After securing $9.8 million for 21 projects statewide, Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund Manager Ricky Flynt outlines some of the larger improvements that will be made to the state’s outdoor amenities.
The grants chosen will work toward improving state parks and outdoor recreation trails, aiding access to public waters and lands, and preserving, enhancing, and restoring the state’s native wildlife and fish resources and their critical habitats.
According to Flynt, the most important project is phase one of the Pearl River Source Water Protection and Recreation. The $2.6 million investment will go toward improving the Fannye Cook Nature Preserve in Jackson.
“This is going to provide enhancements and perpetual easements for that property to save it,” Flynt said on SuperTalk Outdoors with Ricky Mathews. “It’s a very unique area. We have lots of plans for enhancements and possible boat ramp access on some new public waterways.”
Another crucial plan is the Mississippi Delta Enhancements Project, which is a $1 million investment being managed by conservation organization Ducks Unlimited.
The renovation of existing waterfowl impoundments, repair of levees, replacement of water control structures, improvement of drainage, conversion of water well structures, and creation of gravel road access will be executed across 4,200 acres of public land at the Howard Miller and Mahalla wildlife management areas.
“People who use that area know that it’s great and it’s probably some of the best public waterfowl hunting opportunities anywhere in the southeast,” Flynt added. “As time goes on, some of the infrastructure degrades and needs some help. This is going to provide some great enhancements to those areas.”
Though the aforementioned projects required large sums of money to fund, Flynt says smaller projects that will have a great impact on their communities were also prioritized in the approval process.
“We were able to fund a larger sum of smaller projects that still contribute great opportunities for people,” Flynt said. “You’ve got this $2.6 million project, but we also have several projects that are In the $8,700 to $10,000 range that are still going to be very beneficial to those types of people in those areas.”
More than 79,000 jobs will be created, and the projects will enhance the state’s $8 billion outdoor recreation economy. The full list of projects can be found here.
