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Mobilize Yourself—Paddle for the Earth, Celebrate Earth Day with the Grand Bay Reserve

12-20-CWS | April 12, 2012

BILOXI, Miss. – The Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve’s April Adventure Quencher features a paddling cleanup on Bayou Heron in honor of Earth Day and the Pascagoula River Nature Festival. This year’s theme for Earth Day is “Mobilize the Earth,” so the Reserve has designed its April Adventure to fall in line with that national theme.

 

Celebrate Earth Day this year by helping us pick up litter along Bayou Heron during a leisurely, interpretive paddle adventure up and down the bayou on Saturday, April 21, 2012, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Sign in at Grand Bay Coastal Resources Center located at 6005 Bayou Heron Road near Moss Point, Miss., at 8 a.m. This free event is for tweens, teens and adults. Pre-registration is required for this event, as we only have a limited number of kayaks. Those of you who have your own kayak or canoe are welcome to join in the fun as well. Clean up supplies wil be provided. Children must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

 

Participants will get a little wet, so be sure to bring a change of clothes. We also recommend that you bring water, sunscreen, bug spray and a hat. Please wear closed-toed shoes. For more information or to preregister, please contact Jennifer Buchanan at 228-475-7047 or jen.buchanan@dmr.ms.gov. To learn more about Earth Day 2012, visit the Earth Day website at http://www.earthday.org/2012. For information on the Pascagoula River Nature Festival, please go to their website at http://pascagoularivernaturefestival.com/site/.

 

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 Mississippi Department of Marine Resources 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 DMR online at www.dmr.ms.gov.

 

PHOTO CAPTION: Grand Bay NERR Education Coordinator, Jennifer Buchanan, enjoys a beautiful day paddling on Bayou Heron in the Grand Bay Reserve.

 

Contact: Lauren Thompson
Phone: 228-523-4053

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