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Restoring Streams and Wetlands in Mississippi

January 18, 2006

The Nature Conservancy of Mississippi has begun work restoring nearly 10 miles of streams on a 3,025 acre tract of land adjacent to Red Creek — a major tributary of the Pascagoula River and a Conservancy landscape-scale portfolio site. The tract is bordered on the north by Red Creek and the 50,000 acre state-owned Pascagoula River Wildlife Management Area. The restoration work is made possible by an agreement between the Mississippi Chapter, the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT), and is funded in part by the Federal Highway Administration.

Projects impacting wetlands as governed by the Clean Water Act must be mitigated by restoring or preserving wetlands to offset the impacts. Often, this requirement results in the creation of smaller-scale wetlands that are not connected with other larger wetlands or habitat.

In order to create larger-scale, ecologically functional wetlands, The Nature Conservancy worked with MDOT on a five-year Memorandum of Agreement executed in August 2005. Under the agreement, MDOT purchased 187,878 stream mitigation credits and other credits from the Conservancy to offset impacts from past and future road and other transportation construction in the state.

In return, the Conservancy purchased the 3,025-acre "Red Creek" tract, and has launched an extensive restoration project on the property. The restoration work includes not only stream mitigation credits, but also 100 acres of wet-pine and pond cypress flatwood enhancement, 250 acres of bottomland hardwood enhancement, and 100 acres of evergreen bayhead enhancement. The project will also involve the restoration of 900 acres of upland gopher tortoise habitat, including a prescribed fire program.

A stewardship endowment will provide funding for long-term management, mainly prescribed burning. The project is being carried out by a combination of Conservancy staff and independent contractors.

The Mississippi chapter of The Nature Conservancy has been a leader in wetland mitigation restoration in Mississippi since 1997 when it established the first private mitigation bank in the state, the Old Fort Bayou Mitigation Bank.

In 1999, the Mississippi Transportation Commission purchased approximately 3,000 wetland mitigation credits at the Conservancy's Charles M. Deaton Preserve on the upper Pascagoula River. The restoration work at the Deaton Preserve was recognized in the fall of 2004 as one of seven "Exemplary Ecosystem Initiatives" in the nation by the Federal Highway Administration.

For More Information:

• Where We Work: The Nature Conservancy in Mississippi
  The Nature Conservancy of Mississippi has been working with members and conservation partners to protect more than 130,000 acres of critical natural lands in Mississippi.
• Nature Field Guide: Pascagoula Watershed
  A strong sense of heritage and local activism has allowed the Pascagoula River to remain the only free-flowing waterway of its size in the contiguous United States.
• Places We Protect: Upper Pascagoula Preserves Management
  In Mississippi's Upper Pascagoula Preserves, much of the management work is focused on restoration activities, including restoration of natural water flow, establishment of native habitat and control of exotic and invasive species.
• Cooperative Conservation: Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT)
  The Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) recently entered into a five-year Memorandum of Agreement with The Nature Conservancy. Under the agreement, MDOT will fund the restoration of almost 10 miles of streams on a 3,035 acre tract adjacent to Red Creek.
• How We Work: Sustainable Waters Program
  The Sustainable Waters Program helps protect freshwater ecosystems by advancing water policies and conservation approaches so that human needs for water can be met while sustaining healthy freshwater ecosystems.
• Archive of our Saves of the Week and Success Stories
  Read more about The Nature Conservancy's work to save the last great places on Earth.