History
Goal
Eligibility Requirements

History

    Following passage by Congress of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1968, Mississippi's first attempt at a streams bill was in 1969. After 6 failed attempts at a regulatory streams act, the project was abandoned in 1978. If nothing else, it was clear that a program that was mandatory or regulatory would not work in Mississippi. Twenty years later came a renewed effort to have a streams program in Mississippi without regulation. This effort came under the leadership of the late Richard L. "Dick" Livingston, chairman of the House Game and Fish Committee, and William Y. Quisenberry, of The Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks - a longtime key player in state land conservation . The Mississippi Scenic Stream Stewardship Act was passed in the in the 1999 Legislative Session and was signed by the Governor March 16, 1999. This legislation created the Scenic Streams Stewardship Program which began August 9,1999.

Goal

    The goal of the program is to encourage voluntary private conservation efforts by riparian (stream-side) landowners. In a non-regulatory framework, landowners will be assisted in voluntary management agreements which seek to maintain scenic values while ensuring their rights to continue customary uses along the stream.

    When a stream or river is nominated to the program, a landowner-based stewardship plan will be created for it. Generally, the goal is to maintain good water quality for recreation and fish and wildlife habitat. Achievement of the goal will be through use of Best Management Practices ( BMPS) which are water quality improvement practices that will maintain the health of streams by keeping stream banks in good condition and preventing harmful sedimentation.

Eligibility Requirements

    The program applies to streams that have not been channelized within the past five (5) years and are considered by law to be public waters. Designation as a public waterway depends on the volume of water that flows in the particular section of the stream. The Public Water Statute, Mississippi Code § 51-1-4, provides that for a stream to be a public waterway, the mean annual flow volume must be at least one hundred (100) cubic feet per second (cfs). Small headwater sections of streams do not generally qualify as public waters, and so it is the middle and lower sections of streams that may be qualified for the Scenic Stream Stewardship Program. However, all landowners will be able to participate in tax credits for reforestation, and stream conservation activities.