Mississippi

Mississippi River refuges get $10 million for nature-based solutions to climate change

Published

2 years ago

May 24, 2024

Mississippi River refuges get million for nature-based solutions to climate change

A $10 million investment will fund seven projects aimed at making national wildlife refuge lands along the upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers more resilient to climate change, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced earlier this month.

The projects, which span all five states that border the upper Mississippi, will emphasize nature-based solutions — in other words, working with the river ecosystem instead of trying to control it — to blunt the impacts of some of the river’s major problems, like flooding and drought. There are 11 national wildlife refuges along the two rivers, the largest of which is the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.

The funding comes from the Inflation Reduction Act. Part of it was rolled out last year to support projects on state-owned lands, including in Wisconsin.

The upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers are seeing the consequences of a warmer, wetter world, and the human-engineered infrastructure built decades ago, like the lock-and-dam system and levees, isn’t able to keep up. In particular, an almost unprecedented amount of water flowed through the rivers over the last decade, killing trees, degrading fish habitat and threatening to breach levees meant to constrain them.

These new projects are meant to help land managers think through those climate threats and adapt to what’s happening now, said Tim Miller, who manages the La Crosse District of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.

Here’s what to know about what they’ll tackle.

Floodplain forests are a priority

More than $1 million will be dedicated to the project, “Building Resilience in America’s Big River Forests,” and an additional half-million will go toward restoring bottomland hardwood forest in Missouri.

Bottomland forests, also called floodplain forests, are located along major rivers. As their name indicates, they flood seasonally when the river floods. But along the upper Mississippi, more water flowing through the river and longer-lasting flooding events have inundated these trees more than they can handle, causing hundreds to die.

More: What to know about floodplain forests, a struggling ecosystem on the Mississippi River

More: A new technique could help save the Mississippi River’s floodplain forests: raising the forest floor

Work is ongoing to save them, but this money will allow the Fish and Wildlife Service to expand the range of that work to all 11 national wildlife refuges along the river in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri, Miller said.

Staff will be curtailing invasive plant species that have moved into areas where larger trees have died and planting tree species that are better suited for today’s wetter conditions.

The funds will also help staff labor-intensive projects like these on refuges that have very few employees, Miller said. The national wildlife refuge system has struggled with chronic understaffing in the past decade.

Other projects will make room for the river

Some river engineering structures will get a facelift, or even a total overhaul, to deal with high waters. That includes Guttenberg Ponds in Clayton County, Iowa, where a levee protecting a wetland area from the river’s main channel has been degrading over time, repairs for which have been costly. The project will allow the degradation to happen and turn the area behind it into floodplain forest, Miller said.

“Instead of fighting the river with these levees we’ve had, we’re allowing it to naturally degrade over time,” he said. “It’s kind of a neat way of looking at it.”

Other engineering changes include replacing or raising the elevation of water control structures, which regulate the flow of the river, so they can hold more water, easing stress on the river, Miller said.

Wisconsin project focused on fish habitat

One of the projects funded is specific to Wisconsin: restoring Sam Gordy’s Slough in Buffalo County. Floods and high flows have brought more sediment into the backwater channel, making the area shallower and less suitable for fish and effectively cutting it off from the river’s main channel.

More: Climate change imperils the upper Mississippi River backwaters. Now nature needs human help.

The project will reconnect the backwater channel to the main channel by dredging, and install a sediment diverter so sediment can’t keep piling up, Miller said.

Work will start on most of the projects this year, he said, with the exception of the Guttenberg Ponds project.

Madeline Heim is a Report for America corps reporter who writes about environmental issues in the Mississippi River watershed and across Wisconsin. Contact her at (920) 996-7266 or mheim@gannett.com.

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Where is Lipscomb? Mississippi State baseball’s opponent in Starkville Regional

Published

10 hours ago

May 29, 2026

Press Room

Where is Lipscomb? Mississippi State baseball’s opponent in Starkville Regional

Mississippi State baseball is facing Lipscomb in the first game of the Starkville Regional in the NCAA Tournament on May 29 (1 p.m., ESPN+).

The Bulldogs (40-17) are the host and No. 14 national seed, and Lipscomb (29-24) is the No. 4 seed in the regional. It is the fourth time they’ve played each other this season, with MSU sweeping a March series at Dudy Noble Field.

Here is what to know about Lipscomb University.

Where is Lipscomb University?

Lipscomb is a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee. It is about a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Starkville.

Lipscomb University mascot

Lipscomb’s mascot is the Bisons.

What conference is Lipscomb in?

Lipscomb is in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Lipscomb University enrollment

According to US News, Lipscomb has an undergraduate enrollment of 3,006 students and a 68% acceptance rate.

Lipscomb baseball coach

Jeff Forehand is Lipscomb’s baseball coach. He’s in his 20th season and has led Lipscomb to all four of its NCAA Tournament appearances in program history.

Starkville Regional schedule in 2026 NCAA baseball tournament

All games at Dudy Noble Field; double elimination format; game times in Central

Friday, May 29

Game 1: Mississippi State vs. Lipscomb, 1 p.m. on ESPN+
Game 2: Cincinnati vs. Louisiana, 6 p.m. on ESPN+

Saturday, May 30

Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 3 p.m., TBA
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 8 p.m., TBA

Sunday, May 31

Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 2 p.m., TBA
Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 7 p.m., TBA

Monday, June 1

Game 7 (if necessary): TBA

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

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Can Mississippi State softball avoid WCWS elimination vs Texas? Our prediction

Published

22 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Press Room

Can Mississippi State softball avoid WCWS elimination vs Texas? Our prediction

OKLAHOMA CITY — Hoping to extend its season, Mississippi State softball will play No. 2 seed Texas in its second game at the Women’s College World Series.

The Bulldogs (43-20) will take on the reigning NCAA champion Longhorns (47-12) on May 29 (6 p.m. CT, ESPN) at Devon Park. The loser of the game will be eliminated from the tournament.

Mississippi State made it WCWS debut by falling 8-0 to No. 11 seed Texas Tech in five innings. Texas lost its opener 6-3 to No. 7 seed Tennessee.

Here’s what to know about the matchup.

Texas’ Katie Stewart was SEC’s Player of the Year

Texas’ Katie Stewart was selected as the best player in the SEC during 2026 and helped the Longhorns to a conference title. Stewart, catcher Reese Atwood and pitcher Teagan Kavan were named a second-team NFCA All-American.

Stewart ranks third in the SEC in batting average (.428), fourth in RBIs (72) and second in home runs (27) and on base percentage (.551).

Stewart was ineffective in the Longhorns’ WCWS loss to Tennessee. She went 0-for-3, striking out once and grounding out twice.

Atwood, who’s hitting .337 with 18 home runs and 59 RBIs, fared better against the Lady Vols, finishing 1-for-3 and scoring a run.

Texas’ Teagan Kavan has struggled in recent outings

Teagan Kavan (24-6, 2.54 ERA) has been one of the top pitchers in the nation in each of her three seasons at Texas, but she hasn’t quite looked like herself in some recent appearances.

Kavan started Games 1 and 2 of the super regionals against Arizona State and allowed 11 hits and six runs with four walks and five strikeouts in seven innings. She recovered to shut the Sun Devils out despite allowing five hits in Game 3.

Kavan again started for the Longhorns against Tennessee. Her outing lasted three innings and she gave up three hits and three runs.

Citlaly Gutierrez (9-3, 2.38 ERA) is Texas’ primary reliever and has appeared in four of the Longhorns’ seven NCAA Tournament games. She threw four innings vs. Tennessee, allowing three runs on four hits and a walk with two strikeouts.

Does Mississippi State have an ace up its sleeve?

Mississippi State elected to start Alyssa Faircloth (16-8, 2.61 ERA) in its WCWS opener and use Peja Goold (15-11, 2.45) in relief. Faircloth threw just 1⅓ innings, while Goold pitched for three.

Both could be options for the game against Texas, or Mississippi State could turn to breakout star Delainey Everett (3-1, 0.69 ERA).

Everett’s lone start this season was against Oklahoma in Game 3 of the super regionals. She gave the Sooners their first shutout since 2019 and held them to three hits.

Everett pitched four innings in Game 2 of last year’s regular season series against Texas. She gave up one run on two hits with four strikeouts in four innings as the Bulldogs’ starter in the 7-3 loss.

Mississippi State softball vs Texas WCWS prediction

Texas 3, Mississippi State 2: Even if the Bulldogs’ pitching staff can limit Texas, MSU’s offense seems to have cooled down considerably from its showing against Oklahoma in the super regionals.

2026 Women’s College World Series schedule

All times CT

May 28
- Game 1: Texas Tech 8, Mississippi State 0
- Game 2: Tennessee 6, Texas 3
- Game 3: UCLA vs Alabama (6 p.m., ESPN2)
- Game 4: Arkansas vs Nebraska (8:30 p.m., ESPN2)
May 29
- Game 5: Mississippi State vs Texas (6 p.m., ESPN2)
- Game 6: Game 3 loser vs Game 4 loser (8:30 p.m., ESPN2)
May 30
- Game 7: Texas Tech vs Tennessee (2 p.m., ABC)
- Game 8: Game 3 winner vs Game 4 winner (6 p.m., ESPN)
May 31
- Game 9: Game 5 winner vs Game 8 loser (2 p.m., ABC)
- Game 10: Game 6 winner vs Game 7 loser (6 p.m., ESPN2)
June 1
- Game 11: Game 7 winner vs Game 9 winner (11 a.m., ESPN)
- Game 12 (if necessary): Game 7 winner vs Game 9 winner (1:30 p.m., ESPN)
- Game 13: Game 8 winner vs Game 10 winner (6 p.m., ESPN2)
- Game 14 (if necessary): Game 8 winner vs Game 10 winner (8:30 p.m., ESPN2)
June 3
- Finals Game 1 (7 p.m., ESPN)
June 4
- Finals Game 2 (7 p.m., ESPN)
June 5
- If necessary, finals Game 3 (7 p.m., ESPN)

Tia Reid covers Jackson State sports for the Clarion Ledger. Email her at treid@usatodayco.com and follow her on X @tiareid65.

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Schedule for Gulf Breeze alum Leila Ammon, Mississippi State in WCWS

Published

1 day ago

May 28, 2026

Press Room

Schedule for Gulf Breeze alum Leila Ammon, Mississippi State in WCWS

Check out how to watch the Gulf Breeze alum, who is part of a history making Mississippi State squad.

The Women’s College World Series begins May 28 in Oklahoma City.
Gulf Breeze alumna Leila Ammon is a pitcher for the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Mississippi State is making its first Women’s College World Series appearance in school history.
The Bulldogs are the only unseeded team to advance to the WCWS this year.
Ammon has an 8-0 record this spring with a 1.85 ERA and 62 strikeouts.

The Women’s College World Series begins May 28, and the Pensacola area will be represented on the biggest stage.

Gulf Breeze alumna Leila Ammon is part of a Mississippi State squad making its first WCWS appearance in school history and has played a role in getting the Bulldogs there.

Below is how to watch Ammon play if you aren’t in Oklahoma City, as well as how Ammon is part of history at Mississippi State.

How to watch Mississippi State in the WCWS

When: May 28-June 4/5

Where: OG & E Energy Field at Devon Park, Oklahoma City

Broadcast: ABC and ESPN

Streaming: ESPN Unlimited, Fubo

Mississippi State will open up against Texas Tech on May 28 at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN. With a win, the Bulldogs will play the winner of Tennessee/Texas on May 30 at 2 p.m. CT on ABC. With a loss, they’ll play the loser of Tennessee/Texas in an elimination game on May 29 at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.

The last two teams standing will advance to a best 2-out-of-3 championship series scheduled for June 3-5 at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN. Check this page for more information on the WCWS bracket and schedule.

Mississippi State lost to Texas Tech twice in the Lubbock regional a year ago.

How did Mississippi State make history?

The Bulldogs are the only unseeded team out of eight in the WCWS field, which means they’re the only team in the field to have to win on the road in a regional and super regional to advance to Oklahoma City.

Mississippi State was ranked No. 13 in the NFCA poll on March 29, putting them in good position to host a regional with a strong finish to the season. The Bulldogs did the exact opposite, losing four of their last five regular season series.

But they flipped a switch in the NCAA Tournament. First, Mississippi State rolled through the Eugene regional, winning all three games by a score of 12-2, to advance to just their second super regional in program history.

Up next was a trip to perennial powerhouse Oklahoma in the super regional. However. the Bulldogs weren’t fazed, winning Game 1 of the best two-out-of-three series 11-9. After the Sooners won Game 2 7-1, Mississippi State won Game 3 6-0 to clinch their first ever WCWS appearance.

What role did Leila Ammon play?

While Ammon didn’t pitch in the regional, she helped stop the bleeding in Game 1 of the Super Regional.

She entered in the bottom of the third after Oklahoma had scored five runs in the inning to take a 5-1 lead. Ammon got the final two outs in the inning, then allowed a run in the fourth and pitched a scoreless fifth before being relieved with runners on first and second with two outs in the top of the sixth.

Both runners scored later in the inning, meaning Ammon allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits and struck out three in three innings pitched.

Ammon’s gone 8-0 this spring with a 1.85 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings pitched. She spent her freshman season at Middle Tennessee State, where she was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman team.

Before her college career, Ammon was the 2023 PNJ Pitcher of the Year and a 2024 First Team All-Area selection.

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