Grand Bay Land Acquisition and Habitat Management (Project ID: 113)

After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, federal and state agencies came together to form the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustee Council. The Council studied the effects of the oil spill and continues to pursue projects intended to restore the Gulf of Mexico to the condition it would have been in if the spill had not happened. The Trustee Implementation Groups will develop restoration projects and plans to accomplish the significant work needed for the Gulf. Development of these projects is guided by the programmatic restoration plan finalized in 2016 as part of a legal settlement with BP for up to $8.8 billion.

The primary objective of this project is protecting important contiguous lands and waters to more effectively and efficiently restore and manage target habitats for the benefit of resources injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The project includes acquiring up to 8,000 acres and managing up to 17,500 acres within the boundaries of the Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), and Grand Bay Savanna Coastal Preserve in Jackson County, Mississippi. Land will be acquired from willing sellers. Target habitats (coastal marsh, beach, freshwater marsh, savannas and flatwoods, and forested freshwater scrub-shrub) will be enhanced. Restoration measures include invasive species management, mechanical clearing, chemical treatment, and prescribed fire. Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) is a project partner.

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