Jackson Free Press

The Jackson Public Schools board may be picking a logger in the next few weeks to clear-cut some wetlands at the end of Westbrook Road in north Jackson. The area, according to Jackson resident Jack Westbrook and local biologists, contains some rare and endangered species, as well as abnormally old trees that survived the last century virtually unscathed.

"This area is some of the most pristine wood the city of Jackson has inside its borders," said Westbrook, whose family has leased the section 16 land long enough to have given their name to Westbrook Road. "I've had people out to look at it, and they've all decided that you don't normally have this kind of high quality natural resource inside a city. It's amazing, and a shame that the state is going to allow it all to become an ugly, red gash of Yazoo clay and sand."

Westbrook's family has leased the land from the state for 70 years. The retired airline pilot says he has continued leasing the land to protect wildlife from poaching, prevent dumping and prohibit vandalism.

Carter Mascagni, a Hinds County service forester with the Mississippi Forestry Commission, alerted Westbrook that he wants the state to log the area quickly, despite professional opinions alerting school board members to the sensitive nature of the habitat.

"Our whole agenda is that we're supposed to be maximizing revenue for school boards," Mascagni told the Jackson Free Press. "Section 16 lands were developed to maximize revenue for the school board, so that's our duty."

Board members say their hands are tied on the issue, and that they must follow the whims of the state in razing the wetland. Board member Jonathan Larkin referred to a state law taking the decision out of the hands of local governments.

The school board, by this law, can contract with individuals or businesses for the reforestation of section 16 lands, and gets to select the logger. 

Still, Westbrook said members of the board commissioned a biologist with the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science in 2001 to assess the kind of wildlife that inhabits the doomed area. The biologist allegedly came back with reports of a habitat unique to Mississippi, containing a cypress swamp, a sandbar, and a viable river bottom habitat as well as hardwood forests and pine prairie—several micro-environments all within a half-mile stretch of territory bordering the Pearl River.

Westbrook said the board took the biologist's advice that the land be considered a nature preserve and classified the parcel from "forest" to "other," at the time of his re-leasing, in hopes of discouraging the state from logging it.

A second biologist, Natural Heritage Program Coordinator Sherry Surrette with the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, wrote a letter to the board in June, vouching for the rare and endangered animal species living on the land, and urging the board to qualify the area as a Mississippi Natural Area.

To qualify, Surrette wrote, an area must contain one or more of three characteristics: habitat for rare, threatened or endangered species; plant communities characteristic of the native vegetation or of Mississippi; or outstanding natural features such as old growth forests, caves or wetlands.

"The Jackson Public Schools property in question," Surrette wrote, "contains all three qualifying Natural Area characteristics."

The property, according to Surrette's report, also contains areas designated according to the Mississippi Natural Heritage Program's ranking system as rare (S3), imperiled (S2) and even critically imperiled (S1). The critically imperiled regions include a section of giant cane hardwoods and the sand bar, which serves as home to a freshwater mussel bed. Endangered species of gulf sturgeon have also been found under the waters of the property, and endangered species of map turtle bask on the sandy beach alongside the Pearl.

State botanist Heather Sullian also identified several critically imperiled wildlife habitats, including wet hardwood bottom forest and an area containing Water Tupelo.

Mascagni said the forestry commission always considers the value of land targeted for clear-cutting, however, and has already assessed the scientific and environmental attributes of the Westbrook territory.

"While we maximize revenue for the public schools, we always look out for wildlife species, and on that individual tract that we're talking about, it is unique, but it's not so unique that nowhere else does it occur," Mascagni said. He adding that ringed map turtles do use the sand bar, but pointed out that the sand bar itself is not slated for clear-cutting.

One of the most revered inhabitants of the Section 16 land, according to biologists, includes swamp forests easily more than 100 years old. The trees managed to duck extensive land clearing in the 1800s, possibly because loggers considered the area too swamped.

Westbrook, whose property shares the same environmental makeup of the section 16 land, said loggers were unable to clear trees on his land toppled by Hurricane Katrina because of the nature of the soil.

"It swallows everything," Westbrook said. "The soil, which is like talcum powder in some spots, takes on water with each wheel track. You can't pass over the same spot more than three times without getting stuck, the water displacement is that bad."

Logging the area is likely made more harrowing by the amount of surrounding development. Larkin said there could be some issues with logging trucks passing through the heavy urban area to carry out trees. Bonding a logger could prove costly.

Previous Comments

ID

150259

Comment

It's JPS, they'll just set fire to it or dynamite it and let it become another weed-choked field.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2009-07-29T14:06:10-06:00

ID

150260

Comment

It was bad enough that they put in those soccer fields, and now this. I spent much time in those woods and on those trails as a teenager, and I would hate to see it logged just to put a few bucks in JPS' coffers. Have a bake sale.

Author

bill_jackson

Date

2009-07-29T14:12:24-06:00

ID

150265

Comment

How about spend the money they already have correctly first and then have that bake sale! The money cleared from logging might cover someone's brother-in-law's salary, but the teachers and students will never see it. How about use this natural area to teach these urban youth about nature and conservation instead of about how to miss-manage tax money and land. How bout a cookie now!

Author

randomarts

Date

2009-07-29T15:36:31-06:00

ID

150272

Comment

This will be a sad loss of a great eco-tourism opportunity, educational and ecological asset for the metro area. Maybe some of the movers and shakers need to see what the Memphis area has done with the Wolf river.

Author

BrawnyDawg

Date

2009-07-29T19:12:41-06:00

ID

150278

Comment

Instead of a photo of Jonathan Larkin, can we get some photos of the habitats that are endangered? Some of my best riding was done on the trails to the river at Westbrook Stables. It was an oasis in the city. It's a disgrace not to preserve it. What does that teach the children about caring for the environment?

Author

L Hall

Date

2009-07-29T23:59:57-06:00

ID

150279

Comment

that is a shame... couldn't the school board set that area up for the JPS to use for outdoor educational series? parking area and dropoff for buses, a boardwalk, some educational panels, sitting/learning areas and you are set! are there any ideas about what revenue might be generated by the clear cutting? or the lease to the private users? this seems like a big factor in the story... i have a feeling it isnt that much, relatively...

Author

JFP-reader

Date

2009-07-30T07:17:27-06:00

ID

150280

Comment

The school board has the final say on this. The Forestry Commission's role is strictly to advise them how to maximize the profits from timber on 16th Section lands. School boards around the state sometimes ignore their recommendations.

Author

kudzuking

Date

2009-07-30T07:30:08-06:00