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Southern Forests Conservation Project

Mississippi forests protected by the Southern Forests Conservation Project Map © The Nature Conservancy View the full map (.PDF, 138 KB, new window) Harrison County Marsh Tract, Tchoutacabouffa River, Mississippi © Ray Robinson/TNC Enlarge this photo Eagle Nest Tract on the Biloxi River, Mississippi © Ray Robinson/TNC Enlarge this photo Eagle Nest Tract on the Biloxi River, Mississippi © Ray Robinson/TNC Enlarge this photo Download a high-resolution version of this photo (.JPG, 646 KB, new window) Fact sheet: Southern Forests Conservation Project in Mississippi (.PDF, 161 KB, new window)

The Nature Conservancy and International Paper have undertaken a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to protect ecologically important forests, rivers and streams in 10 southern states. The Nature Conservancy will acquire more than 218,000 acres in the largest private land conservation project in the history of the southern United States. Partners include state governments, federal agencies, the Department of Defense and timber investment entities.

Total Protected Area in Mississippi: 110 acres

• Harrison County Eagle Nest and Marsh

Representative Species

• mottled duck
• Needle rush
• Coatal shiner
• Duck-potato
• Malaclemys terrapin pilea
• White pelican
• Smooth cordgrass
• Brown pelican
• Salt meadow grass
• Water lily beds
• Coontail
• Pickerelweed
• Osprey
• Cormorants

Project Partners

• The Nature Conservancy
• Mississippi Secretary of State
• Mississippi Department of Marine Resources

Mississippi Forests

The project consists of the Harrison County Eagle Nest property and a second tract of marsh in the Biloxi River marshes. The two tracts total 110 acres of wetlands that periodically flood with brackish water from the Biloxi and Tchoutacabouffa rivers. Wetlands and marshes serve many important ecological functions and can reduce the wind and rising water effects of a hurricane.

Partnering with the Conservancy are Secretary of State Eric Clark and the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. Since 1996, the Conservancy, Secretary Clark and the Department of Marine Resources have partnered in the Coastal Preserve Program to preserve more than 15,000 acres of sensitive coastal lands along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The Nature Conservancy will acquire title to the land and transfer it to Clark on behalf of the State of Mississippi. The property will be managed by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources.

The Tchoutacabouffa River and Biloxi River marshes are priority areas for The Nature Conservancy. The area is comprised of diverse marsh communities centered on Big Lake, and extend up the lower reaches of the Biloxi and Tchoutacabouffa rivers and Bernard Bayou

For More Information

The Nature Conservancy in Mississippi
Since 1989, The Nature Conservancy of Mississippi has been working together with our members and conservation partners in protecting more than 133,000 acres of critical natural lands in Mississippi.

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