If the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service plan comes to fruition, the middle Pearl River will soon be part a federal agency’s latest initiative — Urban National Wildlife Refuges.
According to Tom McKenzie, a USF&WS spokesman, some of the lands along the Pearl River are included in what is proposed to become a 5,000-acre refuge in the greater Metro Jackson area.
It will include lands between Barnett Reservoir to the north and Lakeland Drive to the south. The project area includes 2,712 acres of adjoining property currently owned by the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
If the proposed refuge is approved, this property will be transferred to the USF&WS within the next two years. Following the transfer, the USF&WS would then continue working with willing landowners and other partners to protect the remaining acreage within the proposed refuge boundary.
According to the USF&WS, the benefits of the proposed refuge include:
• Recreation, such as hunting, fishing, canoeing, hiking, biking and wildlife photography and observation.
• Protection of migratory birds and the Pearl River bottomland hardwood riparian ecosystem, as well as the cultural and historical resources within the property.
• Opportunities for environmental education and interpretive programs highlighting the area’s important natural resources.
At a public meeting in 2013 in Flowood, the town along Highway 25 where the refuge’s headquarters would be located, it was suggested that the transfer would include some existing buildings that could be used as offices and education facilities.
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