Trees in green swampy water

Mississippi

Forest Action Plan

Sustaining essential private forest lands

Mississippi’s abundant forestlands represent over 60 percent of the total land base. Although many may think of the abundance of forested pine stands, the majority of Mississippi’s forest consist of hardwood and oak-pine mixed timber types. Almost 90 percent of these forested land are privately owned. These forested acres contribute to the state’s economy, often ranking as the second highest agricultural product creating over $1 billion in wages annually. In addition to the economic benefits, human health, aesthetics, habitat, ecosystem services, and recreational benefits of the forests are well documented and recognized. There are a multitude of programs and initiatives linked to ensuring that these resources are properly managed and will still be available for the public to enjoy in the future. Like many other states, however, Mississippi is witnessing changes to its landscapes. Over the past ten years Mississippi has lost approximately 350,000 acres of its forest lands.

The Mississippi Forest Action Plan represents over a two-year effort by the Mississippi Forestry Commission and numerous partners, agencies, organizations and individuals to identify and assess the main trends, conditions, and issues facing our vast forest resources today. The plan presents a broad overview of the state’s forests and forest resources as well as identify current and future strategies needed to address a variety of forest conditions in the state, regardless of ownerships.



Best Management Practices

Mississippi’s best management practices (BMPs) program is non-regulatory. The agency responsible for BMPs policy development is the Mississippi Forestry Commission.

Click here to view the most recent BMPs recommendations on the state forestry agency website.

Click the following links to view available BMP monitoring data and implementation rates from NASF’s 2015 BMP survey and NASF’s 2019 BMP survey.

Mississippi Forestry Publications

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