Ducks Unlimited recently received a North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant for enhancement projects on two refuges along the Mississippi River. The first project will take place on the St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) near Natchez, Mississippi, and the second on the Yazoo NWR near Greenville, Mississippi.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2015 and will include the reforestation of bottomland hardwoods and the installation of water-management infrastructure. Together, these projects will improve more than 800 acres of waterfowl habitat. Public hunting is allowed on Yazoo NWR and is under consideration for improved areas of St. Catherine Creek NWR.

DU's partners in these projects include the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks; Audubon Mississippi; Cypress Brake Tree Farm; Wetlands America Trust; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and a private landowner.