The Gazebo Gazette
LONG BEACH (GG) — Tuesday, July 30, 2024, city of Long Beach and the Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain celebrated a $1.9 million purchase for 32 acres of undeveloped beachfront property. The 32 acres is located between Markham and Marcie Drive as this route runs from the train tracks to the beach.
This tract of land is the only remaining undeveloped tract of mixed pine hardwood forest that extends from the beach to the railroad track between the Bay of St. Louis and Biloxi Bay according to a a statement from the land trust. It is an important migration route for many neotropical migrant songbirds that move up creek and river corridors to breed.
The Land Trust will manage this property as an Urban Forest with the support of the City of Long Beach, Harrison County, and many other partners. The property is open to the public for quiet enjoyment of the woods from dawn to dusk.
“Very excited to manage this property as an urban forest that is open to the public. So it’s going to be open from dawn to dusk for residents’ quiet enjoyment of nature. We will be doing a little bit of restoration work, getting rid of the invasives later in 2025.” said Sara Guice, Executive Director of the Mississippi Land Trust.
The purchase was made possible through financial support from the Angela J. Bowen Conservancy Foundation according to Guice.
Photo L-R: Sara Guice and Long Beach Mayor George Bass.
