Preserving the Pascagoula

Preserving the Pascagoula re-creates one of the more exciting sagas in the history of wilderness preservation- the ultimately successful fight to protect the vast, magnificent, little known Pascagoula Swamp in southeastern Mississippi for the future benefit of the people of Mississippi. The story, with several heroes, no great villains, and a happy ending, will remind the environmental community that now and then the "good guys" do win. Preserving the Pascagoula is, however, more than the suspenseful retelling of this achievement. The book details the unusual strategy whereby victory was achieved, and serves as a blueprint of how a state government created from scratch one of the finest natural area programs in America today. This is the story of the most effective nonprofit land acquisition group in the nation. The Nature Conversancy, and its innovative Heritage Program that calls upon states to inventory and protect threatened ecosystems before they are assaulted by bulldozers and chain saws. It is also the story of Mississippi's response to the Heritage idea, a response that could serve as a model for other states. Finally, this is the account of a handful of dedicated people, ranging in their commitments from counterculture activism to staid conservationism. the unlikely alliance of this disparate group of people suggests how much even a few individuals can accomplish against the odds, if they have the will and the nerve. Preserving the Pascagoula could have been one more account of a dramatic eleventh-hour confrontation between environmentalist and developers. It is, however, more than that because it suggests many ways in which people who want to save our heritage in wild life can innate action, instead of merely reacting to threats against the wilderness.