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Charles M. Deaton Nature Preserve

Whitetail Deer
White-tailed deer
© Rebecca Stowe/TNC

Alligator Snapping Turtle
Alligator snapping turtle
© Rebecca Stowe/TNC

 

The 3,300 acre Charles M. Deaton Nature Preserve is one of the finest natural areas remaining in Mississippi and contains a large contiguous block of bottomland hardwood forest. The preserve includes eleven miles of frontage along the Leaf and Chickasawhay Rivers where they converge to form the Pascagoula River.

Location
George and Greene Counties in southeast Mississippi, ten miles northwest of Lucedale

Plants

  • Bald cypress and water tupelo
  • Prickly pear cactus
  • Cardinal flower
  • Indian pink
  • Lizard’s tail

Animals

  • Swallow-tailed kites
  • Gulf sturgeon
  • White-tailed deer
  • Northern parula
  • Alligator snapping turtle
  • Eastern hognose snake

 

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
The Preserve protects the headwaters of the Pascagoula River, the largest, by volume, undammed and unchannelized main stem river in the lower 48 states. The site is an extension of habitat afforded by the Pascagoula River and Ward Bayou Wildlife Management areas, representing a 47,000–acre public lands corridor along the river.

The Conservancy's Work at the Charles M. Deaton Nature Preserve
Two primary types of land management activities occur here:

  • Removal of invasive species that out compete native plants and inhibit turtle nesting
  • Use of controlled fires to suppress competing trees and shrubs, and to stimulate the growth of native grasses and wildflowers
  • Planting hundreds of thousands of native hardwood trees
  • Restoring natural water flow by removing manmade barriers

The following groups have worked together to understand and protect the site's rare and interdependent communities of plants and animals:

  • Conservancy staff and volunteers
  • Local landowners
  • Researchers from Mississippi State University, University of Southern Mississippi and Louisiana State University 
  • Mississippi Department of Transportation

For more information on the Charles M. Deaton Nature Preserve, please contact Rebecca Stowe, Director of Stewardship.

The Nature Conservancy

Mississippi Stewardship Program
138 Main Street Merrill
Lucedale, MS  39452
(601) 947-3111