Southern Mississippi Green Infrastructure Assessment

The National Association of Regional Councils (NARC), in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, recognized and supported the Southern Mississippi Planning and Development District (SMPDD) as a Mississippi Valley Regional Center of Excellence (RCE) for their green infrastructure and Landcare program focused on greenway mapping and community engagement. SMPDD inventoried and mapped greenways and sustainable streets throughout the city of Gulfport and Harrison County, MI, analyzing the greenway accessibility and connectivity. Where accessibility and connectivity did not exist, SMPDD and the Gulfport Greenways Development Committee, with citizen input, developed recommendations to improve accessibility and interconnectivity, providing the public with preserved green space, increased recreational and transportation opportunities, improved health and a stronger connection to nature and sense of place. SMPDD used volunteers with handheld global positioning system (GPS) units to map all greenways and sustainable sidewalks by longitude and latitude.

As an RCE, SMPDD completed this demonstration project and participated in national workshops and webinars to increase their green infrastructure and Landcare capacity, as well as promote this kind of work at the regional and national level. The interactive map created through this project can be accessed here (http://gis.smpdd.com/gulfporttrails/) and more information on SMPDD can be found on its website at www.smpdd.com.

For more information on NARC's support of green infrastructure projects at the local level please visit www.NARC.org or the Green Regions Campaign website at www.GreenRegions.org.

• Region(s): Southeast
• Scale: Multi-county
• Focus: Natural Environment, Recreation

Organization:

National Association of Regional Councils (NARC)

Contact:

Jenee Kresge

202-986-1032

jenee@narc.org