Out the Door

Hurricane Katrina did a number on Mississippi outdoor recreation, riddling the state with unprecedented wind and water damage in August 2005.

For its part in outdoor tourism, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks (MDWFP) has made great strides renovating state park property, despite dealing with red tape over access to needed funds. Receiving the brunt of the damaged from the category four storm: Buccaneer, Percy Quin, Paul B. Johnson, Clarkco and Roosevelt state parks. Seven additional state parks received minor to moderate damage.

According to the Mississippi Development Authority FY07 Tourism Report, nearly two million people visited Mississippi's 24 operational state parks. Paul B. Johnson State Park, located south of Hattiesburg, drew the most visitors (148,719), followed by LeFleur's Bluff in Jackson (130,923), Roosevelt in Morton (88,798) and J.P. Coleman in Iuka (74,470).

However, in revenue generated by visitors, Paul B. Johnson State Park was the leader in FY07, followed by Percy Quin, located near McComb. The spiked interest in Mississippi's parks for outdoor recreation is "attributed to folks looking for a quality experience and a good park area," said Clark Gordin, spokesperson for MDWFP and executive director of the Foundation for Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. Concerning Paul B. Johnson State Park, which had housed displaced hurricane victims for months after the storm, Gordin emphasized that "post-Katrina visitation was and is ended."

The new system MDWFP recently employed - Reserve America - collects visitor data with detailed demographics which, "along with our day-use revenue information gives us a snapshot of park use levels," said Gordin, noting the 24 state parks provide 238 cabins, 50 motel rooms and 1,679 campsites on nearly 24,000 acres.

Post-Katrina repairs are complete except for Buccaneer State Park near Diamondhead. "The contract is let for ... the park and will begin very soon," said Gordin. "The proposal for completion will be three stages, beginning with basic camping available first ... and with swimming facilities as the last phase."

Mark Griffin, division director of Mississippi State Parks, said it will cost approximately $12.3 million to build Buccaneer State Park back to the original park, an estimate unchanged from two years ago, despite rising fuel costs and inflation.

"It may cost a bit more because it will be done in three phases, but that's pretty dog-gone close," said Griffin. "FEMA watches those numbers pretty carefully, and gave us the go-ahead, so we're moving forward."

Mississippi State Park's efforts to provide upscale experiences at reasonable costs were lauded by Golf Digest, when the leading national publication singled out The Dogwoods at Hugh White State Park in Grenada as "America's Best New Bargain," noting that "whoever said you get what you pay for hasn't played The Dogwoods." Cost: $39, with cart. Golf Digest added The Dogwoods represented "the highest-rated course with the lowest green fee on our ... Under $75 list."

State park revenue represents only part of outdoor recreation income. During FY07, the number of nonresident fishing and hunting licenses totaled 126,280. Nonresident revenues, based on licenses issued and total sales for all game hunting, seven-day all game hunting, archery-primitive weapon, small game hunting, freshwater fishing and other hunting and fishing activities, totaled $8.4 million in FY07.

Visitors to the state's federal parks also increased. Vicksburg's National Military Park reported 772,977 visitors in FY07, a 45% increase from FY06, while the Natchez National Historical Park accounted for 244,472 visitors in FY07, a 5% increase over the previous year.

"Visitorship to Vicksburg's National Military Park is returning to pre-Katrina numbers, but also we've employed a more consistent message through targeted messengers highlighting 'Life on the Mississippi," said Bill Seratt, executive director of the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau. "The numbers are up so much this year (FY08), it's almost scary. Truly, it's wonderful."

The Vicksburg district office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported 7.4 million visitors to Arkabutla, Enid, Grenada and Sardis lakes, a 34% jump over FY06. More specifically, each visit lasted an average of 3.8 hours. Nearly three million people visited along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, according to the Columbus office, while the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center welcomed 21,509 visitors, and Brice's Crossroads had 1,844 guests in FY07.

Copyright Mississippi Business Journal May 19, 2008
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