Benefitting Mississippi’s Economy and Health
Conservation should make both ecological and economic sense – so that it helps Mississippi’s economy, retains jobs, and preserves property values. Conservation can also promote healthy lifestyles and help sustain the natural resources on which we all depend.
A thriving economy isn’t sustainable if it undermines ecological systems. Conservation and economic interests must work together to find lasting solutions. Conservation efforts cannot simply seek to preserve our environment; they also must consider the needs of people and communities. We must have conservation solutions that make economic sense to sustain our environment and way of life.
Making an Economic Impact
Farm Viability
Wildlife Mississippi works with agricultural producers to improve farm profitability. Mississippi has 36,200 farms covering 10.7 million acres. We use strategic conservation tools, such as our Conservation Finance Center, to target lands with the highest ecological value and marginal areas that are not economically efficient crop producers.
These marginal lands often are risky to farm, because they are poorly drained or are frequently flooded. Yet these same lands can be some of the most productive for clean, abundant water and healthy wildlife populations. By having strong, incentive-based conservation tools such as Wetland Reserve Easements, which pay agricultural producers for marginal land retirement, we can restore and protect vital habitat while protecting a farm’s economic viability.
With conservation planning, farmers have economic options for purposes besides crop production, taxpayers are relieved of crop insurance costs, and off-site environmental degradation is avoided.
Healthy Seafood
Mississippi is the sixth largest seafood-producing state in the nation and second largest in the Gulf of Mexico behind Louisiana. The Mississippi Gulf Coast has a rich history and tradition of supplying seafood across the nation and recreational fishing opportunities to families and tourists. The Mississippi Gulf Coast and its waters support wild, domestically harvested shrimp, oysters, crabs, and finfish.
In 2020, Mississippi’s seafood industry generated $347 million in sales, supporting 6,430 jobs. The state’s waters also support a vibrant recreational fishery. Wildlife Mississippi benefits both the sport and commercial fisheries on the coast by restoring and protecting the estuarine and marine environments and improving water quality in the rivers and streams that feed the Gulf.
Reducing Infrastructure Costs
Conservation can be an important tool for counties, cities, and towns to address rapidly increasing water infrastructure costs while providing much-needed recreation. After decades of underinvestment in infrastructure, many places in Mississippi lack the infrastructure needed to sustain long-term economic stability. Drinking water and wastewater treatment systems are often in dire need of updating. Mississippi is also confronting new, complex challenges posed by more hurricanes and increased flooding. Establishing green spaces and restoring or protecting wetlands across Mississippi reduces water infrastructure costs, reduces flooding, improves wildlife habitat, and creates recreational opportunities close to home.
Wildlife Mississippi provides low-cost mitigation credits to the Mississippi Department of Transportation, which helps lower costs for road and bridge construction projects in the state.
Working Forests
Mississippi has 125,000 landowners who own 19.4 million acres of forest land. When productive forests are haphazardly consumed by development or mismanaged, Mississippi’s forest product industries and their workers suffer. The forest products industry represents 4.42% of all jobs in Mississippi-69,445 jobs with an annual payroll of $3.08 billion.
Working forests are essential for maintaining a healthy environment, sustaining wildlife, cleaning our water and air, and mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration. They are also an economic resource, providing renewable natural materials. Wildlife Mississippi’s efforts to protect, restore, or enhance longleaf pine, mixed hardwood and pine, and bottomland hardwood forests will produce both exceptional habitat for wildlife and sustainable, high-value wood products.
Employee Recruitment
Wildlife Mississippi strives to make the state more livable and attractive for economic development. A 2017 survey of corporate managers by Area Development magazine found that quality of life was the third-most important factor in searching for new locations. The rise of millennials in the workforce is shifting how companies attract and retain new employees. Green space and the availability of natural areas, nature trails, and outdoor recreation areas (i.e., Fannye Cook Natural Area, Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuge, Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge, etc.) are new recruitment tools for economic developers who want to appeal to younger workers, who often choose where they want to live over where they want to work.
Economic Development
Wildlife Mississippi has recognized that mitigation is a great way to protect, restore, or enhance significant wetlands, rivers, and streams. We also recognize that if we provide reasonably priced mitigation credits to economic developers who must compensate for unavoidable impacts to wetlands and streams, we could help foster sustainable economic development and create jobs.
With this in mind, Wildlife Mississippi created the Mississippi Strategic Wetland Acquisition and Management Program, or Mississippi SWAMP. Wildlife Mississippi owns and manages approximately 20,000 acres of mitigation lands, making it one of the largest owners of such lands in the nation. We locate these lands in areas that help meet significant ecological needs.
We also ensure that they provide the greatest service to future economic development and some of the lowest cost mitigation credits in the nation. This gives Mississippi an advantage when trying to attract businesses and industries to create more jobs.
A Climate for Outdoor Business
Mississippi is a global leader in the design and manufacture of outdoor recreation products. Companies such as Mossy Oak, Gun Dog Supply, NauticStar Boats, Olin Corporation (Winchester), Primos, True Temper Sports, and The Wax Company are based in Mississippi or have manufacturing facilities in the state. Growth in the outdoor industry is creating a demand for highly skilled workers in technology, product design, manufacturing, sustainability, and global commerce. In short, outdoor business is a growing and diverse economic sector that is a cornerstone of successful communities in Mississippi. The conservation efforts of Wildlife Mississippi and the strong business climate that Mississippi provides will allow this sector to thrive.
Direct Economic Impact
In addition to our efforts that result in a better quality of life and more and better businesses and industries, Wildlife Mississippi’s land and water conservation projects have a direct economic impact.
Hunting, fishing, and wildlife watching help drive consumer spending and tourism. Outdoor recreation enthusiasts eat at restaurants, buy gas, stay in hotels, buy specialized equipment, lease land, and pay for other costs. Hunting, fishing, and wildlife watching contribute an estimated $2.74 billion to Mississippi’s economy each year and generate an estimated 66,171 jobs.
Nationally, nearly 200 million Americans participate in some form of hunting, fishing, or other wildlife-associated recreation, such as bird watching or outdoor photography, according to the 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. And in doing so, the survey found, Americans spent an estimated $250 billion on equipment, supplies, travel, licenses, and fees. A recent survey by the U.S. Department of Commerce found that all outdoor recreation sectors, including biking, boating, skiing, and others, account for $637 billion in annual spending.
Improving Health in the State
Improving Health
Wildlife Mississippi’s efforts can also improve public health. In 2011, the American Heart Association concluded that most cardiovascular disease can be prevented or delayed with a combination of direct medical care and prevention programs and policies. The key finding was that for every $1 spent on building walking and biking trails, communities could save approximately $3 in medical expenses. Also, every $1 spent in wellness programs, companies could save $3.27 in medical costs and $2.73 in absenteeism costs.
Participants in programs who focused on improving nutrition and increasing physical activity had a 58% reduction in the incidence of Type 2 diabetes, Providing places to exercise – natural areas and trails, primarily – can improve health. Participating in outdoor recreation, scaring at a young age, leads to greater participation in outdoor activities throughout life. The most popular of these “gateway” activities are walking, running. bicycling, hunting, fishing, and hiking, which can be pursued throughout Mississippi. Half of all Americans get less than the minimum recommended amount of physical activity. Of the Americans who participate in outdoor recreation, more than 70% say their primary motivation is to get exercise.
Yet one in 10 Americans say they are not active outside because the places to recreate are too far away. Children in Mississippi, in particular, suffer from a lack of access to close-to-home recreation, which has led in part to the highest rates of childhood obesity in the nation. The vitality of our state depends on the vitality of our people. Wildlife Mississippi is helping to create areas where people can be physically active.
Healthy and Organic Food
Mississippi’s heritage of hunting and fishing has been passed down for generations. Today, hunting and fishing help regulate certain wildlife populations and provide sources of healthy food. Sportsmen and sportswomen also donate thousands of pounds of venison to those in need through food pantries across Mississippi.
Wild game and fish can be used to help many Mississippians who suffer from obesity, heart disease, or diabetes. Wild game and fish tend to be low in fat and high in mineral and protein content. Venison from white-tailed deer, for example, has large amounts of linoleic acid, a nutrient that helps fight cancer. Cancer causes one of every five deaths in Mississippi. A diet consisting of wild game and fish can help contribute to better health.
SUPPORT OUR WORK
You can make a difference by helping conserve Mississippi’s natural areas for present and future generations. Together, we can make Mississippi a better place to live, work, and raise a family.
