop programs that will support the economy and enhance the quality of life along the Gulf Coast.
“At the time of the oil spill, I didn’t know what our future would be and knowing that the Exxon Valdez is like 30 years and it’s still a dead zone in the ocean,” Craft said at the Oct. 25 council meeting. “I feared greatly that the things that we had and that we knew were changing and I did not know. You look and see that oil wash up on that beach and I thought our quality of life and our lifestyle were threatened.”
City leaders, including Craft, started exploring ways to preserve the coastal environment and teach younger generations about the importance of sustaining it for the economy of the Alabama Gulf Coast.
“When the oil was in the water and the oil was on the beach nobody came,” Craft said. “Everything we have is dependent on our environment.”
Craft was aware of Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Oceans Future Society and his Ambassadors of the Environment program when his daughter worked at the Cousteau’s center on Catalina Island in California and at one in Hawaii.
A leading member of Cousteau’s team and former long-time director of the Catalina Island program, Travis Langen, was hired by the city to implement those programs here. On Oct. 25 Cousteau came to town and spoke to the city council and on Oct. 27 participated in the ground-saving ceremony.
“Let’s never forget that we’re all connected to every species on land, in the ocean, animals, plants and the diversity of stability,” Cousteau told the council. “We cannot afford losing species. We are connected to nature and we need to do everything we can to make something that will never disappear. If you protect the ocean, you protect yourself. Remember when it rains that’s the ocean. When you’re drinking a glass of water, you’re drinking the ocean. When you’re skiing, you’re skiing on the ocean. There’s one single system that we need to project which we all depend on, every plant, every animal.”
A delegation from Gulf Shores including Craft and Ty Warren of the Gulf State Park Enhancement Program visited the program on Catalina Island in 2013 and in 2014.
Developing a center on the Gulf Coast was documented in the city’s Vision 2025 plan.
“The city wants to build an eco center here and camp facilities similar to what we have on Catalina Island,” Langen said.
Ironically, fine money from that 2010 oil spill will pay for the center. The city was able to get $9.7 million in Restore Act money to fund the program in 2018 and officials say the design is complete and hopes are construction will begin before the end of the year. The target date for opening is winter of 2022.
In 2019, Langen left the Catalina Island program to begin developing the new facility using assets at the Gulf State Park Learning Campus.
“It’s been a really fun project, it’s been a crazy few years,” Langen said. “We’ve had a lot of collectively ups and downs these last couple of years but we’ve made great headway in the development of that program.”
Most of his time has been spent working with Gulf Shores City Schools and running summer camps for kids to teach them about the environment’s vital role.
“It is a pleasure and a privilege and I am very honored to be part of this experience that is taking place here where I had the privilege of seeing a lot of young people and decision makers of tomorrow,” Cousteau said. “I can tell you there is hope. We’re going to do it. If I didn’t have this privilege of being connected with those children I may wonder about the future of our species.”
Other summer activities already being run by Langen and his team include bike tours of the state park, working on the elementary school, Little Lagoon programs, studying at the Gulf State Park Pier and kayaking.
“We did a summer camp with Gulf Shores Elementary and we had about 150 students for five weeks. We’re doing all sorts of fun programs at the Learning Campus at Gulf State Park,” Langen said. “We had a fantastic summer with a total of about 220 kids. It was our most successful summer ambassadors’ program to day and we look to expand each year.”