SPANISH FORT, Ala.—The second in a series of four free, guided tours of coastal lands purchased by Alabama’s Forever Wild program will begin at 1 p.m. April 9 at the Jacintoport Tract in Saraland.

5 Rivers Delta Resource Center Manager Hank Burch will lead the two-and-a-half-hour two, slated to begin with a Forever Wild overview and a brief history of what he called the “intrinsic values” of the Jacintoport site, one of 13 purchases made by the program to protect more than 48,000 acres of land in the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta via federal land-acquisition grants.

Burch said the nearly 3,000 wetland acres at the Jacintoport Tract were purchased for $3.6 million by Forever Wild in 2004. The purchase was made in conjunction with a $1 million U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Coastal Wetlands grant used to purchase an additional 484 acres.

The Forever Wild purchase was used, however, to match a $2.9 million federal Forest Legacy Program grant, allowing for the purchase of yet another 659 acres. Since that time another 1,000 acres in the adjacent Bayou Sara Tract Addition have been purchased through similar financial structuring.

Hike participants are asked to meet at the tract’s parking area located off Station Street at the north end of the Mobile River Industrial Park.

Jeremy Doss,  a stewardship officer overseeing the Jacintoport Tract for the State Lands

Division, will co-lead the tour with Burch.

 “An important part of the tour will be discussions of the long-range management plan being implemented on the site, which includes restoration of longleaf pine uplands as well as improvements to the existing gopher tortoise habitat on the site,” Burch said.

Although the event is free, registration is required because space is limited, but Burch did say a second tour would be offered later in the afternoon if demand requires it. To register, call 5 Rivers at 251-625-0814.