401 MISSISSIPPI STREET
POST OFFICE BOX 136
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39205-0136
For Immediate Release: Monday, July 01, 2013
Contact: Pamela Weaver, Director of Communications
State of Mississippi Purchases Second Portion of Cat Island
Jackson, Miss.—A second portion of Cat Island has been purchased by the State of Mississippi through federal and grant funding.
“Our coastal areas need to conserved for all Mississippians to enjoy,” says Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann. “This is another significant step toward our goal of preserving Cat Island for public use.”
The State of Mississippi was able to acquire an additional 117 acres of Cat Island from a private landowner. As you may remember, the Secretary of State purchased 109 acres of Cat Island from a private landowner in May of 2012.
Both purchases were covered primarily by federal, grant and federal settlement funding dedicated to land purchases on Cat Island. The total purchase price for both land purchases on Cat Island was $8-Million, with only $528,000 coming from the State’s Tidelands funds. Tidelands funds are generated from casino leases and assessments and allocated by the Mississippi Gulf Coast Legislative Delegation for projects on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Funding for the purchase is as follows:
MOEX (Federal oil spill settlement funds): $4,987,326
CELCP (Federal Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program): $1,206,575
Reallocation of Deer Island Bond Funds: $1,277,943
Tidelands Fund Appropriation $528,155
Cat Island is the westernmost island of the five Barrier Islands which form the southern boundary of the State of Mississippi. The island lies roughly eight to ten miles south of the mainland coast of Mississippi and is the only Mississippi barrier island with significant acreage remaining in private ownership.
