Mobile Bay National Estuary Program celebrates career of Roberta Swann, looks forward with new long-term plan.
Roberta Swann, who is retiring from her longtime position as director of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, holds up a copy of "State of Alabama's Estuaries and Coast" during an annual meeting of the organization on Dec.
3, 2025.The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program and its backers bade farewell to the program’s longtime director Wednesday and endorsed a slate of conservation priorities for the decade ahead. Roberta Swann is retiring at the end of the year. She joined the program as deputy director to Capt. David Yeager in 2004 and became director in 2009, meaning she has been deputy director or director for more than half the program’s existence. Commissioned by Congress in the late ‘80s, the NEP is not a regulatory agency, but it is a key part of a Management Conference that “provides community leaders from industry, academia, government, non-profits, grassroots groups, and citizens with a principal voice in the decision-making process.” One of its key functions is to develop and implement a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for Mobile Bay and surrounding waters. Environmental consultant Troy Ephraim led the tributes at an annual meeting held Wednesday at the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center. Ephraim said that he first met Swann more than 25 years ago, when he was a member of the Prichard City Council and she encouraged him to join the NEP board. “Ever since that day, 25-plus years ago, my life has not been the same, both very personally and professionally,” he said. “I owe a lot to this lady and to the NEP organization as a whole. Her leadership, her vision, her drive, her grit and her determination and just sheer, sheer purposeful will to bring about a positive change for our environment, our coastal environment, and the improvements that have been made under the direction and the collaboration of so many others under that direction has made a true, profound difference in who we are and what we do and why we’re here this morning.” Roberta Swann looks at the audience during an interview segment that was part of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program's annual meeting on Dec. 3, 2025.Chris Blankenship, the commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, spent some time cataloging accomplishments of the NEP under Swann’s leadership, including its role in protecting thousands of acres of undeveloped, ecologically sensitive land and advocating for improved water quality. He praised her particularly for her skill in developing partnerships with the many public and private partners involved in such efforts. “I appreciate her work, the work that she’s done trying to herd all of these cats into to put together the CCMP and the State of the Bay and a lot of the other work that’s done,” he said. “Helping coordinate community involvement, getting the message out about some of the work … and more than anything, just coordinating among such a diverse group of people." “And that is not an easy job at all because some of y’all are a little difficult,” he teased. He continued: “All kidding aside, everybody, we have a room full of Type A people and that’s a good thing. There’re people that want to get things done, that are passionate about what they do in their communities. But it’s also hard to get a group of folks like that all pull together to put something together like the CCMP that we’re going to vote on today. That is a great accomplishment. Roberta, thank you for your work.” Other praise came during a tribute video shown near the end of the meeting. “It seems strange a little bit to me that you’ll no longer be at the helm of the Mobile Bay NEP,” said Mobile County Commissioner Connie Hudson. “You have done such a wonderful job over these past 16-plus years.” “I think her legacy is engaging people,” seconded Mobile County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood. “I think it’s taking the uninitiated, like I was, and to bring them to a place where they can learn more, where they can figure out how they fit, how they can contribute.” During the meeting, the NEP board approved a new edition of the CCMP without dissent. “The NEP Management Conference has completed an incredible feat in putting together the next CCMP for Alabama’s estuaries and coast,” said Blankenship. “Your insights and contributions have been incorporated into this plan which charts a course for how we can serve our coastal way of life for the next 10 years.”“Each plan is a 10-year plan,” she said. “That represents 30 years of work. … 10 years going forward, 20 years going back. That is an amazing feat. That is a generation of work to protect and conserve our coastal way of life. I am humbled to be a part of this journey and to work alongside so many dedicated people to protect our coastal quality of life.” Though it was not discussed in depth at Wednesday’s meeting, the Mobile Bay NEP also made available a book-sized report titled “State of Alabama’s Estuaries and Coast: A Status Report on Alabama’s Estuaries and Coasts from the Delta to our Coastal Waters.”issued in 2008. In an introductory letter, Swann describes it as “a snapshot of where we have been, where we are, and where we are headed.” Its contents “reveal trends over time, current conditions, emerging challenges, and progress in protecting what we value most about living in coastal Alabama.”I've worked as a Mobile-based reporter for the Press-Register and AL.com for more than 25 years. During that time I've written extensively about arts, entertainment, food and culture. I've also covered metro...
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