Homochitto National Forest is a

U.S. National Forest In the United States, national forest is a classification of protected and managed federal lands that are largely forest and woodland areas. They are owned collectively by the American people through the federal government and managed by the ...

in southwestern

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

comprising . In the mid-1930s, the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

(CCC) began

reforestation Reforestation is the practice of restoring previously existing forests and woodlands that have been destroyed or damaged. The prior forest destruction might have happened through deforestation, clearcutting or wildfires. Three important purpose ...

of the area and developing a system of roadways and recreational areas.

Geography

In descending order of land area the forest is located in parts of: * Franklin County, *

Amite County Amite County is a county located in the state of Mississippi on its southern border with Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,720. Its county seat is Liberty. The county is named after the Amite River, which runs through th ...

, * Wilkinson County, * Adams County, * Jefferson County, * Lincoln County, *

Copiah County Copiah County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 28,368. The county seat is Hazlehurst, Mississippi, Hazlehurst. With an eastern bo ...

Flora and fauna

The

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

of the Homochitto National Forest consists of about 850 species of

vascular plants Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes (, ) or collectively tracheophyta (; ), are plants that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified tissue ( ...

. The rivers and streams of the forest are rather poor in bivalve diversity, but at least eight species of freshwater mussels are known, with perhaps as many as 11 species possible. Three species of winter stoneflies have been collected from the Homochitto National Forest, including one that was later described as a new species, ''Allocapnia starki''.

Headquarters

The forest is headquartered in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

, as are all six National Forests in Mississippi. There are local ranger district offices located in Meadville.

References

National forests of Mississippi Civilian Conservation Corps in Mississippi Protected areas of Franklin County, Mississippi Protected areas of Amite County, Mississippi Protected areas of Wilkinson County, Mississippi Protected areas of Adams County, Mississippi Protected areas of Jefferson County, Mississippi Protected areas of Lincoln County, Mississippi Protected areas of Copiah County, Mississippi Mississippi placenames of Native American origin {{Mississippi-protected-area-stub

Geography

Flora and fauna

Headquarters

See also

References