South Alabama Land Trust adds beach mouse habitat to its mission

South Alabama Land Trust adds beach mouse habitat to its mission

The The Alabama Beach Mouse has a new friend. The South Alabama Land Trust (SALT) announced that it is adding protection of habitat of the endangered Alabama Beach Mouse to its land conservation mission.
SALT has agreed to take on management of the fees assessed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service against developments on the Fort Morgan peninsula that consume beach mouse habitat. Under an agreement with the Service, those fees are used to buy and save even more beach mouse habitat on the peninsula and to take care of existing habitats.
Having successfully managed that fund for the last 15 years, the Alabama Coastal Heritage Trust (ACHT) decided it was time to shift that responsibility to an organization with a broader land conservation mission and fulltime staff.
The move came on the heels of the passing of ACHT’s founder, Hank Caddell, in 2025. According to the current ACHT President, Hendrik Snow, “Under Hank’s guiding hand, ACHT made one small parcel acquisition after another from willing landowners. Now after 30 years of that work, ACHT is pleased to have its mission endure through the South Alabama Land Trust.”
Although conservation of endangered species habitat is new for SALT, it is a role that SALT welcomes.
“SALT works to protect land before it’s gone forever. Saving land on the Fort Morgan peninsula has even more significance if it also helps to save an endangered species. I view that as a win for Alabama’s coastal environment and for the community we serve,” said SALT president, Paul Marcinko.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been protecting the Alabama Beach Mouse under the current program since 2011.
“Protecting the Alabama Beach Mouse requires strong, committed partners, and we’re grateful to see the South Alabama Land Trust take on this important role,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Bill Lynn.
“By continuing the long-standing work of conserving and managing habitat on the Fort Morgan peninsula, SALT is helping ensure that this endangered species has a future along Alabama’s coast.”
To assist in its work on Fort Morgan, SALT will be tapping into the expertise of the ACHT board members. Skipper Tonsmiere, a board member of both ACHT and SALT, is grateful for the input from ACHT. “The ACHT board members know the real estate market on the peninsula and can almost tell you without looking at a map where the beach mouse habitats that are most vulnerable to development pressure are.”
As it handed over the reins to SALT, ACHT also made a generous monetary donation to SALT and will be donating several parcels of land on the peninsula to SALT. According to Snow, “Our transfer of the function and mission of ACHT to SALT, plus a donation of funds to support future habitat conservation, is a fitting step toward seeing this mission pass into the next generation”.
SALT, a nationally accredited land trust, has been conserving land in south Alabama since it was founded in 1990. To date, SALT has protected over 13,000 acres of land across Baldwin and Mobile Counties, conserving critical plant and animal habitat, coastal lands, the edges along creeks, rivers and bays, clean water and the scenic beauty that defines coastal Alabama.
Pictured: (l to r, top to bottom): Barbara Caddell (wife of the late Hank Caddell, founder of ACHT); Mitchell Lee (SALT Board Member); Skipper Tonsmeire (SALT Emeritus Board Member); Bill Lynn (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Biologist – Alabama Beach Mouse Lead); Jane Herndon (SALT Executive Director); Jeff Powell (Field Supervisor, Al. Ecological Services Field Office.

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