A partnership of 21 federal and state agencies, conservation organizations and private companies is working to conserve fish and wildlife habitats on privately owned land. This group is called the Mississippi Partners for Fish and Wildlife.
"This kind of partnership is the wave of the future to leverage limited resources for the most benefit to our fish and wildlife resources across Mississippi," said Sam D. Hamilton, regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Southeast Region in Atlanta. "This partnership promises to build upon the efforts many of the groups already have underway individually.?With about two-thirds of our nation's land in private ownership, landowners are important keepers of essential fish and wildlife habitat. As Aldo Leopold, the father of wildlife conservation, noted over 75 years ago, it is prudent that ?? we recognize the landowner as the custodian of public game ? and compensate ? with cash, service or protection for the use of his land ?? The Mississippi Partners for Fish and Wildlife are working to do some of those very things.
"I believe that this partnership agreement lays the groundwork for an effective process for all parties to leverage their limited project funds and technical assistance efforts for the voluntary conservation of fish and wildlife resources on private lands in Mississippi, ? said Ronnie Haynes, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's regional coordinator for the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program in Atlanta. "It is our hope that this cooperative partnership will serve as a working model for other states in the Southeast Region."
The Mississippi Partners for Fish and Wildlife are:
