Ray Mabus of Ackerman donated a conservation easement on land in Choctaw County in the east-central portion of Mississippi. The easement donated by Mabus is within the Sand Creek drainage basin, a tributary of the Noxubee River. It is adjacent to the Yockanookany River drainage basin, which is a tributary of the Pearl River.
This property, formerly the E. E. Mabus Nature Area Property, contains about 43 acres. John Rhinehart Mabus acquired it via fee purchase during the late 1800s. The property left the family sometime between 1913 and the mid-1930s. Raymond E. Mabus, Sr. purchased it in the mid-1930s. Raymond E. Mabus, Jr. acquired the property through his father’s will in 1987.
The Mabus Property is in an upland site, with its natural drainage ways/cove areas largely intact. Oak-hickory is the climax forest type in this physiographic region. Nevertheless, the ecological nature of the Mabus property is such that a variety of successional features exist, including mixed pine-hardwood, upland hardwood, and cove hardwood.
So many acres in Mississippi were converted to loblolly pine plantations, the upland hardwood and mixed hardwood/pine habitat that this conservation easement is made up of needs to be protected.
Success Stories
Read through the stories of 12 landowners and the success that the conservation easements had.
Nash Buckingham’s Beaver Dam was a duck club organized in 1882. It was the property of the Owen family. Nash Buckingham, a renowned and well-loved outdoor writer, frequented Beaver Dam. The conservation easement is approximately 159 acres in the historic Mississippi River Alluvial Floodplain in Tunica County. Tunica County is mostly agricultural, producing cotton, corn,
The Caulk Island property is in the southeast portion of Desha County, Arkansas, on the east side (Mississippi Side) of the Mississippi River and the unprotected (batture) side of the Mississippi River mainline levee system. Lake Whittington forms part of the boundary of the island. This lake, formerly Bolivar Bend, was cut off from the
Coles Creek Land and Timber Company is located approximately 10 miles north of Natchez, Mississippi. This 1,355-acre tract is in a strategic area of the Mississippi Flyway. About 500 acres were reforested to bottomland hardwoods in 2001. Coles Creek’s owners strive to provide diverse habitat types to ensure the needs of all animals, not just
The Dead Tiger Mitigation Bank was organized to compensate for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permits for unavoidable negative impacts to wetlands and streams. The bank is located within the buffer zone of the Stennis Space Center. The buffer zone restricts residential and commercial development, which will aid the bank’s long-term success. This mitigation bank
The late Grey Ferris of Vicksburg donated a 2,114-acre conservation easement with bottomland hardwoods and a small portion of pasture. The Mississippi Land Trust and Ferris negotiated the conservation easement terms together. This binding agreement prohibits any development not compatible with a relatively natural preserve. The property’s roads, walking paths, and a small shed can