Spring/Summer 2002

Wildlife Mississippi CHARTER MEMBER RELEASES ALBUM - Steve Azar, a charter member ofWildlife Mississippi, has released his debut, "Waitin' On Joe." One can only wonder if it is named after having spent many hours waiting on his older brother, Joe, who has never been on time - not even for duck hunting or fishing trips. Growing up in Greenville, Mississippi and fascinated by the old blues and jazz musicians who used to congregate behind his father's liquor store - the first in the state - Steve knew early on that music would be his life. In fifth grade Steve won a school talent contest, and by the time he was in eighth grade he was leading his church's choir and writ- ing songs for the congregation's weekly prayer meditation. He sang at local weddings, funerals, charity events, fairs and school functions. He appeared on the annual St. Jude's Telethon in Memphis and the area March of Dimes fundraiser. At home, Steve absorbed all kinds of musical influences: Hank Williams, Conway Twitty, John Denver, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Neil Diamond and John Mellencamp. As a teen, he began sneaking out at night to the local clubs, and it wasn't long before he was fronting his own band. By the time he came to Nashville he was logging 200 dates a year in the Southeast. Steve landed a recording deal soon after moving to Nashville but fell victim to an all too-common music industry setback when his label shut down shortly after his debut single was released. Nevertheless, Steve continued touring and hon- ing his writing skills, drawing from his own experiences and those of some of his close friends. "I feel like I had to go through some of the things I have the past few years to get to where I am now. As a writer it's been good for me to weather some ups and downs and to be there for friends of mine who've gone through divorces, money prob- lems, deaths in the family, you name it. The new songs reflect all of that and I hope the honesty of it comes through on the album we're making," Steve explains. On "I Don't Have To Be Me ('Til Monday)," Steve's first single for Mercury Nashville, Steve taps into that increasingly common need for relief from the pressures of the world, a sentiment he observed firsthand when one of his best friends experienced a near-miss with an emotional meltdown from the stress of his job. "He's an old college buddy of mine with a fast-track job who always envied MY so-called job! He called and said he was just about to have a breakdown and needed to get away," explains Steve. "So we bummed around Nashville - played sports, talked and just had some fun. When he left, I wrote the song about escaping from the everyday pressures of being a grown-up once in awhile."

AMBROSE TO DEVOTE LIFE TO CONSERVATION - Mississippian and historian Stephen E. Ambrose says he plans to finish one last book about World War II, then devote his life to con- servation. Ambrose said the best minds of the 19th century worked to discover the world and describe the life on it, and the 20th century was devoted to controlling nature. "In the 21st century, our best minds are going to work on how to restore nature. It's going to be expensive, first of all. It is going to be hard emotionally and mentally because we are going to have to undo some of the advances our fathers made. More natural medicines will be found, and science will develop food crops that will require less water and pesticides," Ambrose said. Ambrose already has given conservation and environmental groups millions of dollars in royalties from his 25 books. The projects have included preservation of the Pascagoula River system in Mississippi and destruction of a 102 year-old dam in Montana.

MSU DEAN TO SERVE ON NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD -The dean of the College of Forest Resources is a newly appointed board member of a group that advises the U.S. Department of Agriculture on its national policy. Dr. Sam Foster, who also directs Mississippi State University's (MSU) Forest and Wildlife Research Center, recently was appointed by Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman to serve a two-year term in the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education and Economics Advisory Board. Foster, who was named dean at MSU last year, is the single board member appointed by Veneman to represent the issues and concerns of national forestry groups. The board is composed of 30 members from a variety of constituencies, including farm organizations, food and plant commodities and food science, human health and social sciences organizations, among others. The national advisory group was established by federal legislation in 1996. As MSU dean, Foster heads academic departments that include forestry, forest products and wildlife and fisheries. As director of the Forest and Wildlife Research Center, he leads research efforts of faculty members in a $6.5 million annual program that provides expertise to Mississippi's $14.8 billion forest and forest products industry, a major contributor to the state's economy. Foster also serves as a Mississippi Forestry Commission board member. Foster holds a number of professional affiliations, including membership in the Society of American Foresters and Xi Sigma Pi, an honorary forestry society. He is one of only two Americans who serve on the editorial board of Forest Genetics, an international scholatly journal.

RIDING ATVs IN STREAMS DAMAGES FISH NESTING HABITAT -Most sportsmen wouldn't dream of riding an ATV (4-wheeler) through known turkey nesting areas. But riding along a stream bottom during spring or summer doesn't raise a second thought with many people. "Clear, shallow, sand-and-gravel-bottom streams in certain areas of Mississippi are irresistible to ATV riders from about April through October," stated the Mississippi Department ofWildlife, Fisheries and Parks' Scenic Streams Coordinator Andrew Whitehurst. And while the riders are getting their kicks, they are killing future generation of fish. Here's what's happening. According to Whitehurst, fish and other aquatic organisms spawn on stream bottoms. They form nests and lay eggs in gravel and sand during spring and summer, coinciding with peak ATV riding. Some streams are invaded every weekend during the warm parts of the year. "This much activity means that these streams can be stirred up for upward of 48 hours each week for as long as warm weather lasts," Whitehurst said. "The insect larvae and plankton eaten by young flathead catfish and spotted bass - two of the most desirable fish in Mississippi streams - are ground-up by the ATVs, then covered, and suffocated with suspended sediment." The stream spawning beds of species such as madtoms, darters, and others also are affected. Whitehurst and others with the Department ofWildlife, Fisheries and Parks' Museum of Natural Science have produced an educational poster to get people to re-think riding ATVs in creeks and streams. The poster highlights trespassing, damage to stream ecology and disturbances to the streambed and its banks. "Trespassing is the main problem for streamside landowners when ATV riders don't get permission before riding," Whitehurst explained. "At last year's Mississippi Wildlife Extravaganza, a survey by the Museum revealed that support for criminalizing ATV riding in public waters was 84 percent among ATV owners and 100 percent among non-owners." The 2002 session of the Mississippi Legislature amended Mississippi's public waterways law, prohibiting riding motorized vehicles in public waterways without the landowner's written permission. Violation of this law is a misdemeanor. The new stream poster lets people know that riding ATVs in our streams during the fish spawning season is hurting our fisheries resources. Whitehurst is asking the sporting public to put up posters in places where they will be seen by outdoor people, outlets such as schools, courthouses, deer camps and sporting goods stores. "Let's make sure that riding ATVs is done properly," Whitehurst said. "And let's not destroy future generations of fish that anglers won't ." get to enjoy.
BUY HUNTING/FISHING LICENSES OVER INTERNET - For many people, the days of waiting in line to get your hunting or fishing licenses is over. "Hunters and anglers can now purchase their licenses over the Internet," Deputy Administrator Al Tuck said. "This is just another step in Mississippi's E-Government effort to make the state government services more available to our people." Wildlife officials are now offering state sportsmen the option of renewing their boat registrations on line over the Internet. The system worked, and now hunters and anglers are offered a similar option. To buy hunting and fishing licenses over the Internet, customers must provide their driver's license number and have a valid VISA or MasterCard credit card. In addition, if they were born on or after January 1, 1972, they must provide a hunter education certification number. At the end of the transaction, hunters and anglers will be given a temporary license number to use while hunting and fishing until the original license arrives in the mail. Tuck said that the agency has taken the necessary means to assure privacy and security for these transactions.

MISSISSIPPI GETS FEDERAL GRANT FOR BOATING FACILITY -The Mississippi Department ofWildlife, Fisheries and Parks has received a grant from the federal government for a boating improvement project in northeastern Mississippi, according to an agency spokesman. The agency will receive $224,000 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to repair the harbor dike and add safety features to the marina at J. P. Coleman State Park in Tishomingo County. The grant was made to the state under the Boating Infrastructure Grant program authorized by the Sportfishing Boating Safety Act of 1998. The grant is funded in part from excise taxes on motorboat fuel. "Receiving this money means that we will be able to repair and extend the rock dike that protects boats from wave action generated during stormy conditions on the adjacent Tennessee- Tombigbee Waterway," Executive Director Dr. Sam Polles said. "We will also use some of the money to place four solar-powered navigational aids along the dike to assist boaters looking for a safe harbor. It's money well spent to protect the state's investment in the marina." The marina at J.P. Coleman State Park has the capacity to dock 52 boats. Wave action from the Waterway has been causing damage to the marina and the boats moored there. D