12-26-CWS | May 10, 2012
BILOXI, Miss. – The Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) will offer “Walk through a Wetland” Saturday, May 19, in celebration of American Wetlands Month.
Participants should meet at the Grand Bay Coastal Resources Center at 7:30 a.m. to sign in and should bring waterproof boots, water, sunscreen, bug spray, a hat, a change of clothes and binoculars; participants must wear close-toed shoes. The Grand Bay Coastal Resources Center is located at 6005 Bayou Heron Road, Moss Point, Miss.
NERR Education Coordinator Jennifer Buchanan will guide the group through wetlands teaching about the plants and animals that live there. The tour will explore a freshwater marsh, a pine savanna and a salt marsh. Additionally, participants will have the opportunity to observe nesting Ospreys from a distance.
“Walk through a Wetland” is NERR’s May Adventure Quencher and part of a month-long event designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—American Wetlands Month—that is geared toward discovering and teaching others about the important role that wetlands play in our environment and the significant benefits they provide, including improved water quality, increased water storage and supply, reduced flood and storm surge risk, and critical habitat for plants, fish, and wildlife.
For more information or to preregister for the event, please contact Jennifer Buchanan at 228-475-7047 or Jen.Buchanan@dmr.ms.gov. For more information on the importance of American Wetlands please visit the EPA’s American Wetlands Month website at http://water.epa.gov/type/wetlands/outreach/index.cfm.
The Grand Bay NERR is located in southeast Jackson County and includes wetlands and waterways from Bang’s Lake to the Alabama state line. A major goal of the Reserve is to provide for research coordination and dissemination of scientific data to the community and local decision-makers to provide sound information on which to base management decisions.
The 18,000-acre reserve is home to several rare or endangered plant and animal species and serves as an essential nursery habitat for numerous important commercial and recreational fish species. The Reserve is managed through state-federal partnership between the DMR and its local partners—Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mississippi State University and the Nature Conservancy—and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. For more information on the Reserve please go to their website at www.grandbaynerr.org.
The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources is dedicated to enhancing, protecting and conserving marine interests of the state by managing all marine life, public trust wetlands, adjacent uplands and waterfront areas to provide for the optimal commercial, recreational, educational and economic uses of these resources consistent with environmental concerns and social changes. Visit the MDMR online at www.dmr.ms.gov.
PHOTO CREDIT: Photos courtesy of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources.
Photo cutline: This freshwater wetland called Hawk’s Marsh located behind the Coastal Resources Center will be one destination that participants will visit during “Walk through a Wetland.”
Contact: Jennifer Goldman Leirer
Phone: (228) 523-4101
[ Download PDF ]
