CONSERVATION CORNER

Mississippi Leads Nation In Conservation

by James L. Cummins

On Earth Day, some Americans are talking about what may be wrong with our environment. Since I like to view the glass as half-full, I prefer to explain what is right.

Our great state has a lot of accomplishments related to the environment. And none of that would have happened if it were not for the dedication of our congressional delegation from Senators Thad Cochran and Trent Lott to Congressmen Roger Wicker, Bennie Thompson, Chip Pickering and Gene Taylor. However, just ordinary Mississippians deserve much of the credit too. They are the ones that know that quality of life is more than concrete and asphalt - it includes long-bearded turkeys and kids with stringers full of bream. Mississippi's leadership, including Governor Haley Barbour, understands that a quality environment to live and work means more jobs and a stronger economy. Many states have not caught onto that yet.

So what have Mississippians done for the environment? We have enrolled approximately 1,000,000 acres in the Conservation Reserve Program. The state ranks #2 in the nation in the amount of wetlands restored through the Wetland Reserve Program. And when efforts were made to prevent the national implementation of the program, it was Mississippi's two U.S. Senators and Congressman Pickering that introduced legislation, and said we like this program and we want it to continue. Mississippi leadership fights, annually, for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to improve water.

Mississippi's Senior Senator is the sole author of the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, a voluntary program to enhance and restore habitat for upland and wetland wildlife, threatened and endangered species, and fisheries. When efforts were made to eliminate all funding for it, our two U.S. Senators again stepped in and funded it. When the Grassland Reserve Act, a piece of legislation to restore native prairie for birds like bobwhite quail, was introduced, our entire House delegation co-sponsored it.

Mississippians have been influential in maintaining and providing more lands for public recreation. Senator Cochran and Congressman Thompson recently led efforts, to authorize the Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge, which would celebrate President Theodore Roosevelt and his 1902 bear hunt in Mississippi, which also gave birth to the "teddy bear," Mississippi’s official state toy. They also created the Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuge, the first Refuge named for an African-American.

In recognizing the accomplishments of Mississippi that are being described during this Earth Week, we must remember how we got there. Mississippi's leaders play major roles in developing state, regional and national programs to help advance a wide variety of conservation initiatives. In Mississippi, every day is Earth Day.

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. Their web site is www.wildlifemiss.org.