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PROGRAMS

The Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries, Parks, Marine Foundation is proud to facilitate and support programs around our great state. Interested in what we are involved in? Have a look at the programs below. We are often growing the list of programs we support, and proud to be a resource for so many important programs and events.

Foundation Programs

Youth License

The Foundation is helping the young people of Mississippi make their first step in becoming a lifelong hunting & fishing license purchaser. Every young person who has completed the Hunter Education course and is age-eligible for the voluntary youth hunting/fishing license, the Foundation will purchase their $5.00 license. For every license, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, & Parks sells, they receive over $62.00 per license in federal funds from the Pittman Robertson Act. This is a 12 to 1 return on investment. By purchasing the youth licenses, the Foundation is helping these young people start the habit of buying a hunting & fishing license as well as providing funds to MDWFP through the Pittman Robertson Act. Year to date the Foundation has purchased over 28,000 licenses.

Scholarship Program

The Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries, Parks, Marine Foundation will award up to four (4)
scholarships annually in the amount of $3,000.00 each.

Featured Programs

McIvor Shooting Facility

 This 300-acre, state of the art shooting sports facility located near Sardis, MS provides the public a place to hone in their skills in a variety of options. From becoming more proficient with your bow, sighting in a new rifle or honing your shotgun skills, McIvor is the place to go.

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LeFleur’s Bluff Playground

The 21st century playground will feature 80 play activities, 73 of these features will be inclusive to children with accessibility needs, and will be separated into different play areas based on age, for children ages 6 months to 12 years old. 

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Additional programs we are proud to support

Archery in Mississippi Schools

In 2005 the National Archery in Schools Program sent part of their staff to Jackson MS and trained 25 individuals as Basic Archery Instructors. Ten pilot schools received equipment in May of 2006 and Archery in Mississippi Schools (AIMS) was born. AIMS has grown into one of the largest youth programs in our great state with upwards of 400 schools either active, waiting on approval or waiting on funding. Every student in our school system may not be able to kick a field goal, hit a home run, or make a free throw, but archery is a sport that virtually all of our students can be successful at. Many students that have never been a part of extracurricular activities now have a new connection to their school. This has a positive effect on grades, behavior, and dropout rates.

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Black Bear Program Support

Mississippi is home to two subspecies of black bears.  The American black bear (Ursus americanus) is found in the northern one-third of the state and the Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) occurs in the southern two-thirds.  The Louisiana black bear (recently removed from the Federally Threatened Species list), as well as the American black bear, are both classified as Endangered under Mississippi law.  The two subspecies vary only in skull morphology and genetic makeup; to the naked eye, they are indistinguishable.

The MDWFP Black Bear Program began in June of 2002 at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.  The initial focus of the program was to conduct research on Mississippi black bears in an effort to learn more about this endangered species.  At the time of the program’s inception, it was estimated that there were less than 50 bears residing in the state.  Today, estimates of our bear population have more than tripled.  This population increase is due primarily to the recent appearance of female bears in our state, which has led to the births of numerous cubs in the last several years, something not documented in Mississippi in the previous 40 years.  There are currently three breeding sub-populations of black bears in Mississippi.  Additionally, general sightings of bears have increased dramatically all over the state, likely due to dispersing bears from populations in neighboring states.  The Black Bear Program is now within the Wildlife Bureau of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks and continues to conduct research and educate the people of Mississippi about our black bears.  Another primary objective of the program is the prevention of conflicts between bears and people.

Make a Donation to support the Black Bear Program

Fishing Rodeos

Fishing has long been a popular outdoor activity but many people, especially children, have limited fishing opportunities. It is the goal of our program to introduce rodeo participants to fishing and recruit them to be responsible, licensed anglers and good stewards of our aquatic environment. Events will feature educational activities focusing on fish, fishing, and environmental concerns. These quality fishing experiences will be provided in a controlled and safe environment. Our rodeo ponds are well stocked with channel catfish to meet our participants’ expectations of catching fish. Fishing educational and technical information is provided by our Fisheries Technical staff, biologists from the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, and volunteer anglers. Boating safety information is provided by our Law Enforcement Bureau.

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Law Fit

Conservation Officers from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP) claimed the title of “Fittest in the Nation” as they took the top spot at the 16th annual National LawFit Challenge held this past weekend in Pearl, MS. Over 135 law enforcement officers from around the country competed in this year’s event which tests officers in 6 different events: bench press, a 1.5-mile run, sit-ups, flexibility, pull-ups, and a suspect pursuit course.

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MDWFP Employee Emergency Fund

This fund is maintained to provide emergency assistance to MDWFP staff due to a physical, medical, etc., emergency.

Mississippi Scholastic Shooting Program

The Mississippi Scholastic Shooting Program (MSSP) is a team-based, youth development program that uses the shotgun sports of 5-Stand, Skeet, and Sporting Clays to instill life skills such as discipline, safety, teamwork, ethics, self-confidence, and other life values. The program utilizes these disciplines to teach hunting skills through the safe use of hunting equipment, including firearms, and their relationship to hunting situations. Team members can participate in any or all three of the clay target disciplines: 5-Stand, Skeet, and Sporting Clays.

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Specific fund categories

Requests from MDWFP are being presented to the Foundation every month. To maintain the flexibility to fund these requests, we maintain funds specifically related to the following categories. You can direct your donation to any of these categories that is an interest to you.

  • Wildlife – Waterfowl, Deer, Alligator, Turkey, Black bear
  • Law Enforcement
  • Fisheries
  • Conservation
  • Parks
  • Mississippi Museum of Natural Science

Spring Gobbler Hunting Survey

The Spring Gobbler Hunter Survey (SGHS) was initiated in 1995 as a means of collecting long-term data on turkey activity and population numbers. The success of the survey is largely due to voluntary participation by hunters who are interested in assisting with turkey conservation within the state.

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