Restore Act

Some of the estimated 5 million barrels of oil released during the spill fouled hundreds of miles of shoreline from Texas to Florida, including more than 100 miles in Mississippi. The species in harm’s way included the brown pelican, bottlenose dolphin, Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, bluefin tuna, and dozens more. Tourism, seafood production, and recreational fishing, which generate 35,000 jobs and produce $2.5 billion in annual economic activity on the Gulf coast, also suffered.

Wildlife Mississippi has had a presence on the coast since 2002. Since then, Wildlife Mississippi has focused on restoring longleaf pine habitats. Wildlife Mississippi is working to expand habitat restoration programs from an office in Biloxi, particularly on private lands.

In 2014, Wildlife Mississippi also prepared a strategic plan to guide its efforts on the coast. The plan addresses various challenges, many of them existing for many years before the oil spill. Those challenges include habitat loss, the spread of non-native plants and animals, the lack of fire in fire-dependent habitats, and impaired water quality in streams and rivers.

Wildlife Mississippi has developed several efforts in response to the plan in the past several years, working with partners such as the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Efforts include enlisting military veterans to help expand prescribed burning in longleaf pine and wet pine savanna habitats; dedicated outreach to private landowners to increase awareness of Farm Bill conservation programs; the establishment of conservation easements on private lands used by endangered Mississippi sandhill cranes: and control of invasive plants and animals such as cogongrass, privet, tallow tree, and feral hogs.