Op-Ed - Massive Refuge Expansion on the Way for West Tennessee

Changes could be coming for the Mississippi and Hatchie River floodplains in Dyer, Lauderdale, Tipton and Haywood counties.This past December, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service proposed expanding the Chickasaw and Lower Hatchie National Wildlife Refuges into each refuge's neighboring bottomlands. This expansion would result in the federal government purchasing 120,000 acres -- over 1,000 privately owned parcels along 49 miles of the Mississippi River and 106 miles of the Hatchie River, making this the largest refuge west of the Mississippi, impacting our crop production, tax base, freedom of land use and people's way of life.