Natural Resources

Streams, ponds, and rivers. Forestlands, farmlands, and wetlands. Wildlife and fisheries. Mississippi has abundant and diverse natural resources, and many people in the state leverage these resources for business and pleasure. The MSU Extension Service works with stakeholders, state agency partners, and citizens of all ages to explore, study, manage, and conserve these natural resources while finding ways to put them to use in positive ways.

Publications

Publication Number: P3273

Common Landscape Herbicides and Their Effects on Trees

Publication Number: IS1590

What is a Fishing Derby?

Publication Number: IS1939

Forest Diversity: The Food of Life

Publication Number: P0850

2019 Mississippi Tide Tables

Publication Number: P3176

Assessment of Ecosystem Service Value and Program Delivery Natural Resource Conservation: Landowner Goals and Concerns

Man standing in the woods inspects nylon straps on a tree stand he is holding on in his hands.

Make safety this year’s No. 1 hunting priority

September 21, 2018 - Filed Under: Wildlife Youth Education, Wildlife

Safety is a key aspect of having a successful and enjoyable hunt this season and for many more to come.

A fisherman in rubber waders stands in a small, quiet stream and casts a lure toward the viewer.

Hunting licenses offer many happy returns

September 17, 2018 - Filed Under: Wildlife

Everyone wants to get more than they paid for, and no one is ever excited about paying taxes. With that in mind, hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts can make a small investment with many happy returns.

Dust billows out of a trailer on a large truck driving across a small, grassy area surrounded by tall trees.

Well-managed food plots nourish and attract deer

September 7, 2018 - Filed Under: Wildlife, White-Tailed Deer

Planting food plots for deer and other wildlife is common practice in Mississippi, and for good reason: Food plots provide much-needed nutrition for deer and viewing opportunities for hunters.

A large buck walks through a brown field.

Hunters’ actions today protect tomorrow’s deer

August 31, 2018 - Filed Under: Natural Resources, Wildlife, Chronic Wasting Disease, White-Tailed Deer

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi hunters will be on the front lines of the battle to protect deer from spreading a deadly disease throughout their herds.

Last February, a 4-year-old buck in Issaquena County tested positive for chronic wasting disease -- or CWD. This contagious, terminal disease affects members of the deer family, ultimately causing holes in their brains. Infected deer lose weight and “just waste away.”

This forest has hundreds of tall, thin pine trees with light-gray bark and green clumps of needles.

Changing housing market, timber glut limit prices

August 31, 2018 - Filed Under: 4-H Forestry, Forest Management, Timber Harvest

Housing start fluctuations and an abundance of timber are limiting the ceiling on stumpage prices in Mississippi now, but expect the market to improve when sawmills begin stocking up for winter.

Taking One with the Team

Forestry
Volume 4 Number 1

Mississippi’s 2017 Outstanding Logger of the Year is quick to credit his employees for his business’s success, but he prefers to call them part of his team.

snow covers a fence and field in south Mississippi.

Southern Snow Day

Environment
Volume 4 Number 1

South Mississippi was blanketed with snow in early December 2017. Local agents with the Mississippi State University Extension Service worked with state residents to protect people, plants, and livestock in the cold temperatures. Extension experts are available in every Mississippi county to share advice on how to keep people, homes, animals, and plants safe, efficient, and productive, no matter what the weather brings.

• A man in overalls stands beside a man in a red T-shirt in front of a tree farm

Working Together

Forestry
Volume 3 Number 4

Dave Stewart may not have followed professionally in the footsteps of his grandfathers, both of whom operated sawmills, but he is building a legacy property that combines timber and wildlife habitat as a tribute to the men who taught him to love the land.

A child uses colorful LEGO bricks at a 4-H Robotics competition.

What's New in Extension

STEM – Science Technology Engineering and Math, Dairy, Pesticide Applicator Certification, City and County Government, Mississippi Homemaker Volunteers, Soil Testing, Natural Resources
Volume 3 Number 3

4-H Debuts New Curriculum · Extension Develops Workforce · La-Z-Boy Donates Fabric · Stars Focus On Sustainability · Extension Directs Herbicide Training · Youth Discover Dairy Science · Soil Lab Welcomes New Manager

Going Hog Wild

Nuisance Wildlife and Damage Management, Operation HOG
Volume 3 Number 3

Trevor Garrett stays busy. He divides his days between farming soybeans with his father, Johnnie Ferrell Garrett, and working as a research associate at Mississippi State University's Pontotoc Ridge–Flatwoods Branch Experiment Station.

Extension Matters Magazine