Fire crews from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Gulf Coast Complex, Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge Student Conservation Association, recently burned 187 acres of mixed forest, shrub and grass lands as part of ongoing fire management activities in Mississippi.
More than 600 acres of the refuge have been treated with prescribed fire this spring to support the Grand Bay Land Acquisition and Habitat Management project.
This project will restore and enhance marine, coastal, estuarine and riparian habitats for the benefit of resources injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The project includes the acquisition of up to 8,000 acres and management of up to 17,500 acres within the boundaries of the Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Jackson County.
The state has acquired about 1,530 acres as part of the project, 40 of which were acquired in April. Acquisition is ongoing. Management activities are expected to continue for the next 10 years.
The primary objective of habitat restoration is to re-establish native vegetation in the target habitats, including coastal marsh, savannas and flatwoods, forested freshwater scrub-shrub, and freshwater marsh.
Prescribed fire is just one restoration measure used by the Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group to implement this project.
Other measures include invasive species management, mechanical clearing, and chemical treatment. (Gulf Spill Restoration 06/30/23) Mississippi Trustees Support Fire Management Activities at Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge | NOAA Gulf Spill Restoration
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