Mississippi Partners Project

The objective of the Mississippi Partners Project is to return waterfowl to the breeding grounds physically conditioned for maximum reproductive success. Managing off-season agricultural fields as waterfowl habitat offers good food resources for migrating and wintering birds with direct benefits to landowners.

Accomplishments
To meet the demand for management assistance on private lands, the Mississippi Partners Project was initiated in 1991. Since that time, Ducks Unlimited and its partners have restored and enhanced over 65,000 acres of waterfowl habitat in Mississippi. This project has been successful in meeting habitat objectives on private lands. As a result, DU ended its pipe program, but continues to provide management recommendations. Technical assistance is available to landowners interested in improving the quality of wetlands on their property.

Winter Flooding of Croplands
Harvested croplands provide waste grain and other natural foods for waterfowl. Crops such as rice, soybeans, corn, and other seed crops become especially attractive to waterfowl when flooded with 1 to 15 inches of water. Rice fields provide ready-made impoundments, and other fields can often be inexpensively flooded after harvest.

Natural Foods on Fallow Areas
Croplands or fields not planted often provide a wide variety of natural moist soil plants and an abundance of associated invertebrates that are high quality waterfowl foods. When shallow water can be held on such fields throughout the fall and winter, these highly attractive foods become readily available for waterfowl.

Counties targeted for the Mississippi Partners Project include: Bolivar, Coahoma, Grenada, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Leflore, Panola, Quitman, Sharkey, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tunica, Warren, Washington, and Yazoo.

For more information contact:

Bob Harris
Project Biologist
Ducks Unlimited
2001-G S. Commerce St.
Grenada, MS 38901
(662) 226-6880
bharris@ducks.org