The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

The Buttahatchie River originates in the hill country of northwest Alabama and flows through Mississippi to join the Tombigbee River six miles north of Columbus. The river has been impacted by human activities, but is home to a rich diversity of terrestrial plants and animals, fish and freshwater mussels.

A trip to this area provides a variety of experiences, from upland pine-oak forests to bottomland hardwoods and extensive wetlands. The combination of species diversity and the presence of a functioning river stem led to the Conservancy’s interest in the area. Working with a variety of partners, the Conservancy is developing a local, grassroots constituency and conducting scientific research to increase understanding of the river system. Our actions will allow the Buttahatchie River to remain a biological jewel and continue to be a valuable resource for all the communities living along its banks.

The Conservancy has partnered with local landowners, researchers, businesses and government agencies to study and restore the watershed.

Plants include the tuliptree, bigleaf magnolia and cypress, along with their smaller counterparts the twisted-petal trillium and little brown jug.

Today a total of 22 species of freshwater mussels are found in the river, a decrease from the 40 species in a 1978 survey. Examples of these creatively-named invertebrates include the fine-lined pocketbook, orange-nacre mucket, Alabama spike, Southern combshell, white heelsplitter, Southern hickorynut, Alabama hickorynut, heavy pigtoe, ridged mapleleaf, squawfoot and fawnsfoot.

Biologists also have found 30 species of fish in the system; seven are listed as species of concern within Mississippi. The frecklebelly madtom, crystal darter, backwater darter, fluvial shiner, Alabama shiner and freckled darter are just a few.

The Conservancy is grateful to the groups who have worked to understand and protect this site’s rare and valuable communities of plants and animals, including local landowners, researchers, Weyerhaeuser company (MS/AL Timberlands Region), Alabama Natural Heritage Program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Tennessee Valley Authority, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Alabama Department of Environmental Management, and the Natural Resources Initiative of Northeast Mississippi.
 

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