The Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge and Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve collectively protect a diversity of important coastal habitats, including some of the last remaining wet pine savanna in the country. This project will add up to an additional 1,686 acres identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the State of Mississippi as critical for acquisition and long-term management to these protected lands. This acreage contains a diversity of habitats including wet pine savanna, maritime forests, tidal and non-tidal wetlands, salt marshes, salt pannes, bays, and bayous. This expansion could help support federally threatened and endangered species including the gopher tortoise, sandhill crane, and the manatee as well as hundreds of species of migrating birds and aquatic wildlife.
PROJECT COST: $2,000,000
LEAD ORGANIZATION: The Conservation Fund
PARTNERS: MS Department of Marine Resources, USFWS, NOAA
Additional Benefits:
- Acres Available for Recreation: 1,600+
- Potential Population Benefited: 13,800+
- Critical Facilities in Vicinity: 8
