Wildlife Mississippi (WM) will demonstrate, expand the knowledge of, and improve the acceptance of building with wood through the use of and innovative wood design and mass timber by architects, engineers, builders, policymakers, and especially the environmental community, by constructing a Conservation Education Complex (CEC). It is important for the environmental community to understand, support, and utilize wood products in their own construction needs, as an alternative to more commonly used building materials and fuels. This CEC will demonstrate the environmental benefits of building with wood and serve as a gateway to the largest urban forest in Mississippi, the 3,000-acre Fannye Cook Natural Area (FCNA), which will be an urban recreational and educational area. Educational opportunities will focus on the benefits of forests to society, such as the sustainable forestry carbon cycle. Recreational opportunities will focus on youth and veterans. There will also be opportunities for the improvement of human health. Overall, this project will increase opportunities for the utilization of wood products and wood energy, improve forest health, and stimulate the local economy.
1. To expand the use of wood products, WM will construct the first CEC in the nation thatfeatures the use of mass timber and innovative wood building materials.
2. To expand the use of wood energy, WM will maximize the use of clean, renewable energy from woody biomass, solar, and possibly geothermal sources as alternatives to fossil fuels.
3 To improve forest health and improve local economies, WM will educate the public and specifically the environmental community about the environmental and economic benefits of using wood/woody biomass as a sustainable building material/source of energy as an alternative to more commonly used building materials/fuels, not only to obtain their understanding and support for utilizing wood products in construction and operation, but to utilize such products with their own needs. The connection between the market-based incentive of utilizing forest products to forest health will be emphasized.
4. Mississippi is losing millennials quicker than any other state. To stimulate local economies by attracting/retaining young workers/millennials to the area, WM is constructing this CEC, which will be the gateway to the adjacent, forested green space with trails, signage, and outdoor recreation. The CEC and green space will also improve human health as Mississippi typically ranks last in the nation in many health indicators, especially those related to physical activity. These benefits to human health will lower health care costs and reduce absenteeism, thereby having a positive impact on local economies.
5. As an added goal, WM will utilize the CEC and associated lands to encourage the area’s large minority population to better understand the importance of forests and forestry to society and encourage them to pursue careers in forest resources. In addition to working with local, public schools, WM will work with the private, African-American, Piney Woods School (high school) and the Demmer Scholars Program (college) at Mississippi State University on such.
