More funding for a planned South Delta Interpretive Center is included among several natural resources management and environmental projects in Mississippi.

A $2 million allocation for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to continue developing the center was approved Tuesday by conferees in the U.S. House and Senate, with final approval pending in both houses of Congress.

“I am pleased this legislation has cleared a crucial hurdle,” said U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, the ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, in a statement following the vote. “The Senate and House have worked to produce an appropriations bill that for Mississippi will address some of the environmental and natural resources management needs we have in the state.”

Thirty-eight sites are under consideration to house the central site of the development, envisioned as a tourist information center and learning tool for those interested in the history of the region encompassing Humphreys, Issaquena, Sharkey, Warren, Washington and Yazoo counties. Precise specifications on the center and a completion date have not been announced. About $6 million has been allotted by Congress for the project thus far.

One possible site is the highly visible Red Barn on U.S. 61 south of Rolling Fork, mentioned by project managers with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a leading site because of its proximity to the Holt Collier and Theodore Roosevelt bear hunting site in Sharkey County. Roosevelt hunted the Mississippi Delta at least twice, with one occasion giving rise to the Teddy bear after a newspaper cartoon depicted Roosevelt declining to shoot a cub. Collier, a former slave, Confederate soldier and a noted outdoorsman, guided the president on the hunt.

More than $8 million for Mississippi projects will also be considered by Congress as part of Tuesday’s conference vote, covering items for the FY 2010 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill.

Besides the South Delta center funding, another $3 million is marked for programs and development of public lands. Entities in line for funding include the Center of Marine Resources and Environmental Technology at the University of Mississippi, the Natural Resources Program, Economic Enterprises Program and the Coalition for Advanced Wood Structures at Mississippi State University, Panther Swamp National Wildlife Refuge near Yazoo City and Natchez National Historical Park.

The items also include $2.25 million to fund Environmental Protection Agency grants for water and wastewater infrastructure upgrades in the cities of Pearl, Batesville, Carthage and Ridgeland; Tunica, Hinds and Leflore counties and on land owned by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

Another $250,000 is marked for restoring the Jackson office of civil rights leader Medgar Evers for use as a library and museum. Restoration of Madison County Courthouse is in line for $500,000 in funding.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com