2000

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Th re ard the ECCC students for all their hard wot .-:.The Nature Conservancy hosted a :;hrimp and crawfish boil on the Ocean Springs beach. On the beach. the group .;bared storie--; 'p an-:! fulltim~ ~tcwards.htp posmons, a unteerism worth approximately ' io millton to the Conservancy. Based in Arlington, Va., The Nature Conservancy is the world's leading private, international conservation group, with more than L1 million members and 1,600 preserves, the largest system of private nature sanctuar– ies in the world. The Conservancy has helped protect more than 10 million acres of ecologically significant habitat in the United States and more than 55 million acres in Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. It currently manages more than 6.1 million acres. For more information about this spring break project or other volunteer opportunities with The Nature Conservancy, call Nicole Anderson at the Ocean Springs Field Office at (228) 872-8452 . Visit its website at www.tnc.org/mississippi.

The Conservancy bought the 1 1996 and plans to recreate the pme ,a,·anna where Mississippi sand hill cranes~ pit~hcr plants a, ' hids.ooa- \\ completed the • t and fmidecf . ·e - land mittgauon fees will connect two separate areas of the :Mississippi Sand Hill Crane National Wildlife Refuge. In preparation for future prescribed burns, the ECCC students cut all woody vegetation to prevent a prescribed burn from jumping the frre line. On their second day the students learned about exotic and invasive species, such as the Japanese climbing fern, that has invaded the Deaton Preserve. With tools in hand, the group dug holes in the earth hoping to find the fern's black roots, difficult work, as the roots are fast spreaders. This non-native species work is part of a plan to develop a restoration plan for the tract. The students' work will help scientists deter– mine the best method to control or eliminate the Japanese climbing fern. The workday provided a view of the Chickasawhay and Leaf Rivers that flow into the Pascagoula River, the largest unaffected