Mississippi

American Forest Foundation
Enhancing Water Quality through Forested Watershed Conservation (Al, FL, MS)
Enhance and maintain water quality by protecting and restoring forested watershed conditions in key watersheds across the Gulf Coast. Project will be implemented through a public-private partnership and will support capacity building and expand resources to protect and restore forested watersheds in the 
Gulf States.
$10,000

Ducks Unlimited
Monitoring Waterfowl Response to Wetland Restoration in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (AR, LA, MS)
Monitor waterfowl response to forest and shallow water wetland restoration on Wetland Reserve Easement sites within the Mississippi Alluvial Valley region of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Project will deploy unmanned aerial vehicles to investigate their utility to monitor waterfowl use of restored wetlands and use imagery analysis and machine learning to establish efficient and effective protocols to derive duck counts and general use behaviors at a project level scale.
$195,000

Ducks Unlimited
Enhancing Hydrology and Restoring Forests in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley – II (AR, MS)
Restore and enhance bottomland hardwood forests and wetlands on public and private lands within the Delta of Arkansas and Mississippi. Project will restore hydrology, enhance existing forests and reforest areas to impact a total of 8,075 acres, including 7,095 acres of conservation easements, benefiting migratory waterfowl, Louisiana black bear and other forested wetland-dependent species.
$343,000

Gentner Consulting Group
Deepwater Horizon Oceanic Fish Restoration Project Project Monitoring and Evaluation (multiple states)
Conduct requisite statistical analyses to evaluate key performance indicators for the project in accordance with the Oceanic Fish Restoration Project Monitoring Plan. Project will estimate bycatch reduction and alternative gear performance during the remaining repose years and will support evaluation of the overall performance of the project following the final repose year.
$430,600

KKAC Foundation
Engaging Underserved Landowners in Conservation and Woodland Management (AR, MS)
Develop forest management plans and implement forest conservation practices to improve forest health and wildlife habitat on private lands in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley region of Arkansas and Mississippi. Project will engage historically underserved and minority landowners through workshops and field days to provide forestry technical assistance, address heirs property issues and connect landowners with financial assistance resources to restore and manage 350 acres of forest habitat.
$375,000

Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United
Collection of Derelict Fishing Gear Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast
Maintain a derelict gear collection utility trailer to support the continued collection, hauling and recycling of derelict blue crab traps for Mississippi’s inshore shrimpers. Project will divert and recycle three tons of fishing gear from the Mississippi sound.
$15,137

Mississippi Forestry Association
Expanding Longleaf Pine Restoration in South Mississippi
Plant 575 acres of longleaf pine, certify 65 family forest tracts into the American Tree Farm Certification Program and improve 450 acres of existing longleaf pine habitat. Project will provide technical guidance in sustainable management of natural resources on private lands and educate landowners about opportunities to enhance/improve longleaf pine forest habitats through technical guidance and cost-share practices. 
$295,996

Mississippi River Trust
Forested Wetland Restoration in the Lower Mississippi River Floodplain – II (multiple states)
Reforest and protect frequently flooded, marginal cropland on private lands through the adoption of USDA Wetland Reserve Easements in the active floodplain of the Lower Mississippi River. Project will establish 10,285 acres of bottomland hardwood forest to expand and enhance habitat and improve water quality, benefiting the Louisiana black bear, swamp rabbit, forest birds, waterfowl and freshwater fish.
$780,000

Mississippi State University
Demonstration of Restoration and Monitoring Techniques for Bottomland Hardwood Habitats (AR, MS)
Restore bottomland hardwood forest habitats, monitor habitat condition and wildlife response to restoration treatments and provide information, training and technical assistance to land¬owners and resource managers to inform forest and wildlife management decisions. Project will restore 884 acres of bottom¬land hardwood forest within the Tallahatchie, Boeuf and Tensas watersheds in Arkansas and Mississippi, benefiting waterfowl, swamp rabbits and other forested wetland-dependent species.
$355,000

North Carolina State University
Expanding Prescribed Fire Delivery to Restore Southeast Forests (multiple states)
Expand and accelerate the implementation of prescribed fire to restore and enhance longleaf pine habitat and other fire dependent forest and grassland communities within the Southeast. Project will engage landowners, including underserved landowners and fire practitioners through technical assistance, training and outreach to increase the use of prescribed fire.
$180,000

Stantec Consulting Services
Gulf-wide In-water Sea Turtle Monitoring Plan (multiple states)
Develop a statistically sound plan for the establishment of a coordinated Gulf-wide network for collection and compilation of critical abundance, demographic, and biological information on sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico. Project will provide important context for project-level monitoring at individual sites where restoration is implemented and will assist with comparisons across multiple projects.
$224,267

The Longleaf Alliance
Coordinating Local Implementation Team Capacity and Landowner Technical Assistance and Outreach (multiple states) - V
Improve and sustain coordination and exchange of information among 18 multi-partner local implementation teams that organize, plan and deliver conservation actions to restore and enhance the longleaf pine ecosystem. Project will support strategic on-the-ground restoration through conservation planning, as well as tracking and communication of longleaf pine restoration accomplishments.
$250,000

The Mississippi State Port Authority at Gulfport
Creating a Resiliency and Sustainability Master Plan for Port of Gulfport (MS)
Create a Resiliency and Sustainability Master Plan for the Port of Gulfport that will support the Port’s current environmental program and comprehensive emergency management plan and will also weave elements of sustainability throughout the Port’s operations and procedures. Project will determine goal and objective formation, complete a resiliency assessment, sustainability assessment and prepare a resiliency and sustainability master plan.
$124,493

The Nature Conservancy
Restoring Forested Wetlands within Mississippi Alluvial Valley Priority Focal Areas (AR, LA, MS)
Project will restore and protect forested wetlands within high priority areas in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley region of Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. Project will reforest 4,800 acres of marginal cropland, restore 1,200 acres of hydrologic wetland function and protect 6,000 acres with conservation easements, benefiting Louisiana black bear, swamp rabbits, waterfowl and neotropical migratory songbirds.
$690,356

Wildlife Mississippi
Aquatic Habitat Conservation within the Pascagoula and Pearl River Watersheds (MS)
Conserve aquatic systems by conducting landowner outreach and technical assistance within the Pascagoula and Pearl River watersheds. Project will provide outreach, workshops and presentations and one-on-one technical assistance to landowners to improve management of 1,000 acres and potentially protecting 200 acres, positively impacting the aquatic or wetland-associated protected species in these drainages.
$199,991