History
In 1979 Gaillard Island was created as a disposal island for a ship channel made to connect Mobile Bay and Theodore Industrial Park where a navy port was built. The project consisted of dredging a deep draft ship channel about 5.2 miles (8.4 km) long, 300 ft (91 m) wide and 40 ft (12 m) deep. The project was controversial from an engineering and environmental standpoint. The engineers thought the island would not hold up in an open body of water and the environmentalists were concerned about the impact on the bay from an ecological standpoint. The island has been a success from the onset and has become an environmental showcase, home to thousands of birds, particularly brown pelicans. The island is named after Dr. M. Wilson Gaillard, a Mobile dentist. He was also an environmentalist who envisioned the island as a nesting haven for both shore and seabirds. The island is also known as Pelican Island by locals. The island is owned by the Alabama State Docks and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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