By Marc D. Anderson, City of Orange Beach

With its humble beginnings that started with just a simple animal carrier in the late 90s, the Orange Beach Wildlife Center has grown by leaps and bounds and now calls a state-of-the-art facility home. 

Local, state and federal officials gathered on a beautiful winter morning on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026 to officially cut the ribbon at the Wildlife Center. Nestled on a 10-acre site, surrounded by woods near the Orange Beach Sportsplex, the center has an outdoor classroom, an office, a triage room, surgery and treatment rooms, and other animal-care amenities with surrounding property including flight enclosures, rehab rooms, and storage for a city program that has assisted more than 8,000 animals since its inception a decade ago. 

While it’s not open to the general public, except if wildlife needs to be dropped off, the facility will host public events at its outdoor education classroom in the future. 

The center was made possible by $1 million in seed money from Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revitalization Act (RESTORE) Council, and support from the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR), Volkert, Orange Beach City Council, and the dedicated Coastal Resources staff. 

Kicking off the ribbon-cutting ceremony’s speakers, Orange Beach Coastal Resources Director Phillip West talked about the wildlife program’s history.

“I have a prop,” West said while holding up a plastic animal carrier. “This is how it all got started. We were going to catch something. Around 1997, a guy named Wade Stevens with the fire department started the first official wildlife response for the city. And then we took it over in about 2001. Then around 2010, the oil spill happened, and there were discussions of what the silver lining was going to look like because there had to be one. There was going to be a lot of money flowing around, and so we dreamed of some sort of facility that could happen out of that tragic, nightmarish event.”

As the oil spill recovery started, funding started to flow to the states affected by the manmade ecological disaster. West said Stevens moved over to Coastal Resources and the wildlife program started at an old house, formerly owned by the Walker family who helped establish Orange Beach, on the Recreation Center campus. From there, city crews began building wildlife enclosures and piecing together a foundation to grow the Wildlife Center.

Orange Beach Chairman Pro-tem Jerry Johnson said the wildlife center fills a critical need for Coastal Alabama’s residents and tourists, too. 

“Thanks to all who made this happen,” Johnson said. “The City Council, the RESTORE Council, the state, Coastal Resources Department - past and present, Wade Steven’s original vision, and the interns who made it possible. It was a group effort, and there is no lack of leadership that's got us to this point today.”

ADCNR Commissioner Chris Blankenship said he was thoroughly impressed with the Wildlife Center’s new facility and was happy the state could partner with the city for such a worthy project. 

“ADCNR is responsible for managing the federal funding that comes to our state as a result of the Deepwater Horizon tragedy,” he said. “We're proud to have been a part of the hard work that went into making the expansion of the Wildlife Center a reality. … I want to congratulate the City of Orange Beach, particularly Melissa Vinson, Tim Tabb and Nicole Woerner, for the successful completion of this project, along with the Rolin Construction out of Atmore, and McCullough Architecture from right here in Orange Beach, that did the design. With a little over a million dollars in federal RESTORE council funding, the City of Orange Beach has been able to expand the capacity and capabilities of their wildlife rehabilitation program. Now, they have had to add a bunch of money to that to make this happen. You don't build something like this without additional investment from the city. I just want to commend them for that.”

What that means in practical terms, Blankenship said, is that when locals or visitors encounter an animal in need, “Orange Beach offers a world-class facility dedicated to its care.” 

The Wildlife Center holds state and federal permits and it is one of only four rehabilitation facilities in the state of Alabama.

“Staffed by experienced professionals,” Blankenship said, “this center provides immediate medical attention in a safe environment for recovery and expert rehabilitation.”

Overall, Blankenship said the RESTORE Council has funded just over $29 million worth of projects in Orange Beach. Adding up all of the Deepwater Horizon funding sources and the GOMESA projects that have flowed to the Department of Conservation, there's more than $100 million in improvements that have been done in Orange Beach with those funds, he said. 

Projects include the Auburn University Engineering Research Station, a Sea Turtle Triage facility, Canal Road improvements, environmental restoration in Cotton Bayou, north sewer main upgrades, a stormwater plan, Perdido Islands Restoration, marine debris and litter removal program, and Baldwin County’s Intracoastal Waterway boat ramp, among others. 

“It’s too long of a list to go through,” Blankenship said. “But when you really look at all the work that's taking place in Orange Beach and what the city's done, it's extremely impressive, and I'm glad that we can be a part of that. … I appreciate Orange Beach's partnership. We look forward to many successful projects that will make this beautiful town an even better place to live, work, and raise a family.”

Mayor Tony Kennon said he’s served alongside the RESTORE Council members since its inception. 

“I really want to thank the members of that council for being good stewards of all that money - $100 million is a lot. It’s gone a long way for us,” Kennon said. “The Orange Beach community is a loving, caring, empathetic community, and there's nothing worse than seeing an animal in distress.”

Paraphrasing a quote by 18th century English writer Samuel Johnson, Mayor Kennon summed up one of the pillars of Orange Beach. 

“A true measure of a man or woman is how they treat the least amongst us,” Kennon said. “I think that's something that we try to live by. But to think that we have a turtle facility and this facility and all the other things, show that there are a lot of things more important than stuff. … It’s a really big thing.” 

Wildlife Center Manager Melissa Vinson said staff is very grateful for the humble beginnings at the old Walker house, but are excited to be in the new facility. 

“Just to paint a picture a little bit,” Vinson said, “the old Walker house had original hardwood floors from the ‘40s. Well, that's most people's dream to find for a home remodel, but that does not translate to the wildlife rehab world very easily for sanitizing. The old center also had newspaper installation, so from a sanitizing and safety perspective alone, we have gotten a tremendous upgrade.”

Welcome upgrades to the facility, she said, include a dishwashing machine, climate-controlled easy-access storage, an industrial refrigerator and freezer, an on-site X-ray machine and a blood analyzer. 

“We also went from having one rehab room to having four that we can work out of,” Vinson said. “At our last facility, our nursery was housed in the only rehab room that we had, because there was no other space. So, while you might not understand the wildlife rehab side of things, I do think you understand that having baby squirrels housed right next to an injured red tail hawk is less than ideal. We went from having enclosures that were held on by duct tape and a prayer, to having state-of-the-art enclosures that were built by our contractors and our awesome projects team with the Coastal Resources Department.” 

She said this first year at the facility has been wonderful and each day is a learning experience to maximize its potential. 

“We have so much more room to continue our mission here,” she said. “And lastly, while I'm grateful to all who played a hand in getting us to this facility, I'd be remiss if I didn't specifically call out the wildlife crew, the past and present. Our interns are the heartbeat of this operation, and my hope is that no matter how big we get, that never changes. Without the interns growing our mission, we would have never outgrown our last facility. They live out the mission daily, and represent the center and the city very well.”

The official ribbon cutting capped off the ceremony. An attempt by Crush, the Wildlife Center’s resident box turtle, to cut a ribbon attached by lettuce didn’t go quite as planned but with a little help the string was pulled apart, followed by a rousing applause from about 60 people in attendance. An official ribbon was cut by Mayor Kennon with Commissioner Blankenship at his side with other officials and Coastal Resources staff.

Individual thanks goes out to the following for making the Wildlife Center possible: 

• RESTORE Council: Mary Walker, Executive Director, and Matt Love.
• Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources: Commissioner Chris Blankenship, Dr. Amy Hunter, Jennifer Robinson and Robyn Cohron. 
• Volkert, the ADCNR Project Management team: Michele Finn and Stefanie Francisco.
• Mayor Tony Kennon, City Council members Jerry Johnson, Jeff Silvers, Jack Robertson, Ginger Harrelson, Robert Stuart, and City Administrator Ford Handley. Also, past council members Joni Blalock, Annette Mitchell and Jeff Boyd. 
• Dedicated Coastal Resources staff  

Since its opening, the new facility has allowed 70 percent growth this past year. At the old center from June 2024 until the end of the year, 381 animals were received and this past year from June 2025 until the end of the year, more than 650 animals were taken in.

The Orange Beach Wildlife Center's mission is the protection and preservation of wildlife through management, rescue, rehabilitation and education. The center operates under state and federal permits and licenses to provide rehabilitation services for injured and orphaned wildlife. In addition, it hosts a resident internship program and offers educational programming throughout the community.

Who to call for injured or orphaned wildlife:

• Inside Orange Beach city limits, call Police Dispatch at 251-981-9777.
• For domestic animals, contact Police Dispatch. 
• Outside of Orange Beach city limits, call 844-303-WILD (844-303-9453).
• For dolphin and whale strandings (live or carcasses), call 877-WHALE-HELP (877-942-5343). 
• For manatee stranding's (live or carcasses), call 866-493-5803
• For Sea Turtles, call 1-844-SEA-TRTL (1-844-732-8785). 

For more information, visit www.orangebeachal.gov/Wildlife-Center.