FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Working with the Fairhope Single Tax Corp., the Baldwin County Board of Education recently donated nearly nine acres of downtown Fairhope gullies to the city of Fairhope for permanent protection as parklands.

“It was the largest addition to the city parks system within city limits in over a century,” said Dean Mosher, FSTC vice president. “What would nine acres in downtown Fairhope be worth? We saved it for the birds, our children and grandchildren,” he said.

The donation was inspired by a tradition that began with the FSTC colonists who founded Fairhope in 1894. These settlers purchased and set aside deep expansive ravines along the bay, donating them to the city in the early 1930s as parklands with protective covenants.

The gully system, which includes Stacks, Big Head and Bayou Charbon, represents a large portion of the city’s protected green space as well as the oldest, continuous, public-private-corporate watershed management partnership in the world.

The gullies were carved by erosion resulting from unrestricted timber clear-cutting in the 19th century. Over time, the unsightly ravines evolved into about 100 acres of protected forests that serve as bird and wildlife sanctuaries as well as natural storm water drainage basins for filtering runoff.

“The gullies act as wonderful watershed management areas for absorbing many square miles of urban growth safely and with little or no environmental damage,” Mosher said.

Biologist Dr. John Borom, director of the Fairhope campus of Faulkner State Community College, grew up exploring these gullies. Now his grandson plays there amongst a wide variety of local wildlife and migratory birds.

“The whole city of Fairhope is designated as a bird sanctuary, and this is a place where birds can find refuge in town,” Borom said. “the gullies might not have started out as a good thing, but they certainly have turned out that way for Fairhope. They add to the character and quality of life.”

Because the BOE is not able to develop the gullies for schools, they donated those properties to the city.

“The Board of Education is always eager to partner with cities and communities, and we were pleased to be able to make this endeavor happen,” said BOE Communications Director Terry Wilhite. “I believe it will be a sound asset for the city for years to come.”

Mosher said the legal and survey expenses for this land donation were paid for by the FSTC and the transferred lands fall under the same covenants as the original parklands that were deeded to the city, which includes the bay front park areas.