Desoto-Camp Shelby Longleaf Implementation Team - DeSoto National Forest Hosts Field Tour in Mississippi

By Tamara Campbell, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks

The DeSoto Ranger District in southeast MS hosted a field tour in November to review successful ecosystem restoration efforts and to discuss potential challenges.  Several members of the MS Longleaf Implementation Team attended the field tour along with other state, federal, and non-government organization collaborators.

The US Forest Service highlighted longleaf pine ecosystem restoration; harvest results on site condition; habitat improvements for Mississippi gopher frogs, gopher tortoises, and red cockaded woodpeckers; hazardous fuel reduction; and prescribed fire results.  These accomplishments were made possible through the Ecosystem Restoration for Gopher Tortoise and Red Cockaded Woodpecker decision and Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration funding.

Image 1:  Jimmy Mordica explaining the activities that took place at the Airey Tower Ecosystem Restoration Project Area (De Soto NF) to CFLRP partners and stakeholders.  Photo by Becky Stowe.

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