Why I love the Pascagoula.

[Jump n Fish]

This is gotta be one of my favorite websites. I know were not talking Nebraska here, but this is a glimpse into why I could spend everyday on this river system. This river is in trouble though. We've become our own worst enemy and this site talks a lot of the issues this rivers facing and I don't even think it mentions the proposed oil storage sites the DOE wants to use. I wish there was something I could do to get through to people down here. The state won't enforce buffer zones when deforesting the river banks, and erosion is turning our once clear, deep channeled, life-filled rivers into shallow flowing sandboxes. Everyday I go to one of my favorite tributaries, I see more and more of the riverbank deforested and being developed. I believe the developers know the damage they're doing, but nothing sells like a beautiful riverfront piece of property. What the buyers are ignorant of is once the bank is deforested, erosion increases at a drastic rate to the point where homes foundations start washing into the river. As a result, they dump tons of unsightly concrete, and garbage to try and prevent further erosion. Anyway, I'll try to get off of my soapbox for now. This is a subject I'm very passionate about, and I'm afraid in just the 2 yrs I've lived down here I've seen too much irreversible damage. What will the next 20 yrs bring, unless we wake up.

A River Threatened

Under the "Natural History" column there are dropdown chapters that each have their own videos. They all take real player to play, but if you enjoy this sort of stuff, its worth watching all of them. It will give you all a glimpse into why I'm in love with the Pascagoula.

On the opening page, down a little ways theres big article on the Bouie River. This is my favorite tributary I'm referring to, that is probably one of the most beautiful and once serene rivers in the system. Its also the most abused today and through its history. Many of my fishing trip pictures come from this river, and its the one being destroyed by runoff, mining, and deforestation for development.

Most of my "kayak fishing" pics in my picture albums come from the Pascagoula watershed if you want to view some more pictures of this gem of system.