“To protect, conserve and re-establish the Southeastern United States diminishing wildlife and their habitats”
a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
Sponsors / Partners
Friends of the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge
The Southeastern Wildlife Conservation Group has entered into a Cooperative Agreement
with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to support its Mississippi Sandhill Crane National
Wildlife Refuge located in Gautier, MS. Together, the SWCG in collaboration with
the US Fish and Wildlife Service, will create and maintain the Mississippi Sandhill
Crane NWR as one of the top Refuges in the country.
Goals of the Cooperative Agreement are to:
v Assist in the protection of the critically endangered Mississippi Sandhill Crane and its unique disappearing wet pine savanna habitat;
v Increasing conservation education to the general public, lawmakers and schools;
v Establish and maintain an educational bookstore at the Refuge Visitor Center;
v And to assist in various maintenance and refuge upgrades to include but not limited to land clean-ups, trail construction and maintenance, and assistance to the staff of the Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR.
ABOUT THE REFUGE
The Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR was established in 1975 in Jackson County, MS
for the protection and recovery of it's critically endangered namesake and the restoration
of the wet pine savanna. It is estimated that 95-97% of this habitat has been altered,
and the refuge serves as a key remnant ecosystem representative. The pine savanna
has a rich herbaceous flora and includes some of the highest plant diversities, particularly
carnivorous plants, in North America. The non-migratory Mississippi Sandhill crane
population has increased from 30-35 cranes in the mid-70s to the current 110-120
birds.
Historically, the Mississippi Sandhill Crane was found in semi-open, wet savanna habitat that was once prevalent in southern Jackson County. Savannas are meadows established on acidic water-logged soil, unsuitable for most land uses.
By the mid-1950’s timber companies purchased savanna tracts and converted then into pine plantations. Additionally, agricultural and industrial development, including World War II ship building, fire suppression on pine plantations and other forestry practices destroyed much of the native landscape.
The population decline of the Mississippi Sandhill Crane reflects the disappearance of the pine savannas that once abounded in the region. When the Refuge was first established, about 75% of the crane savannas had been eliminated.
At present, only 5% or less of the original savanna habitat that once supported the
cranes remains on the Gulf Coastal Plain. For this reason, Mississippi Sandhill Cranes
now occur only on the refuge named for them and adjacent private lands in the vicinity
of the refuge.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service started captive breeding the cranes
at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in 1965 to protect the subspecies during
habitat restoration work and to provide stock for reintroduction.
The Service added
the Mississippi Sandhill Crane to the endangered species list in 1973 and Mississippi
Sandhill Crane NWR was the first refuge established under the Endangered Species
Act, which calls for the government "...to provide a means whereby the ecosystems
upon which endangered species and threatened species may be conserved, to provide
a program for the conservation of such endangered species and threatened species,
and to take steps as may be appropriate to achieve the purposes of the treaties and
conventions set forth..."
BECOME A FRIEND OF THE REFUGE
The Southeastern Wildlife Conservation Group needs your help both financially and through volunteer services to assist the US Fish and Wildlife Service in their mission to protect the critically endangered Mississippi Sandhill Crane and its unique disappearing wet pine savanna habitat. Please do become a member today and help us in our mission. Thank you for your support!
Latest press releases
Navigate
Nature Store
Wildlife Rescue
Monofilament Recycling
