Technical Assistance
Wildlife Mississippi provides technical assistance to private landowners in several ways. We provide assistance on-the-ground through our staff biologists, who have expertise in bottomland hardwood and wetland restoration, longleaf pine establishment and management, native prairie establishment, food plot establishment, and invasive species control and management. We also provide assistance to landowners wishing to enhance habitat for white-tailed deer, waterfowl, northern bobwhite, wild turkey, and others.
In addition, we specialize in the various financial assistance programs for habitat restoration and enhancement such as Wetlands Reserve Easements, the Conservation Reserve Program, the Healthy Forests Reserve Program, the Emergency Forest Restoration Program, the Conservation Stewardship Program, and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. We can also help you protect your land through a conservation easement.
Wildlife Mississippi also sponsors workshops and field days with landowners and others on topics such as conservation easements, invasive species control, fish and wildlife management, and conservation programs of the Farm Bill. And we have produced a series of Landowner Handbooks on conservation easements, longleaf pine and prairie restoration, and conservation programs of the Farm Bill.
Financial Assistance
Many types of financial assistance are available to private landowners wishing to restore or create wildlife habitat, control erosion, and protect water quality. Government agencies offer cost-share programs, rental payments, and easement programs for bottomland hardwoods and wetlands, longleaf pine forests, and native prairie habitat. Some of them include:
- The Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
- The Environmental Quality Incentives Program, administered the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
- The Forest Resource Development Program, administered by the Mississippi Forestry Commission.
- The Conservation Reserve Program, administered by the Farm Service Agency.
- The Wetlands Reserve Program, administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
- Emergency Forest Restoration Program, administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
- Healthy Forests Restoration Program, administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
- Conservation Easements, administered by the Mississippi Land Trust and the Mississippi River Trust.
Conservation Finance Center Website
These programs are described in a website called the Conservation Finance Center. Wildlife Mississippi, the Mississippi Land Trust, the Mississippi River Trust, and Yale University have partnered with the Walton Family Foundation to develop this website to assist private landowners in making conservation decisions based on sound economics.
Using the website, a landowner can make a comparative financial analysis of land uses to visualize the economic results of undergoing certain conservation practices such as restoring or protecting a forest, establishing vegetative cover on highly-erodible land or donating an easement to restrict certain land uses.
The heart of the website is an online Decision Support Tool. Landowners enter property and financial information and can visualize the economic results of placing a conservation easement on their property through various incentive and easement programs, including Wetlands Reserve Easements and the Conservation Reserve Program.
The Decision Support Tool also allows landowners to determine the results of donating a conservation easement to a land trust or conservation organization. The Conservation Finance Center website offers detailed descriptions of incentive and easement programs and how they can benefit bottomland hardwood forests and wetlands, longleaf pine forests, and native prairies in Mississippi.
