The Piney Woods Conservation Group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to conserving, promoting, and protecting the open spaces and green places of Mississippi’s Pinebelt region. Founded in 2005, the organization serves the residents and visitors of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. “We promote being in nature, because that’s the gateway to conservation,” says Shawn Harris, the organization’s Board President. “If we can get you out into nature, you’re going to fall in love with it, and then you’re going to work to protect it.” Through projects like the Pinebelt Blueways, a network of over 50 miles of canoe and kayak trails along the Leaf and Bouie Rivers, the Piney Woods Conservation Group hosts group hikes, group paddles, and litter cleanups. They also promote environmental education and engage in ecological research. The stewards of Mississippi’s Pinebelt, the Piney Woods Conservation Group is committed to protecting and preserving the region’s natural heritage for current and future generations of Mississippi.
Piney Woods Conservation Group members clean up the Pearl River. Photo: Piney Woods Conservation Group
A volunteer-led organization with no full-time staff, the Piney Woods Conservation Group is a grassroots nonprofit protecting the ecosystems in its own backyard. Through their litter cleanup initiatives, the group has removed thousands of pounds of trash from the Bouie River, which is home to the last remaining spawning grounds of the endangered Gulf Sturgeon. The organization has also partnered with scientists from the University of Florida to conduct PFAS testing in the Leaf and Bouie Rivers, and recently received an EPA subaward grant from Mississippi State University to expand their water monitoring program of these biodiverse river systems. In April 2025, the Piney Woods Conservation Group partnered with Mississippi State University Extension to host the Mississippi Water Stewards Workshop—an educational program teaching citizen scientists how to track trends in water quality and collect data that can be used to detect watershed impairments. “It’s not going to be on our watch that the Gulf Sturgeon gets a worse classification,” Harris says.
Mississippi’s Bouie River is home to the last remaining spawning grounds of the endangered Gulf Sturgeon. Photo: Pearl Riverkeeper