September 2, 2010 - Orange Beach, AL (OBA) - NOAA today reopened to commercial and recreational fishing 5,130 square miles of Gulf waters stretching from the far eastern coast of Louisiana, through Mississippi, Alabama, and the western Florida panhandle. The reopening was announced after consultation with FDA and under a re-opening protocol agreed to by NOAA, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the Gulf states.
Trajectory models show the area is at a low risk for future exposure to oil, and most importantly, fish caught in the area and tested by NOAA experts showed no signs of contamination.
September 1, 2010 - Orange Beach, AL (OBA) - A to Z Maps provides current and historical political maps of the world, continents, countries and all U.S. states. These maps are appropriate for study and can be printed for inclusion in reports. Specialized maps are also available describing climate, ecology, weather, earthquakes and bathymetric/fishing data.
September 1, 2010 - Gulf Shores, AL (GSA) and Orange Beach, AL (OBA) - Two of the biggest names in music will use their star power to help bring attention and tourists back to the Alabama Gulf Coast. The two free concerts ON THE BEACH are slated for the weekend of October 15th-17th in Gulf Shores, Alabama, with Bon Jovi performing on Friday, October 15th and Brad Paisley performing on Sunday, October 17th. These two shows signify the next installments of Alabama’s “Concerts For The Coast” event series.
“We are thrilled to announce the addition of these two concerts that will enhance an exciting weekend that already features the return of our powerboat races ,” said Herb Malone, president/CEO of Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism. “We are extremely pleased that fans will have a weekend filled with exciting race action and capped off with two nights of phenomenal beachside music."
Coming to the Alabama Gulf Coast for the Labor Day Weekend? Looking for a great (new) place to eat? Check out Orange Beach's newest dining experience - Big Fish.
August 31, 2010 - Orange Beach, AL (OBA) - Looking for a no-cost activity to do with your family? Come join the Orange Beach Library at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 9, 2010 for a free showing of the 2009 film, Ponyo. This animated film from Studio Ghibli and Walt Disney is rated G and runs 90 minutes.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ( USFWS ) is proposing a General Conservation Plan for the endangere Alabama beach mouse ( ABM ) to expedite issuance of permits to build single family homes and duplexes in ABM habitat on Fort Morgan Peninsula. Under the National Environmental Policy Act ( NEPA ), we, the USFWS must advise the public that we intend to gather information necessary to prepare an environmental impact statement ( EIS ) on the ABM General Conservation Plan. The public is invited to provide written comments on the potential environmental impacts of the plan by October 6, 2010, or comment in person on September 29, 2010.
August 26, 2010 - Orange Beach, AL (OBA) - Dr. Jane Lubchenco of NOAA held a telephone press conference today regarding the opening of Federal fishing waters off of the coast of western Louisiana.
Operator: And you may begin your conference.
Kevin Griffis: Great, thank you. Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. This is Kevin Griffis with the Department of Commerce, and I'm joined today by Jane Lubchenco, the undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere. She is going to announce today the opening of some closed federal waters and the steps that we're taking to reach that decision.
And so without further ado, I'm going to hand it over to Dr. Lubchenco.
Jane Lubchenco: Thanks, Kevin.
Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us. I'm happy to announce today the reopening of 4,281 square miles of federal waters in the northwestern corner of the federal closed area. This is an area that's just off the western coast of Louisiana. Today's reopening represents 7.4 percent of the currently closed area.
NOAA's decision today to reopen waters to commercial and recreational fishing we believe is the right one for fishermen and for American consumers. It gives fishermen access to important fishing grounds. And because NOAA followed a reopening protocol also agreed to by the FDA and the gulf states, it also protects consumers and helps prevent contaminated seafood from entering the marketplace.
August 26, 2010 - Orange Beach, AL (OBA) - The Gulf Shores Open, part of the Golf Channel Amateur Tour, was held on August 21 and 22 at the Peninsula Golf and Racquet Club, a Gulf Shores Golf Association golf course. Drawing awareness and interest in the local golf and the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area in general, the Gulf Shores Open was added to the AM Tour in June and attracted golfers from around the nation.
One such golfer, Valentine Stype from Long Island, New York, canceled his participation in a Pennsylvania tournament to play in the Gulf Shores Open instead. “I said to my wife, you know we should really come on down…and spend some money here to help out the people because with the oil spill and so forth, they're hurting,” Stype stated in an interview at the Peninsula Golf and Racquet Club.
In addition to playing in the tournament, Stype and his wife planned to turn their first visit to Gulf Shores into a week-long vacation. “The people have been just great. We're going to spend the week here, and it's going to be really nice,” Stype said.
Below are Facebook widgets for some of our Friends. We created this function to help people who are interested in the Alabama/Florida Gulf Coast to find Facebook Pages for Causes, Musicians and Groups in our area.
Click on the "Like" button to add them to your Facebook account.
Fun Things To Do
There are lots of Fun Things To Do on the Flor-Bama Gulf Coast: Fish, Boat, Golf, Beach, Dine, Bike, Kayak, and list goes on.
If you're thinking about visiting Orange Beach, we have a list of Daytrip Ideas for you. This list of ideas is great for places to go on daytrips from the Orange Beach area.
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