Conservation Corner: July 9, 2001

Wetlands Center Established At Ole Miss
by James L. Cummins

At its commercial peak in the early 1960s, Minnows Inc. turned out each year nearly 4 million bait fish, mostly goldfish and golden shiners. The facility was a boon for sport fishing. In its latest incarnation as The University of Mississippi Field Station, the facility has taken on national importance as scientists use its ponds, hillsides and woods to broaden their understanding of how wetlands and forests function. More than 30 scientific projects -- including studies of constructed wetland systems, surveys of amphibian populations and investigations of wild turkey behavior -- are underway at the station near Oxford, Mississippi, with more in the works.

The station's scientific and educational efforts have a new focal point in the Center for Water and Wetlands Resources, a 25,000-square-foot complex of laboratories, classrooms and demonstration areas on the north side of the 740-acre facility.

On June 1, the fifth anniversary of the center's groundbreaking, U.S. Senator Thad Cochran, who spoke at the 1996 groundbreaking ceremony, returned to deliver the keynote dedication address. A longtime supporter of the field station, Cochran helped secure funding for the $6.5-million complex. Also speaking at the ceremony was Field Station Director Emeritus Dr. Luther Knight, Jr.

The complex includes a greenhouse, computer labs, general laboratories, plant and invertebrate culturing facilities and an education and demonstration building complete with an auditorium.

"The scientists can collect their samples and bring them right inside the labs here to work on them," Knight said. "That's so much easier than having to pack everything up and haul it back to campus. The new facilities greatly enhance what investigators can do on site."

The field station is noteworthy because of an unusual combination of terrain, vegetation, water resources and engineering that make it a perfect site to study a broad range of topics. This center is important because it is one of the few in the Southeast with the combined goals of research, education and community outreach. It truly is a unique resource that opens up a new world of possibilities.

At the urging of Knight, the university purchased 500 acres and established the field station in 1986. Additional acquisitions in 1989 and 1996 brought the station to its present 740 acres, which includes 220 ponds and mesocosms, large wooded tracts and grassy meadows.

Half the construction cost for the Center was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, with the State of Mississippi matching the funding.

Boosting the center's research, educational and outreach missions is an endowed chair funded by the Henry L. and Grace Doherty Charitable Foundation. The $1.5 million endowment was established as a two-to-one matching grant, with the university responsible for matching funds to support graduate stipends and visiting lecturers.

James L. Cummins is Executive Director of the Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Foundation in Stoneville, Mississippi. Known as "Wildlife Mississippi," the Foundation is a non-profit, conservation organization founded to conserve, restore and enhance fish, wildlife and plant resources throughout Mississippi.