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CONSERVATION CORNER
(For the week of March 24, 2008)
Native Grassland Restoration Handbook Available
by James L. Cummins

Wildlife Mississippi is pleased to announce the release of its newest handbook: Restoring and Managing Native Prairies: A Handbook for Mississippi Landowners. The handbook was written by Dr. Jeanne Jones of Mississippi State University with assistance from Daniel Coggin of Wildlife Mississippi. The handbook is just another in a long line of educational tools that Wildlife Mississippi has developed to help educate Mississippi's private landowners about the proper ways of enhancing, managing and protecting the natural resources found on their lands.

Daniel Coggin, a field biologist with Wildlife Mississippi and one of the co-authors of the book, states, "It is and will always be our mission at Wildlife Mississippi to help enhance and protect Mississippi's beautiful natural resources. This handbook was developed to educate Mississippians about the proper ways of restoring and managing native grasslands found on their property."

The handbook is part of the efforts of Wildlife Mississippi through its Blackland Prairie Restoration Initiative. Through the Initiative, Wildlife Mississippi and its partners are working to restore native grassland using sound, scientifically based management practices within the Blackland Prairie region of the state.

Described by early explorers as "expansive illuminated grassy plains," this prairie is made up of two main areas. The largest of the Blackland Prairies, as well as the most southeastern of the tall prairie type, is the Black Belt Prairie. This prairie is a crescent-shaped region that extends from McNairy County, Tennessee, south across East-central Mississippi and east to Russell County, Alabama. Development of the Black Belt was chiefly from chalk, a soft limestone, with small concentrations of clay and silt. The "blackness" of the soil, as described by early explorers and settlers, is a result of the humus of the grassland that forms dark-colored topsoil. The second area of this prairie is the Jackson Prairie. The Jackson Prairie extends from Yazoo County to the eastern border between Alabama and Mississippi. The fine textured soils of this prairie were derived from calcareous clays and are well suited for cultivation.

Much of the prairie was converted to agricultural use during the 1800s with cotton being the primary crop. The 1900s saw the conversion from cotton to soybeans, grazing lands and other agricultural crops. Early settlement and intensive cultivation have severely degraded the soils of these prairies and have resulted in the loss of valuable topsoil as well as extensive erosion. Excessive grazing and the exclusion of fire have also allowed the expansion of Eastern red cedar and other noxious species. The Conservation Reserve Program has allowed much acreage to be converted to loblolly pine production. Today, the Blackland Prairie has been listed as one of the most critically endangered ecosystems in the nation with less than one percent of the prairie still remaining, making it the most degraded habitat type in the state. The only remnants of native prairies left are in cemeteries, 16th section lands and on the Tombigbee and Bienville National Forests.

Those interested in obtaining a free copy of the handbook can contact Wildlife Mississippi at 662-686-3375.