Pontoon platform optimized for observation, not speed. Shallow draft for sandbar access. Stable platform for optics. Quiet operation for wildlife approach.

Capacity: 8-12 guests plus 2-3 crew (expedition leader, captain, naturalist guide).

Range: Full corridor capability—Eagles Flock to Pascagoula (125 miles) over 3 days with overnight stations.

Operations: The vessel doesn't just cruise—it stops. Birders and wildlife photographers need stillness. Drift mode with engine off. Anchored observation at key points. Shore excursions at sandbars and stations.

Permanently Mounted:

Loaner Fleet:

Rain/Sun Shelter Features:

Roll-down clear vinyl panels maintain visibility in rain. Overhead fans for summer heat. Padded bench seating facing outboard. Individual charging stations (USB-C, USB-A). Cup holders, equipment racks. Engine and generator noise isolated from observation deck.

Lab/Processing Area:

Equipment list and costs under development. Categories include optics (spotting scopes, binoculars), camera systems, water quality testing, data collection tools, and loaner equipment for guests.

Status: Specifications defined. Vendor quotes pending.

Three permanent stations along the 125-mile corridor. Each with communications infrastructure, guest accommodations, and research facilities. The boat serves as mobile transport between stations.

Model: African safari camps, Antarctic research stations, Amazon field stations—but accessible to the public. Glamping infrastructure with serious research capability.

Function: Departure point, headquarters, primary marina

Existing/Planned: Eagles Flock marina (25 slips), public boat ramp, connection to Hattiesburg (supplies, airport, medical).

Research Network Additions:

Function: Mid-point station, river confluence observation, overnight

Location: Near Merrill Bridge, where Leaf meets Chickasawhay to form the Pascagoula. Geographic significance (two rivers become one), historic 1928 bridge (Mississippi Landmark), accessible by road.

Glamping Infrastructure:

Utilities: Solar array + battery bank + propane generator backup. Well or rainwater catchment + filtration. Composting toilets, gray water treatment.

Build Cost: TBD — no bids received.

Function: Deep wilderness station, WMA access, maximum wildlife

Location: Historic Wilkerson Ferry site, Pascagoula River WMA. Already has primitive facilities (port-a-lets, artesian well). Heart of 37,000-acre WMA. Maximum wildlife density. State already permits camping.

Glamping Infrastructure:

This is the "wild" camp—guests who want more adventure stay here. Guests who want more comfort can take the boat back to Merrill.

Build Cost: TBD — no bids received.

The solved problem: Starlink + satellite messengers + VHF radio network provides reliable communication throughout the corridor.

Equipment: Starlink terminals at each station, Starlink Roam on vessel, VHF base stations, Garmin inReach satellite messengers, weather stations.

Cost: Equipment and service costs TBD — specifications defined, quotes pending.

Wildlife Biology: 327 bird species documented. Gulf sturgeon (ESA threatened). River otter, black bear, alligator populations. Swallow-tailed Kite nesting surveys.

Hydrology: Rain gauges, stream gauges, flood monitoring. Water quality transects. Baseline data for undammed system—increasingly rare reference point.

Archaeology: 25,000 years of human use documented. Choctaw Six Towns territory. Spanish trading routes. Timber rafting era sites.

Forestry/Botany: Ancient cypress (500+ year specimens). Longleaf pine restoration. Invasive species mapping (Salvinia, Asian clam).

eBird Integration: The world's largest biodiversity database. Expedition Leader enters sightings in real-time. Guests learn proper identification and counting protocols. Rare species trigger "checklist review"—guest becomes documented observer. Each trip generates a shareable eBird Trip Report.

iNaturalist Documentation: Photos uploaded with GPS coordinates. AI identification + community verification. Research Grade observations become part of scientific literature.

Custom Data Collection: Bald eagle nest monitoring. Gulf Sturgeon photo-ID (if encountered). Invasive species documentation. Cypress tree measurements (citizen "Big Tree" program). Water quality transects contributing to Pascagoula monitoring.

Track A: Student/Research Residencies

Graduate students, undergraduate field courses, visiting researchers, citizen science volunteers. Duration: 1-8 weeks. Accommodation: shared tents, research tent access, communal meals. Pricing structure TBD based on university partnership terms.

Track B: Experience Guests (Paying)

Birding club trips, nature photographers, retirees, corporate team-building, families. Duration: 2-4 days. Accommodation: private safari tents, quality meals, full service. Pricing TBD.

The interaction: Guests see real scientists doing real work. Students get stipend support from guest revenue. Both contribute to the same data sets.

Each guest receives a leather or waxed canvas expedition valise containing tangible evidence of participation:

Day 1: Eagles Flock to Merrill (67 miles)

Dawn departure with coffee and briefing. Upper Leaf River rapids and sandbars. Bald eagle nest monitoring. Swimming sandbar stop with water quality sampling. Hot lunch served aboard. Approach to Merrill confluence where two rivers merge. Historic Merrill Bridge (1928) walking tour. Evening data entry and presentation on Singing River legend.

Day 2: Merrill to Wilkerson Ferry (23 miles)

Pre-dawn departure into Pascagoula River WMA. Giant cypress groves at Upper Rhymes Lake. Alligator counting protocol. Black bear sign observation. Oxbow lake kayak shuttle and plankton sampling. Evening at historic Wilkerson Ferry with star party (no light pollution) and night thermal imaging session.

Day 3: Wilkerson Ferry to Pascagoula (35 miles)

Pack out (Leave No Trace). Tidal transition zone and brackish water species shift. Stop at Pascagoula River Audubon Center. Singing River listening station near I-10 bridge. Valise presentation ceremony. Group photo at Round Island Lighthouse.

Planning Grants: Up to $25,000 for 5-10 year strategic plans. Produces the required strategic plan document for larger infrastructure grants.

Improvement Grants: Historically up to $500K for facilities, equipment, communications infrastructure.

Requirements: Significant fraction of research must be NSF-eligible. University partnership (USM, MSU) strengthens application substantially.

Annual funding: ~$16-18M across all FSML programs, 40-60 awards nationally.

Strategic path: Start with Planning Grant ($25K) to produce required strategic plan, then apply for Improvement Grant for station infrastructure.

Track record: Already funded Leaf River access—Sims Road boat ramp ($480K + $225K city match) in the same corridor.

Recent awards: $37M released in 3 years. $9.8M for 21 projects (2023). $13.4M for 28 projects (2025).

Priorities: Eco-tourism, environmental education, conservation, public access.

Match requirements: Typically requires matching funds, which can come from private donations, in-kind contributions, or other grants.

Active research: $2.5M study on Gulf sturgeon migration patterns in Pascagoula River currently underway.

Funding source: NOAA Gulf Spill Restoration funds continue to flow for ecosystem restoration and research.

Strategy: Partner with existing researchers to add credibility. Gulf sturgeon presence in corridor provides ESA-listed species hook for federal funding.

Grants for programs using Earth system science for ecosystem stewardship. Focus on building resilience to environmental hazards.

Supports formal (K-12) and informal education programs. Citizen science components align well with expedition model.

Gulf Coast Conservation Grants: Supports innovative restoration, youth/veteran engagement, species/habitat projects.

Gulf-specific funding stream with annual grant cycles. Conservation education and research components align with expedition program.

Capital Investment: TBD — station construction, communications network, vessel equipment, permitting. No bids received.

Annual Operating: TBD — communications, utilities, insurance, staff, supplies, maintenance, marketing.

Revenue Model: Under development. Sources include expeditions, research residencies, day tours, university contracts, grants.

Hattiesburg sits at mile zero of America's last undammed river system. The Leaf River flows through the city, yet no organized program exists to connect residents and visitors to this globally significant resource.

City sponsorship transforms a private marina proposal into a public-benefit research station — the gateway to a 125-mile corridor that scientists compare to the Serengeti and Amazon Basin.

Visitor capture: Expedition guests fly into Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport, stay in Hattiesburg hotels before departure, purchase supplies locally, and return to the city after multi-day trips. Tourism dollars that currently bypass the city get captured.

New market segment: Birding tourism is a $40+ billion industry nationally. Nature photographers, citizen scientists, university field courses — these visitors don't currently come to Hattiesburg. The expedition program creates a reason.

Extended stays: Multi-day expeditions mean multi-night hotel bookings, multiple restaurant meals, retail purchases. This isn't day-trip tourism — it's destination tourism.

Hattiesburg sits at the confluence of the Leaf and Bouie rivers but hasn't built an identity around water the way San Antonio did with the River Walk or Chattanooga did with the Tennessee River.

The positioning: "Gateway to America's Last Wild River" — a national-scale story that differentiates Hattiesburg from the coast (casinos, beaches) and Jackson (state capital).

Conservation credibility: The city gets associated with protecting a globally significant ecosystem without having to acquire or manage land. The WMA is state-owned, Eagles Flock is private — Hattiesburg provides sponsorship and gains the recognition.

USM is in Hattiesburg. City sponsorship creates a three-way partnership: municipal economic development + university research mission + private infrastructure operator.

Grant leverage: Federal funding programs (NSF, NOAA, NFWF) favor applications showing local government, academic institution, and private enterprise aligned. City involvement strengthens every grant application for the corridor.

Student programs: USM biology, marine science, and environmental studies programs gain a permanent field station. Students do research in their own backyard. Faculty get publication opportunities. The city's university becomes known for river ecology.

Eagles Flock sits in the floodway. Development requires demonstrating public benefit — private commercial use alone won't satisfy permitting requirements.

The transformation: City sponsorship reframes the project from "private marina in floodway" to "public research station providing citizen access to nationally significant natural resource."

Flood-compatible design: Safari tents, floating docks, and elevated platforms work with seasonal flooding rather than fighting it. This is how African safari camps operate — flood cycles are features, not problems.

Resilience research value: An undammed river system is a living laboratory for natural floodplain function. With climate change increasing flood frequency, baseline data from an intact system has scientific and policy value. The city sponsors forward-thinking resilience work.

Hattiesburg already executed a successful river access project in this corridor — the Sims Road boat ramp received $480,000 from the Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund plus $225,000 city match.

Proven capability: The city knows how to apply for and manage MOSTF grants. The expedition program is the logical next step — not just a boat ramp, but a destination that activates the access point they already built.

Complementary infrastructure: Sims Road provides public launch access. Eagles Flock provides the marina, vessel, and station network. Together they create a complete system.

K-12 field trips: Hattiesburg students access an outdoor classroom on a river system of global scientific significance. Field biology becomes local, not abstract.

Citizen science: Residents participate in eBird surveys, water quality monitoring, species documentation. The data contributes to real research — people become stakeholders in their own river.

Community expeditions: Subsidized or sponsored trips for youth groups, veterans, seniors. The program serves Hattiesburg residents, not just visiting tourists.

The river is named for the Pascagoula tribe ("bread people"). When the Pascagoula faced extinction at the hands of the Biloxi tribe, they joined hands and walked into the river, chanting and singing until the last voice was silenced by the waters.

To this day, people report hearing the river "sing"—a humming sound in late summer, especially near the I-10 bridge at Pascagoula. Whether acoustic phenomenon or cultural memory, the story reflects the region's deep indigenous history.

Choctaw Connection: The Choctaw's historic homeland boundary was "the Leaf-Pascagoula system to the South." Evidence of 25,000+ years of human habitation in river corridor. Archaeological "ancient river terraces and cultural remnants from indigenous populations" documented in Pascagoula River WMA.

The Leaf and Pascagoula Rivers were industrial highways for the lumber industry. Virgin longleaf pine was floated to coastal sawmills.

L.N. Dantzler Lumber Company at Moss Point kept a log brand book with over 5,000 different brands used on logs rafted down the Pascagoula and tributaries (1865-1930). Half-million logs per year floated to Moss Point-Pascagoula mills.

Captain Benjamin Stevens (1867) started timber operation rafting virgin pine logs from Augusta down the Leaf and Pascagoula to Gulf Coast sawmills.

"Deadheads"—sunken logs from the rafting era remained preserved underwater; recovered 1915-1930 as timber source. The "rafters" were described as "a vigorous and hearty breed" who guided log rafts downstream, camping on the same sandbars that visitors use today.

Merrill is where the Leaf River (dark, clear water) meets the Chickasawhay River (pale, silty water) to form the Pascagoula.

Historic Merrill Bridge: Built 1928—oldest intact bridge over the Pascagoula River. First bridge to cross the Pascagoula (replaced a ferry). Mississippi Landmark—now closed to vehicles, open to foot traffic. From the bridge, visitors can see the confluence of the two rivers.

Historic Merrill Town: Once had nine general stores, three turpentine distilleries, two sawmills, a drugstore. Post office operated 1898-1960. On the former Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad.

The Pascagoula River WMA contains trees exceeding 30 feet in circumference. Some specimens estimated at 500+ years old.

Key Viewing: Upper Rhymes Lake (giant cypress, tupelo, cypress knees), Lower Rhymes Lake (oxbow with ancient flooded timber), Parker Lake (moss-draped cypress "exceeding 30 feet in circumference").

Old Augusta (Buck Creek boat ramp area) was the original Perry County seat, established 1812.

The James Copeland Story: October 30, 1857—notorious outlaw James Copeland was hanged at Old Augusta. Copeland led a "criminal rampage of robbing and murder throughout the southern U.S." before the Civil War. He gave deathbed confessions to Perry County Sheriff J.R.S. Pitts, published as Life and Confession of the Noted Outlaw James Copeland.

Why the Town Moved: New Augusta (2 miles south) was established 1902-1906 to be on the new Mobile, Jackson & Kansas City Railroad. Old Augusta remains a small village today—scant remnants near the boat ramp.