Jeanne C. Jones

NASA's Stennis Space Center (SSC) is located in Hancock County in southwestern Mississippi, east of the Pearl River and just north of interstate highway I-10. SSC is a space shuttle booster rocket testing and research base comprised of 6,462 ha acres with about 3,823 ha designated as controlled access areas for test facilities, laboratories, offices, and other operational facilities. The remaining 2,639 ha are primarily forested land within the large acoustical easement area that surrounds the rocket booster testing facility. No hunting is allowed on the base, so there has been concern...

Previous research conducted at Mississippi State University found that non-industrial private (NIP) landowners in Mississippi can diversify incomes derived from their properties through the development of fee hunting enterprises. In 1998, revenues collected from fee hunting on Mississippi private lands ranged from US$2,964 to $5,254 on average per landowner or $7.50 to $14.28 per ha, depending upon the region. Net revenues averaged from $1,539 to $3,244 per landowner survey respondent or $3.90 to $9.54 per ha. Additionally, fee access wildlife recreation contributed an average increase of...

The Black Belt Region of Mississippi and Alabama is the largest blackland prairie in the southeastern United States. Large, contiguous tallgrass prairies are now extremely scarce over their historic range, with <1% of the original prairie area remaining in Mississippi. Currently, restoration of warm season grasslands is a primary conservation focus on private and public lands in Mississippi. However, limited information exists on comparisons between restored warm season grasslands and remnant, intact prairies. This information is part of an ongoing study that evaluates variations in...

Over 1 million people participated in wildlife-associated recreation in 2001 in Mississippi, spending a total of US $974 million. Research conducted at Mississippi State University (MSU) documented net revenues averaging from $1,539 to $3,244 (varied regionally) per landowner in 1998 for Mississippi non-industrial private landowners operating fee-hunting enterprises. Habitat management activities associated with fee access wildlife recreational enterprises benefit wildlife when integrated with existing land management activities. MSU research documented that bird species richness and...

The Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) has undergone widespread loss of bottomland hardwood forests due to agricultural conversion. Hardwood establishment on marginal croplands has been proposed to mitigate effects of deforestation and related loss of carbon-capture potential. These reforestation areas can provide important wildlife habitat in agriculture-dominated landscapes; however, concern with reforestation is low seedling survival due to herbivory and vegetation competition. We surveyed reforested fields in the MAV of northwest Mississippi to assess survival of 10 species of hardwood...

Several studies have proposed the creation of seasonal wetlands for ensuring habitat diversity and providing connectivity for herpetofaunal populations. However, few published studies have addressed differences in faunal communities between constructed and naturally occurring wetlands and the role they play in supporting pool-breeding amphibians. We measured larval amphibian diversity within temporary pools of public forested lands in north-central Mississippi. We quantified larval amphibian species richness, abundance, and community similarities between four isolated, upland ephemeral...

We conducted a survey to evaluate sales values of private rural lands (N = 100; 13,559 ha) that were purchased for recreational uses in Mississippi from 2002-2005. Most (70%) land parcels were located near or in the Mississippi River Delta region with dominant cover types of forest (52%) or agricultural crops (43%). Important recreational uses included hunting, off road vehicles access, horseback riding, wildlife watching, ecotourism, and fishing. Featured species were white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; 93%), rabbits (Sylvilagus spp.; 65%), wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo; 56%),...

We conducted a 13-year study to determine bird species richness and abundance in field edges maintained in conservation buffers and mowed field edges on two agricultural experiment stations in Mississippi. Both experiment stations were intensively managed for agricultural row crop and dairy production with field edges managed with frequent mowing and herbicide application. Habitat reclamation and management on 41 ha of field edges was initiated on each farm in 1988 and included selective spraying herbicides to control agronomic grasses, cessation of annual mowing, protection from livestock...

We conducted a survey of nonindustrial private (NIP) landowners in Mississippi during the 1996-97 and 1997-98 hunting seasons to determine revenues collected and expenditures incurred for fee hunting on their properties. We mailed the survey to random samples of landowners who owned $16.4 ha within statewide and Mississippi Delta counties during 1996-97 and statewide and Mississippi Gulf Coastal counties during 1997-98. Questionnaires mailed over the two hunting seasons totaled 6,966 and resulted in 2,283 respondents. Game species pursued on lands committed to fee hunting included deer,...

Our study attached a monetary value to marine resources associated with fishing on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In 2001, we conducted on-site surveys (N = 475) to collect expenditures of marine onshore anglers and marine fishing tournament participants in the Mississippi Gulf Coast three-county region. We then determined the extent and economic impacts of these activities and integrated marine onshore angler economic impacts and attendances into a Geographic Information System (GIS) for the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Our survey response rate was 86%. Total sales impacts generated from fishing-...