LDP's Third Annual Fishing Rodeo

June 2008
Blue Lake in Delta National Forest was the scene of Mississippi’s Lower Delta Partnership’s and the U.S. Forest Service – Delta National Forest’s third annual Youth Fishing Rodeo on Saturday, June 14, 2008. Approximately 35 young anglers along with their parents, grandparents and volunteers showed up to try their luck fishing.

As one volunteer stated, “it’s called fishing not catching”, and that was the case Saturday. Despite having the lake stocked by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the catfish were not biting, but a good time was had by all. Thanks to several local sponsors, all children received prizes and everyone was treated to lunch in the forest.

Thank you to these sponsors: Bank of Anguilla, Bryant Group, Delta Implement Company, Double Quick, Hodnett Company, Holcomb CPA, Maranto’s BP, Mississippi Ag, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, Sharkey County Supervisors, South Delta Parts, Sunflower Food Store, and to all the volunteers that came out to help. Special thanks to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for providing fish for the rodeo, and to the Delta National Forest staff for their assistance in hosting the event.

Mississippi’s Lower Delta Partnership strives to promote the use of our south Delta public lands by hosting events like the Youth Fishing Rodeo. We also want to encourage young people to get outside and enjoy nature during the Great Outdoors month of June.

Steele's Bayou Expedition Driving Tour Booklet Now Available

In 2006, Mississippi’s Lower Delta Partnership received a grant through the National Park Service’s Lower Mississippi Delta Initiative program to interpret the Steele’s Bayou Expedition of the Civil War. With the publication of a narrative
and driving tour guide, Phase I of that project is now complete.

The Steele’s Bayou Expedition was the last and most extraordinary of Major General Ulysses Grant’s unsuccessful attempts aimed at capturing the strategic city of Vicksburg during the Civil War. This plan called for a naval squadron consisting of 5 City Class ironclads and several support vessels to enter Steele’s Bayou from the Yazoo River, travel
for 30 miles to Black Bayou, and go 4 miles through Black Bayou to Deer Creek, then north 30 more miles to Rolling Fork Creek. From there the gunboats would travel to the Sunflower River and into the Yazoo, outflanking the Confederate batteries at Snyder’s Bluff, thus gaining control of the Yazoo River. In theory it was a good idea, the reality of it was that these waterways had never been navigated by ships as large as the gunboats, and the thick delta vegetation was a constant source of aggravation for Admiral David Porter’s gunboat crews. Porter’s naval squadron was supported in this attempt by Major General William Sherman’s infantry forces. Hill’s Plantation near Onward was the staging ground for infantry and Sherman’s headquarters throughout the expedition.

It was in Rolling Fork that a skirmish took place that eventually caused Porter to admit defeat and call for his boats to retreat. The boats were forced to back down the creek encountering obstacles such as trees felled across the creek and
Confederate artillery fire along the way.

The driving tour guide and narrative provides interpretation for a piece of south Delta history that up to now has been without interpretation for the general public. Phases 2 and 3 of this project involve installation of interpretive wayside panels at 7 of the 11 stops indicated in the booklet. LDP hopes to have panels installed before January of 2009. The tour as indicated in the booklet begins in Vicksburg at the Cairo Museum where the Cairo, a sister ship to those on this expedition, may be viewed. Seeing the size of the gunboats on this expedition makes one truly appreciate the efforts
involved in the venture.

Guides are available locally at the offices of Weissinger and Hunter and Mississippi’s Lower Delta Partnership; they are also available at the Vicksburg National Military Park. - Cairo Museum. A limited number of free guide booklets are available and after that supply is exhausted, booklets will sell for $1.00 each; the proceeds will be used to pay for additional printings.

Butterfly Day at Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge

April 2008 - As a part of National Youth Service Day in the South Delta, Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge’s Butterfly Garden was weeded, planted and mulched by some civic minded youth and adults on Saturday, April 26.

The garden, located beside the refuge headquarters on Yazoo Refuge Road, was established in 2006 with a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Nature of Learning Grant obtained by Mississippi’s Lower Delta Partnership. In its third and final year of funding through this program, the garden provides a complete habitat for butterflies that also includes interpretive signs for visitors to the garden. The garden is maintained throughout the year by refuge employees and the Greenville, Mississippi Master Gardeners.

Girl Scouts and Brownies participated in a West Nile Scavenger Hunt sponsored by the Mississippi Department of Health, learned about refuge wildlife from David Linden, wildlife biologist for the Theodore Roosevelt NWR Complex, planted annual and perennial plants in the garden, and enjoyed lunch on the grounds.

The local Youth Service Day was a partnership of local organizations led by the 4-H Club, Lower Delta Partnership and the Future Farmers of America. Local groups and organizations were invited to register to lead a community project or join one sponsored by another group.

Site Selection Report released on South Delta Interpretive Center
from the Deer Creek Pilot, February 2008

The Vicksburg District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed its site selection study for the proposed Interpretive and Education Center in the South Delta and a location somewhere in Sharkey County is its overwhelming recommendation. Of the top 15 potential sites investigated in Sharkey, Issaquena, Warren, Washington, Yazoo and Humphreys County, 12 are located in Sharkey, including the top three ranked sites. The other three in the top 15 are Issaquena County sites.

The Corps’ report, produced by the Baton Rouge- based Gulf South Research Corporation, indicated that 74 potential sites were originally considered, then narrowed to 38 with the consideration that the center locale “should be within the vicinity of the Holt Collier and Theodore Roosevelt bear hunt site,” based on public comments and the intent of the empowering federal legislation.

“Therefore, the top sites are located near the towns of Rolling Fork and Cary,” the report reads. The highest rated of all the considered locations is one at the southernmost end of the Rolling Fork city limits, known locally as “the Red Barn” site.

The federal legislation authorizing the interpretive and education center, also referred to as the Holt Collier Center, authorized $6 million for its construction. However, that funding was not included in this year’s federal omnibus spending bill, and a concerted effort has already begun to secure allocation of those funds in next year’s federal budget, proponents said.

Area Towns Participating in Deer Creek Beautification Projects
(Nov. 2007)

Deer Creek is a 159 mile waterway that flows from Lake Bolivar near Scott, MS through 5 counties and into Whittington Auxiliary Channel near Vicksburg. Once a navigable waterway fed by Mississippi River overflow, barges and boats traveled the creek until the early 1900’s. Now portions of the creek have been reduced to a series of stagnant ponds filled only when the area has had heavy rainfall, this is especially true along the southern reaches of the creek.

Deer Creek is one of those features of south delta geography that many residents take for granted and have neglected when it comes to insuring beneficial water quality. The banks of Deer Creek contain some of the highest elevation land in the Delta and some of the most picturesque for residents and visitors alike, but in many places illegal dumping ruins that picture.

A group has formed that is dedicated to improving the creek and the quality of life for the people who live near and/or visit Deer Creek. The Deer Creek Watershed Association, made up of individuals, businesses and interested agencies, states its objectives as: to promote the clean up of Deer Creek Watershed and its tributaries, develop educational programs that will promote greater stewardship of our natural resources, monitor and advocate for the reduction of sewage and run off into the watershed, and promote the historical, cultural and recreational aspects of the watershed.

The association has hosted beautification projects in Arcola, Leland, Metcalf, Hollandale, Anguilla and Rolling Fork during the summer and fall of 2007. At each of these events Volunteers have come out to pick up trash and debris with the assistance of city and county workers. These clean-ups encourage area residents to keep their creek landscape clean and to appreciate Deer Creek and the asset it could be to our area.

The Deer Creek Watershed Association would like to involve any town or city along Deer Creek that has an interest in this project until they reach the mouth of the creek, but these clean ups can only be successful if each community’s citizens and leaders get involved. Improving the water quality and beautifying Deer Creek for the benefit of all citizens is definitely a worthwhile goal; as the t-shirts say “A clean Deer Creek, It’s in Our Hands.” For more information about the Deer Creek Watershed Association contact Ronnie Yarbrough at 662.827.5884.

Great Delta Bear Affair Youth Education Day
Oct. 26, 2007

Often the Educational component of the Great Delta Bear Affair is overlooked in favor of all the festival excitement. Not only are there educational displays by natural resource, conservation and wildlife related agencies on festival day, but on the Friday before the Great Delta Bear Affair festival, education is the focus.

This year over 400 fourth graders from Washington, Yazoo, Warren, Sharkey and Issaquena counties attended Youth Education Day in Rolling Fork. Sponsored by the Great Delta Bear Affair and Soil and Water Conservation Districts from Sharkey, Humphreys, Yazoo, Warren and Washington counties with assistance from area NRCS offices, the day was full of fun and educational presentations. This was the first year the Soil and Water Conservation districts partnered with the GDBA on this event and their participation enhanced it, making it better than ever.

Students played Wildlife Jeopardy at the Delta National Forest booth, ran relays with the Mississippi Forestry Commission, identified animal furs and skulls with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and learned about black bears in Mississippi from Brad Young, MS Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks bear biologist, watershed stewardship from the Mississppi Wildlife Federation, and Theodore Roosevelt and Holt Collier impersonators told the story of President Roosevelt’s 1902 bear hunt in Sharkey County. Before lunch, which was provided by the Deer Creek Watershed Association and Northwest Mississippi RC&D, all the students were treated to herpetologist Terry Vandeventer and his Mississippi snakes. The Watershed Harmony puppet show and storyteller, Doris Jones, were both entertaining also. At the end of the day each student was given a treat bag filled with goodies from the U.S. Forest Service, Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge, and MSU Extension Service.

As a part of Education Day, students are invited to participate in an art or essay contest and send them in advance for judging. This year a couple of schools participated and the winning artists were: 1 st place – Virginia Villarreal, SIA; 2 nd place – Lacy Cook, SIA; 3 rd place – Jonathan Powers; Greenville Christian School; and Honorable Mention – Cassidy Willis, SIA. These students were presented with Bear Affair gifts and their artwork is on display in the Sharkey Issaquena County Library.

Great Delta Bear Affair Youth Education Day makes a fun and educational field trip for schools in a 5 county area and promotes both Rolling Fork and the Great Delta Bear Affair. Like the festival itself, this event is the result of many dedicated volunteers who work to make it a success; some young people that helped with Ed day as group leaders include students from the Mississippi State Wildlife Society and Sharkey-Issaquena 4-H Leadership Team. Overall the day was a huge success.

Mayersville Boat Ramp
(September 2007)

One of the few places where the Mississippi River can be seen between Greenville and Vicksburg is over the levee in Mayersville, Mississippi.

The boat ramp and landing on the Mississippi River at Mayersville has undergone a dramatic facelift thanks to the Army Corps of Engineers. Mayersville is the only access to the river between Greenville and Vicksburg, and the old ramp had become unsafe. In September the Corps regraded the landing giving the new ramp a better angle of descent into the river. They then laid concrete matting over it, and created a new gravel parking area also.

This new ramp will improve river access for not only the Corps, but also MDWF&P personnel and recreational users.

The photos at right show both a river side view and a view from the landing in Mayersville.

Agri-Tourism in the South Delta
(September 2007)

What is Agri-tourism? By definition, agri-tourism is a “commerical enterprise at a farm, ranch or agricultural plant conducted for the enjoyment of visitors that generates supplemental income for the owner.” According to the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, agri-tourism is a fast growing part of the future of agriculture in Mississippi. Many farmers in the area have conducted agri-tourism activities on their land, but maybe not for profit. If you’ve toured individuals or groups on your farm, given rides on tractors, combines or cotton pickers, conducted cotton gin tours, or allowed fishing in your catfish ponds you’ve participated in agri-tourism.

Congratulations and best wishes are in order for Jim and Lynn Newman with their agri-tourism enterprise, Farmer Jim’s Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze. Located off Highway 16 just outside of Rolling Fork, the pumpkin patch and maze will open for visitors on September 29 and be open each weekend until November 3. Groups may arrange to visit during the week, but by appointment only. You can pick your own pumpkins off the vine, and this year the Newman’s have grown a variety of “heirloom pumpkins” of various shapes and sizes in addition to the traditional jack-o-lantern pumpkins.

The five-acre corn maze is bear-shaped in honor of Teddy Roosevelt’s 1902 bear hunt at nearby Onward. The winding maze has dead ends, twists and turns, and help will be available if anyone is lost. Several groups from this area have, in the past, traveled great distances to visit corn mazes – this year there is one in our own backyard, so support the local folks and visit Farmer Jim’s Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze. For more information Call Jim or Lynn and visit their website: www.farmerjimspumpkinpatch.com.

Another area business supporting agri-tourism is Emily Carter’s Sweetea Adventures. Available to groups, by appointment only, Emily will conduct various heritage and agricultural tours in the south delta. The delta with its rich agricultural heritage is a natural for agri-tourism enterprises, and I am pleased that some local individuals are looking into its potential, not just for profit, but to share a part of the delta’s culture with others.

The Butterflies are Here!
(July 2007)

Each year I have people tell me that they want to know when the butterflies are out in the forest and by that time they are usually gone, so here goes: The butterflies are out now! I was doing a little advance checking for the folks that come to Delta National Forest each year to conduct a count for the North America Butterfly Association, and I was pleased to see great masses of butterflies along the road.

Last year this group was very disappointed by the low numbers encountered on their visit to the delta, and we attributed it to the drought. These little creatures like water also. Thanks to an abundance of rain recently, the forest is filled with the fluttering insects.

I went in on the 715 Road, off Highway 16, and was instantly greeted by a cloud of Hackberry, Red Spotted Purple, and Tiger Swallowtail butterflies. On the road were large groups of butterflies puddling. I encountered several groups that contained 4-5 different species including Red Spotted Purples, Dusky Wings, Questionmarks, Pearl Crescents, and Pipevine Swallowtails. Along the forest roads and in the campsites are the best places to look for butterflies, you can even do it from your car when they are as populous as they are right now (drive slowly). So, if you would like to see the butterflies while they are out in large numbers, go visit Delta National Forest within the next week, because you never know how long they’ll be around.

Mississippi’s Lower Delta Partnership has recently put together a small field guide pamphlet entitled Butterflies of the Delta; please stop by the LDP office if you would like to pick up a copy.

Blue Lake Fishing Rodeo
(June 2007)

With assistance from Delta National Forest-USFS personnel and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks, LDP hosted a youth Fishing Rodeo at Blue Lake Recreation Area in Delta National Forest on June 30, 2007. The fish were biting and the youth had a great time. The largest fish, a 4 lb. 9 oz. catfish, was caught by Rakeem Reed of Rolling Fork. The smallest fish award went to Sarah Grace Perkins of Anguilla for her oh-so-small bream. Many volunteers helped make this event possible and the following sponsors who donated prizes, supplies, food and other materials:

Bank of Anguilla, Bryant Group, Delta Implement Co., Double Quick, Hodnett Co., Holcomb CPA, Maranto’s Amoco Mini-Mart, Mississippi Ag, Sharkey County Supervisors, South Delta Parts, Murindia Williams.

Thank you!

Photos from 6-30-2007 Fishing Rodeo at Blue Lake in Delta National Forest

Yazoo NWR Butterfly Garden gets spruced up for Earth Day
(April 2007)

On Saturday, April 21, approximately 40 children and adults celebrated Earth Day by helping replant the Butterfly Garden at Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge. Many plants returned from last year, but annuals and some that did not survive had to be replaced. This garden was established in 2006 through a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Nature of Learning Grant. A second year grant was received for improvements and maintenance in 2007.

Tim Wilkins, Theodore Roosevelt Refuge Complex manager, welcomed groups and gave a lecture on some of the wildlife at the refuge. Groups saw alligators, wood duck boxes filled with eggs, and bluebird boxes.

The Butterfly Garden at Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge was designed to provide a complete habitat for a variety of butterfly species. Each species of butterfly, will only lay its eggs on specific plants which are called host plants. Host plants provide the food that butterfly larvae will eat until they form a chrysalis. Fennel, rue, parsley, passion vine, and asclepsias are a few of the host plants in this butterfly garden. Adult butterflies feed on nectar from flowering plants such as zinnias, lantana, verbena, monarda, and flowering shrubs. Children planted both host and nectar plants in the garden on Saturday.

The garden has been maintained over the past year by refuge personnel and the Greenville Master Gardeners group. The Master Gardeners have adopted the refuge garden as a project and have been invaluable to its upkeep. Several of them were on hand Saturday to assist with the planting.

The garden project was registered as a National Youth Service Day project. Some area youth volunteered by helping children plant and serving lunch to everyone at the refuge. After planting and picnicking was complete, the “gardeners” all took a nature walk on the Holt Collier boardwalk and trail.

Many thanks to everyone who helped make this day a success. Please visit Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge’s Butterfly Garden this summer!

Photos from 4-21-07 at Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge