Dwight Johnson, member of the board of directors for Historic Blakeley State Park beside Confederate earthworks at Blakeley Bluff
Photo: Jessica Crawford for The Archaeological Conservancy
The Conservancy recently partnered with The Conservation Fund and the clothing manufacturer Patagonia to ensure the preservation of a tract of land in south Alabama, near the city of Mobile, known as Blakeley Bluff. The tract is approximately sixty acres and is in the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta. This is the second largest delta in the country and it’s fed by the Mobile and Tensaw rivers, plus numerous smaller creeks, streams, oxbow lakes, and marshes. It’s home to a variety of iris, lilies, hibiscus, and orchids as well as to several endangered plant and animal species. In addition to the forest and aquatic resources, minerals such as rich clay deposits make it a unique treasure in an area that is under constant threat from development and pollution. A native of the area, the late naturalist E. O. Wilson, referred to it as “America’s Amazon.”
