“Pay attention. Be astounded. Tell about it.” - Mary Oliver

Friends of Chakchiuma Swamp is a 501c(3) conservation organization interested in connecting people and communities to nature through curiosity and creativity.

our story.

The Friends of Chakchiuma Swamp was founded in 2009 when a group of volunteers came together to protect and promote a 300 acre wetland in downtown Grenada owned by the City of Grenada. The organization was then affiliated with the downtown revitalization and sanctioned by the City to create a public natural area establishing trails and a wildlife observation deck from 2009 - 2011. 

Chakchiuma Swamp Natural Area became a reality in 2010, and was designated an “Outstanding Natural Area” in 2009 by the Mississippi Natural Heritage Area. Officially named ‘Chakchiuma Swamp’ to honor the native peoples of the Yalobusha River watershed.  The tribal name means ‘red (houma) crawfish (shakchi)’. For over a decade “the swamp” has has been a special place for school field trips, community service days, partnership projects with local businesses and activities by local artists, photographers and nature lovers.

From 2016 into 2017, we successfully opposed a timber harvest in the Chakchiuma Swamp bottomland hardwood forest, negotiating a deal with the City of Grenada by offering a winning counter timber bid, in exchange for a longterm lease of the property. Our plan was to ask the community to sponsor individual trees as 'Forest Friends’, who paying the market value of their tree to spare it from being cut, matching the cash value that would have been generated from the sale. We would then use those funds to repay the City of Grenada.

Our plan struck a chord with Grenada citizens and beyond, and we were able to raise an excess of $25,000 in the first few months of 2017. In addition, a generous donor fronted the money to the City and offered a $0.50 on each $1.00 match on all future contributions. The ‘Forest Friend’ Program is still going strong as we work to pay back the loan.

This led to a 60 year lease with the City of Grenada.  We now manage the 300 acres of Chakchiuma Swamp. In 2018 Chakchiuma Swamp Natural Area became Lee Tartt Nature Preserve, by request of our matching donor to honor a local hero.

In 2018 we incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to conservation and education. Through our partnerships with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, Strawberry Plains Audubon Center, Mississippi State Landscape Architecture Program, Holmes Community College Forestry Department, Grenada School District, Grenada Garden Club, Green Thumb Garden Club, Grenada Community Foundation, Grenada Downtown Innovation District and Grenada Community Health and Wellness Council, and the Mississippi Bat Working Group, we are able to conduct conservation, education, recreation and creative events to inspire connection to nature. 

OUR VISION

The founding members had a vision of Chakchiuma Swamp as a nature preserve, wildlife corridor, and outdoor classroom accessible to all. In 2018 Native Habitats Inc. was hired to create a Master Plan, visualizing an interpretive area for a safe, engaging place to connect to this north Mississippi swamp off the Yalobusha River, in the Yazoo River watershed.

Our vision for Lee Tartt Nature Preserve includes an interpretive use area with interactive play areas in a restoration zone, an intermediate use area with trails and viewing areas on old logging roads and a wilderness use area with foot-paths in a mature hardwood forest habitat conveniently located 5 minutes from Grenada’s downtown square.