Project Summary:
The Lakeshore Preserve is a perfect example of how a terrestrial site has direct effect on an estuary. Lakeshore has one main drainage through the property which leads to the Coastal Preserve Hancock County Marshes. The Conservancy and its partner in the Coastal Preserve Program, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, are striving to eliminate seed sources and exotic invasive species which threaten the Hancock County Marshes, a Gulf Ecological Management Site (GEMS). With recent damage caused by hurricane Katrina we predict a substantial increase in invasive species because of the availability of sunlight and damage caused to the native trees on Lakeshore. Without funding provided by this award, The Conservancy will not be able to apply herbicidal application to the site which will impact Hancock County marshes.

Need for Project:
The Hancock County Marshes are the largest contiguous estuarine marsh in the state, containing nearly 23, 000 acres. Currently, through the Nature Conservancy’s invasive species program we aim to reduce invasive species through a combination of prevention, restoration, research and outreach. At our project site our staff will be using fire as the primary source to reduce the two invasive species found throughout the preserve. The second restoration action to ensure reduction of invasive species will be to apply herbicide to the two target species. Through these restoration actions we will be able to control potential invasive species threats to the Hancock County Marshes GEM site.

Project Objective:
Restoration at Lakeshore Savanna Preserve will serve as a model for ecologically sound land management. The primary objective is to begin eradication of invasive species on this preserve that directly threaten the state’s Coastal Preserves by removing existing Chinese Tallow and Cogon grass from a 120 acre tract. Invasion of Chinese Tallow poses a serious threat to Hancock County Marshes and water quality of the marshes by chemical alterations of the water caused by the Chinese Tallow. Restoration activities for the Lakeshore Savanna Preserve should reduce the available Chinese Tallow seed bank and help with control efforts at the GEMS site.

1. Install transects and monitoring plots, conduct baseline surveys
2. Conduct prescribed burn in Winter 2006, if conditions permit
3. Begin individual stem treatment of Chinese Tallow trees and cogon grass in the summer
4. Monitor results
5. Reapply herbicidal treatments to necessary areas
6. Continue to monitor for one year

Restoration methodology:
The Conservancy has a very successful fire program in Mississippi which utilizes the 7 step program adapted by our organization. These steps are assessment and modeling, collaborative management goals, fire, fire use/prescribed fire, preparedness and response, restoration/ recovery and monitoring and adaptive management. The next step is to treat the invasive species with an herbicide application. Crews will hack-and-squirt the Chinese Tallow trees and treat individual patches of cogongrass. Conducting the restoration activities in this order will help ensure that the stress to invasive species due to fire will be greatly reduced by the herbicide application.

Measures of Success:
The Conservancy will engage in restoration activities on 120 acres of wet-pine savanna through our prescribed fire and invasive species program. Through fire, the goal is to reduce the fuel load by 75%. The goal of herbicide application is to reduce targeted invasive species by 75% with the herbicide application and see an increase of native plant vegetation. The staff, with volunteer assistances, will monitor results of the fire and herbicide treatments for the term of the grant.

Monitoring and Long-Term Management:
The site will be monitored for success by local community members or university students through the Galveston Bay Foundation’s established Community-based Habitat Monitoring Program. The overall goal of the Snake Island Cove Seagrass Restoration and Habitat Protection Project is to restore degraded SAV beds to a healthy state. In an effort to accomplish this goal, project objectives include increasing the abundance of SAV in Snake Island Cove (structural) and reducing the shoreline erosion potential and turbidity within Snake Island Cove (functional).

Community Involvement:
The Nature Conservancy staff will visit neighbors of the preserve to give them information on The Nature Conservancy and this project. From these site visits staff will recruit volunteers who would be willing to participate at the preserve’s annual volunteer workday and also monitor the preserve by walking the fire lines monthly. Neighbors/volunteers will notify The Nature Conservancy of any trespassing issues that might occur. The Nature Conservancy will also help train a few “Master Naturalists” (a program administered through The Audubon Society of Coastal Mississippi to conduct a monitoring project on this preserve that will consist of establishing control plots before the prescribed fire and herbicidal treatment. With support of the volunteers we will be able to monitor the progress once a quarter till the end of the project.

• Hancock Board of Supervisor
• Hancock County Greenways
• Mississippi Department of Marine Resources
• Mississippi Secretary of State
• Master Naturalist program
• South Mississippi Fire Management Cooperative
• Gulf of Mexico Program
• US Fish and Wildlife Service
• Audubon Mississippi
• Lakeshore community surrounding preserve
• Gulf of Mexico Foundation
• NOAA Community-based Restoration Program