None The Nature Conservancy in Mississippi Press Releases Search All Press Releases Robbie Fisher, State Director 601-713-3355

Nature Conservancy Acquires Sensitive Land

Gex Family Pleased To Preserve Family Land

HANCOCK COUNTY, MS — November 29, 2007 — The Nature Conservancy today announces the purchase and protection of a key tract of land within the Grand Bayou Conservation Area. The 77.5-acre piece of estuarine marsh provides refuge for many rare or sensitive species including the Gulf Coast toad, the river frog, the scissor-tailed flycatcher and the Carolina lilaeopsis.

The property, purchased from the Gex family, is located in Hancock County and is bordered by Railroad Avenue to the north and the Mississippi Sound to the south. The family wanted to protect their land from future development and do their part to ensure the preservation of this ecologically sensitive area. “The entire family had a dream of preserving the land,” said Jaunita Gex. “The Nature Conservancy made our dream come true.”

The Nature Conservancy will, as with many of its purchases, transfer the tract to the State of Mississippi as an addition to the State’s Mississippi Coastal Preserve Program. Within this program, the land will be managed and preserved by The Department of Marine Resources and their experts in the fields of ecology, hydrology and biology to ensure the preservation of the land and all creatures that reside there.

The purchase of this land provides a link to surrounding protected lands, reducing the fragmentation of the conservation area and protects the tracts from intruding residential or commercial development.

“The Nature Conservancy has been protecting significant natural areas of the Mississippi Coast for many years,” said Berinda Logan, TNC associate director of philanthropy. “This acquisition will help safeguard many of our area’s rare species and ecosystems. Purchasing this property is critical to connecting lands already conserved to further protect our marshes and tidelands.”

The Grand Bayou is a small area of estuarine marsh that is threatened by both residential and industrial development pressures as well as existing residences with open septic systems; making this acquisition that much more important.

The Nature Conservancy’s conservation goal is to protect 10 percent of each major habitat on Earth by the year 2015. The Grand Bayou Conservation Area is a priority estuarine marsh in the East Gulf Coastal Plain, a temperate conifer forest. 

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.