FAIRHOPE, Ala. — It’s been relatively smooth sailing for the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP) since Capt. David W. Yeager took the helm just over eight years ago. Yeager spent his last day on the job Monday, June 30, working from his home in Pelham, Ala., where he recently moved to be closer to his ancestral roots, as well as medical specialists in Birmingham who can help him deal with health issues he has been facing.

Yeager signed aboard MBNEP in early 2000 after a long and successful career with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps. He said, “I’d always liked the coastal area, and spent 30 years in a naval service. It was a natural to go back to Alabama. That’s where my roots are — in the state.”

The NOAA Commissioned Corps is a military organization much like the U.S. Coast Guard, Yeager said, because its members can be deployed into areas of conflict like those working in other branches of the armed services.

The agency provides professionals trained in engineering, earth sciences, oceanography, meteorology, fisheries science and other related disciplines. Officers operate ships, fly aircraft, manage research projects, conduct diving operations and serve in staff positions throughout NOAA.

Yeager served on six ships, commanding three of them on missions throughout the world. While with NOAA, he served two tours of duty with the U.S. Navy.

When he joined MBNEP, the organization had been around for only four years, but had already been through a string of directors. Yeager said, “I think I brought stability to the table — a steadiness. We stayed on a course. We decided what needed to be done, and we stuck with that course of action rather than the environmental flavor of the week.”

The former Daphne and Montrose resident credits too many people to mention inside and outside the agency with the success the program has enjoyed over the past decade, helping fulfill many of its goals including stormwater management legislation for Baldwin County. Yeager will continue to work to “put more meat on the bones of the stormwater amendment we just got passed,” he said

“I felt very fortunate to be there for those times,” he pointed out. “We galvanized the people and the municipalities, industry, environmental people, state and local agencies. Local political officials have been wonderful in supporting this work. We brought all the people to the table and walked away with a common purpose. We did it without rancor, but with different points of view. We like the quality of life coastal Alabama has to offer, and we want to preserve it.”

Yeager said he can see the land his family settled in 1814 from his new home atop a mountain in the foothills of the Appalachians.

“At some point in your life, you need to know who your people are,” he said. “People here have the same sense of family, the same sense of continuity that the folks in Baldwin County have. In our rootless society today, those of us who have roots are very fortunate to have that connectivity.”

Although he said he’ll greatly enjoy life there, Yeager noted he will miss southwest Alabama.

“I’ll miss the people the most — particularly the relationship we formed with the people at our church, St. James. I hope we can continue all (our friendships). We will be back down there frequently. When we arrived, we were grateful for their willingness to accept us.

“I’ll miss the proximity to the water, the smell of the water. That’s something you get in you and can’t get rid of. There have been so many who have influenced our lives and enhanced our bonds.”

Yeager will continue to work with civic and political leaders in Daphne and Spanish Fort in order to address the D’Olive Creek runoff problem. He will also continue to be associated with MBNEP on a contractual basis for the next few months, managing certain specific tasks and to providing support during the transition.

Yeager cited the need to focus on other interests as a reason for stepping down and said, “As Chaucer put it, ‘time and tide wait for no man,’ and I’d reckon it’s about full flood coming on to slack water for me at this point.”

A committee has been created to conduct a national search to identify candidates and recommend Yeager’s successor. He said it’s hoped a new director will be in place by the end of October, adding, “In the meantime, we have a very capable deputy director in Roberta Swann.”

Yeager has been active in numerous local organizations during his tenure as director, including associate director, Coastal Policy Center, Dauphin Island Sea Lab; board of directors, Baldwin County United; Mobile United; past chair, Southeast and Gulf Regional Panel on Aquatic Nuisance Species; member, Habitat Protection Advisory Panel of the Gulf of Mexico Regional Fisheries Management Council; Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium Advisory Council; scientific advisory committee for the Alabama Center for Estuarine Studies; board member, Association of National Estuary Programs; and 2004 graduate of the Leadership Coastal Alabama program.

He was recently honored by the Partners for Environmental Progress with their 2008 Community Partner Award.

Yeager plans to pencil in a lot more more leisure time with his wife, Sharon. The couple has two children: David, who is a trainer for the Milwaukee Brewers’ minor league team based in Huntsville; and Sarah, who lives in Fayetteville, N.C. with her husband, a career Army officer.

They have three grandchildren, and Yeager said he plans to spend much more time with them as well as take in a lot more fishing.

The National Estuary Program was created by the U.S. Congress under amendments to the Clean Water Act of 1987. It exists to help protect and restore important coastal ecosystems associated with “Estuaries of National Significance” through a unique, voluntary, collaborative and community-based approach.

The program develops and facilitates partnerships among a variety of stakeholders including governments, agencies, conservation and environmental interests, business and industry and the academic community in order to achieve local environmental results.

MBNEP was established in 1995 at the request of then then-Gov. Fob James. It is one of 28 such national programs.