Sunset in the Mississippi Delta
© Byron Jorjorian

Lakes and Rivers

Our lakes and rivers provide the water we drink, generate electrical power, serve agriculture and support other societal needs. Conserving the natural processes at play in our rivers and lakes and their surrounding landscapes is crucial to maintaining their health, the species they support and their value to humanity. The Conservancy is working on crucial freshwater protection projects throughout Mississippi.

The Mississippi River

In the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain, also known as the Mississippi Delta, we are working with landowners in priority areas around the Delta National Forest and other wildlife management areas to reforest agricultural land and assist landowners in changing to more environmentally friendly agricultural practices. The goal is to restore floodplain connectivity. While enhancing wildlife habitat, reforestation also helps mitigate climate change by storing carbon. One tree can store up to 7,000 pounds of carbon over its lifetime.

Funding will be partially provided through the State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement program (SAFE), which is focused on restoring critical black bear habitat. A majority of the acreage enrolled in the SAFE program will be dedicated to restoring native bottomland hardwood forests and forested wetlands in portions of the Mississippi Delta that have been identified as important zones for black bear recovery. Practices will create favorable habitat conditions by incorporating a mix of berry- and nutproducing species to provide year-round food sources, creating escape cover and elevated den cavities, protecting wetland communities, and contributing to larger-scale formation of habitat and travel corridors for black bears and other native wildlife.

For more information on the Delta Conservation Program, please contact Daniel Sumerall, Delta Conservation Program Coordinator.

The Nature Conservancy
Delta Conservation Program
2524 South Frontage Road, Suite C
Vicksburg, MS 39180
(601) 629-6612

Buttahatchie River Watershed

The Buttahatchie River is one of the Conservancy’s Southern U.S. Priority River Projects. Ongoing conservation efforts in the watershed include restoration utilizing natural channel design, projects demonstrating floodplain management and promotion of effective best management practices.

A new two-year project, which began in the summer of 2008, builds on the results of the Buttahatchie River Watershed Conservation Action Plan. Funding for the project is made possible in part from Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality through a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant. The focus of the work is implementation of stream-bank stabilization and vegetative restoration on selected project sites that will serve as demonstrations for the use of natural stream-bank restoration methods. These techniques are designed to mimic and accelerate natural processes. Applying these methods in the Buttahatchie River watershed will help protect freshwater fish and mussel habitat by stabilizing river banks and reducing excess sediment entering the river. Land owners, resource managers and local leaders will have opportunities to see firsthand how these types of conservation strategies may be implemented as best management practices on lands they manage.

White’s Slough

This beautiful 100-acre property located within the city limits of Columbus, Mississippi, is a rare, accessible example of the bottomland hardwood and cypress sloughs that were once common in the upper Tombigbee River region of northeast Mississippi. The Nature Conservancy is assisting the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers in creating a stewardship plan to improve habitat quality, sustain long-term viability of native species and provide increased educational and recreational opportunities for local residents.

For more information on the Buttahatchie River Watershed Project or White's Slough, please contact Matthew Miller, Northeast Mississippi Conservation Program Director.

The Nature Conservancy

Northeast Mississippi Conservation Program
P.O. Box 3477
Tupelo, MS  38803
(662) 844-1885