The Nature Conservancy in Mississippi - Coonewah Creek Chalk Bluffs

Coonewah Creek Chalk Bluffs
Price's Potato Bean Preserve

Matthew Miller viewing Price's potato bean
© Irene Miller

Walking through the woods and fields of Coonewah is viewing a snapshot of the natural history of northeast Mississippi. It is one of those last little great places that preserves biologic diversity and in so doing protects a truly unique piece of our own Mississippi landscape.

Location
Lee County, Mississippi

Plants
Coonewah Creek Chalk Bluffs contains a unique plant assemblage including:

Price's potato bean
Giant Indian plaintain
Blue ash
Dwarf larkspur
Burning bush
Lance-leaved buckthorn
Bladdernut
American columbo
Horse gentian
Moonseed

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
The Coonewah Creek Chalk Bluffs Preserve, at only five acres, is The Nature Conservancy’s smallest preserve in Mississippi. Yet this tiny area protects the world’s largest known population of the globally endangered Price’s potato bean (Apios priceana). Apios, a federally listed species, is known to exist on only a handful of sites in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee. Acquired in 1997, the preserve is a narrow, sinuous band along the top of a bluff of 65 million year old fossiliferous materials known as Demopolis Chalk.

Coonewah Creek preserves an example of the increasingly rare calcareous bluff forest system, found only in the northeast Mississippi Black Prairie belt. This community contains a unique plant assemblage, that along with Price's potato bean, includes state listed giant indian plantain (Calcalia muhlenbergii), lance-leaved buckthorn (Rhamnus lanceolata), blue ash (Fraxinus quadrangulata), dwarf larkspur (Delphinium tricorne), burning bush (Euonymous atropurpureus) and American columbo (Swertia caroliniensis).

The Conservancy's Work at Coonewah Creek Chalk Bluffs
The Nature Conservancy is collaborating with the University of Mississippi-Department of Biology in ongoing research focused on the conservation and recovery of Price’s potato bean. Through this research we are adding to our knowledge of the plant communities and species that make up this rare prairie/forest system.

In 2007 Coonewah Creek Preserve became the first Nature Conservancy preserve in Mississippi to receive Forest Stewardship Council sustainable forest certification. This certification was made possible through an innovative pilot project. Northeast Mississippi was selected as one of two national pilot sites for this program. The pilot focuses on providing third party, group certification for small to medium scale non-industrial forest landowners. Funding for the project was provided through a United States Department of Agriculture–National Resources Conservation Service Conservation Innovation Grant and is administered by the Southern Forests Network. Local assistance for the pilot is being provided by the Natural Resources Initiative of North Mississippi. One of the project goals is to aid landowners in developing comprehensive forest management plans leading to better resource management and the creation of additional economic benefits such as value added forest products and recreational use. Other benefits include soil protection, improved water quality and protection of threatened and endangered species. The forest management plan for Coonewah Creek Chalk Bluffs Preserve emphasizes protection of threatened and endangered species and control of invasive plant species. The plan will enhance the already existing Preserve Management Plan to better guide long-term stewardship activities on the site.

Coonewah Creek Preserve Joins Southern Forests Network

For more information about Coonewah Creek Chalk Bluffs, 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

Coonewah Creek Chalk Bluffs Price's Potato Bean Preserve

Coonewah Creek Chalk Bluffs
Price's Potato Bean Preserve