FAIRHOPE, Ala. — One of the area’s most unspoiled and productive ecosystems will soon be in peril if action isn’t taken to keep it safe, according to an environmental advocacy group. Officials with the Southern Environmental Law Center announced last week that Weeks Bay has been placed on the organization’s inaugural list of the 10 Most Endangered Places in the South.

The bay was selected from among hundreds of potential sites in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia — all states under the group’s watch and impacted by its law and policy work.

“The area’s growth down there, and the pressure put on it by development, made it worthwhile to be put on the list,” Alabama native and SELC staff attorney Gil Rogers said during a phone interview from his Atlanta office on Thursday. “We look at resources that are of natural, ecological or cultural importance. The list is based on our assessment of the most important places under the most pressure.”

Weeks Bay is one of only three places in Alabama to be designated an Outstanding Natural Resource Water under the Clean Water Act.

The waters there form a broad, shallow estuary that teems with life. Connected by a small inlet to Mobile Bay and fed by the Fish and Magnolia rivers, the diverse habitat is home to a large variety of mammals, fish and waterfowl, as well as serving as a spawning ground for blue crab, shrimp, anchovy, sea trout, red drum, flounder, mullet and menhaden — all vital to Alabama's $450 million commercial seafood industry.

The 200-square-mile watershed includes wetlands dotted with cypress, bayberry and tupelo, and uplands populated by oak and pine.

Nineteen federally protected species make their home in and around Weeks Bay, among them the bald eagle, the Florida black bear, the marsh rabbit and the wood stork.

Rogers said there is a looming threat to the bay from rapid development, climate change and several other factors. Among those is a proposal to build a new commercial wastewater treatment plant in the Weeks Bay watershed.

“For a lot of these areas — it’s like a death by 1,000 cuts,” he said. “It’s many small projects. When you compound the projects going on in the watershed, it adds up. One of the major pollutants coming off these construction sites is sediment — dirt. These kinds of resources are microcosms of the health of the entire ecosystem.”

Although Weeks Bay is now in relatively good condition, SELC contends that conservation efforts need to be placed on the front burner. Rogers said if tighter regulations are not enacted, and current regulations enforced, the bay stands to lose in the long run.

Casi Callaway, executive director of Mobile Baykeeper, agrees.

“Weeks Bay is making it on an endangered list because it’s in such good shape now that if we don't start thinking of it as imperiled, we could lose it. We need to put our energy toward protecting it,” she said. “The threat of overdevelopment is putting this one near the risk factor. It is healthy and that’s good, but it won’t last without care.”

The next 12 months will be critical for all 10 places on the SELC list, according to Jeff Gleason, the group’s deputy director. He said they will face a series of decisions that will either raise or lower the bar nationwide on critical issues like air quality and clean water.

Rogers said, “We want to raise the public’s awareness of that resource so we can head off any problems, so we can prevent any lasting damage.”

L.G. Adams is in the business of raising public awareness as manager of the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. He also works with a team of researchers whose sole purpose is to protect the watershed and build on the international body of knowledge about these fragile ecosystems.

“Weeks Bay is a relatively pristine area that’s productive and special,” Adams said. “The area here is a good example of an estuary.”

He pointed out that estuaries are extremely important areas where salt and fresh water mix to form a marine nursery. Other nearby estuaries include Wolf, Perdido and Mobile bays.

Adams said the salinity in Weeks Bay helps protect young marine life from predators. The waterway is also very rich in nutrients, he added.

“It’s linked to many of the marine organisms we recognize as having recreational value and seafood value,” Adams said. “It’s part of the food chain. We love the productivity and the beauty of the bay area.”

Adams noted the Weeks Bay watershed has so far lagged behind in development (particularly in density) when compared to other parts of Baldwin County, but he said additional layers of protection need to be added.

Gleason shares that sentiment. He said, “Our region will either protect — or lose — areas of our native forest, coastline and rural countryside. How the South accommodates growth and development while preserving our precious natural heritage could set a model for the rest of the country.”

Working with Mobile Baykeeper and other partners, SELC officials say they will help protect Weeks Bay by ensuring thorough enforcement of state and federal environmental laws and by advocating stronger local controls to prevent degradation of the bay and its remarkable biological diversity.

Top 10 Endangered Places in the South, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center:

1. Clinch and Powell rivers (Virginia)

Issue: Construction of a new coal-fired power plant in Wise County will accelerate mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia, and further increase mercury levels in the Clinch and Powell rivers.

2. Interstate 81 Corridor (Virginia)

Issue: Virginia officials are reexamining a plan to widen all 325 miles of I-81 to perhaps eight lanes to support long-haul truck traffic — a plan that would cost billions of dollars and cause tremendous harm to communities and historic, scenic and environmental resources.

3. Marine Waters (Virginia)

Issue: Virginia is the first state in our region to begin the process of opening up its marine waters to offshore drilling for oil and gas. The benefit of this short-term supply of energy is dramatically outweighed by the harm to the environment and communities.

4. Globe Forest (North Carolina)

Issue: Destruction of rare, old-growth forest in the Southern Appalachians.

5. Pamlico River (North Carolina)

Issue: The single largest destruction of wetlands in North Carolina’s history will occur if a phosphate mining company gets permission to expand its operations on the river’s banks.

6. Great Pee Dee River (South Carolina)

Issue: Santee Cooper, a state-owned utility, is proposing to build more coal-fired power plants with outdated technology that would dump an additional 300 pounds of mercury into an already mercury-overloaded river.

7. Johns Island (South Carolina)

Issue: A $420 million highway proposal threatens to bring large-scale development to this historic community, transforming the island into a sea of condos, mega-stores and traffic.

8. Salt Marshes (Georgia)

Issue: Large-scale development on biologically rich islands and tidal waters.

9. Weeks Bay (Alabama)

Issue: Unchecked development and weak regulation threatens an area so unique it is one of only three in Alabama to receive the designation of Outstanding Natural Resource Water.

10. Cherokee National Forest (Northeast Tennessee)

Issue: The U.S. Forest Service is moving forward with its plans to log several areas of this remarkable landscape, endangering trout, unbroken wildlife habitat and rare species.