Netflix series stops in Wiggins to help restore ecosystems in De Soto National Forest

A popular Netflix series was in Wiggins over the weekend, helping restore ecosystems in the De Soto National Forest for National Public Lands Day.

“MeatEater,” the popular outdoor hunting television series, teamed up with the USDA and about 100 volunteers to improve the Leaf River Wildlife Management area in the De Soto National Forest.

Volunteers improved the wildlife habitat by seeding clover and planting crab-apple and American chestnut trees, along with some wood duck boxes.

Mark Kenyon, the host of ‘MeatEaters White Tail hunting show,’ says it is his way of promoting conservation efforts and volunteerism for public lands. “I wanted to find a way to shine a spotlight on them and I thought what better way to do than to go and actually participate in these myself promote them along the way and tell their stories, so that’s what I’ve been doing in 2023. Collaborating with a different number of conversation organizations and state game and fish agencies, and we’re doing everything from planting trees to removing invasive species cleaning up trash and all sorts of stuff in between. So, we are doing good work for wildlife. We’re making the landscape better, and maybe the thing that stood out to me more than anything else is the relationships that we’re building, the good times we’re having and that camaraderie that we’re enjoying as fellow sportsman and women.”

National Public Lands Day is the nation’s largest single-day volunteer event for public lands.

By 2026, the National Deer Association has a goal of improving one million acres of public land, an initiative that includes the Biloxi Flats Restoration Project on the De Soto Ranger District.