In 2018, the Alabama Coastal Foundation assisted filmmaker Ben Raines in producing the documentary "The Underwater Forest," which explores the discovery of an ancient cypress forest discovered 60 feet underwater in the Gulf of Mexico off the Alabama coast.

Six years later, the foundation is still working to have the area federally protected by Congress under official legislation.

According to ACF director Mark Berte, the Foundation began introducing legislation to Congress in 2020 to have the area designated as a National Marine Sanctuary. The organization will be hosting an event showcasing the documentary on Jan. 19 to garner new support for the cause.

"At the time, Bradley Byrne, who is now the president and CEO of the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, was serving as our U.S. representative. Each year since then, that same legislation has been introduced by Congressman Jerry Carl," Berte said. "The good news is that each year we have had more people, no matter their political perspective, learn about this amazing natural wonder and take action to let others know so it can be protected."

Berte said he first became aware of the area in 2016, and it quickly became a passion project.

"One of the advisory council members, Ben Raines, let me know about that discovery back in 2016, and ACF started to raise support to make a short documentary," Berte said. "'The Underwater Forest' was premiered throughout the state in 2017 and won many awards, but our focus [now] has been on the snowbirds because they have connections with members of Congress from other states."

Shortly after it's premiere, the film won several awards, including Best Ecological Short Documentary, at the American Filmatic Arts Awards in New York. Additionally, Raines won the Alabama Filmmaker Award at the Fairhope Film Festival in 2017.

While the exact location of the underwater forest has not been released publicly, Berte said if the area becomes protected the location would be made public. He said he thinks that having the area federally protected would ensure its safety from potential destruction caused by spectators.

"The legislation will protect the location so our area can benefit in terms of eco-tourism," Berte said. "It will allow fishing, scuba diving and research but stops anyone from trying to take any part of the natural reef. This is a unique habitat that supports a wide range of marine life, similar to coral reefs."

As for what's next, Berte said the organization is currently looking for additional support from states outside of Alabama.

"We have all of the elected officials, chambers of commerce and civic groups supporting this effort locally. We are reaching outside of Alabama to have at least two U.S. representatives, one Republican and one Democrat, from each state to co-sponsor this important nonpartisan legislation," Berte said. "A lot of people have invested a lot of time to bring this goal into reality this year. National Marine Sanctuaries work to conserve habitats and the marine life they support, so designating this status to the Underwater Forest will help protect the forest from adverse impacts."

"The Underwater Forest" is currently streaming for free on YouTube and has amassed over one million views since it was posted in 2018.

For more information, or to support this cause visit www.joinACF.org.