The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Conservancy Botanist Melinda Lyman works to identify plants found during the Rhymes Lake Bio-quest. © Rebecca Stowe/TNC

Conservancy Botanist, Melinda Lyman, works to identify plant species found at Rhymes Lake during the Pascagoula River Nature Festival.

Images and stories from the 2011 flooding of the Mississippi River will endure for generations. Many Conservancy members, volunteers and staff continue to be impacted by this influx of fresh water, and the Conservancy and its partners model and implement best management practices to help minimize the impact of such extreme events on plants, animals and people.

Reducing erosion and pollutants entering waterways significantly improves water quality. The Conservancy has completed a demonstration area along the Buttahatchie River (just outside Columbus, MS) where landowners and land management agencies can get a first-hand look at five side-by-side techniques used to decrease streambank erosion.

Delta lands are getting a boost thanks to funding from the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, Walton Family Foundation and Entergy Corporation. The Conservancy will expand our work with Delta landowners to improve streams and rivers such as the Yazoo, and to increase healthy habitats for deer, bear and other species by reforesting national wildlife refuge acreage.

Sharing the importance of water quality was also a focus in the past year. Conservancy staff members planned and implemented activities at the Pascagoula River Nature Festival to survey plants and animals around Rhymes Lake. Staff members also participated in the Great Delta Bear Affair in Rolling Fork and WaterFest at the Ross Barnett Reservoir in Jackson.