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SR 94

Support use of voluntary conservation easements as a tool to provide wildlife habitats.

2026 Regular Session

The bill formally recognizes voluntary conservation easements as a tool to protect wildlife habitat and private property rights, without creating new laws or funding.

Died In Committee
#rules
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Bill Summary · SR 94

Summary: Senate Resolution 94 (Mississippi, 2026)

Note: This is a resolution recognizing and honoring voluntary conservation easements; it is not a bill that enacts new law or policy. It does not impose new regulatory requirements or funding, but it underscores support for conservation easements as a tool for wildlife habitat protection and private property rights. The action history indicates the measure did not advance out of committee during the 2026 session.

1) Purpose and Intent

  • Recognizes the importance of voluntary conservation easements as a means to protect wildlife habitats on private lands.
  • Acknowledges the National Assembly of Sportsmen's Caucuses (NASC) for their role in supporting wildlife habitats and private property rights.
  • Emphasizes the free-market, incentive-based nature of conservation easements and their voluntary basis for landowners.

2) Key Provisions and Changes

  • Establishes a formal recognition by the Mississippi Senate of voluntary conservation easements as an important conservation tool.
  • Describes conservation easements as:
    • Voluntary, private contracts between landowners and easement holders.
    • Tools to conserve natural, agricultural, and historical resources on private land.
    • Mechanisms that allow landowners to monetize environmental and habitat values while preserving land for future use.
    • Options for both term-based (limited) and perpetual easements, designed to maintain conservation values “forever” or for a defined period.
  • Highlights benefits such as:
    • Protection of private property rights.
    • Support for habitat and wildlife, including potential benefits to hunters and rural economies.
    • Ability for landowners to pass land to heirs and reinvest in operations using cash or other resources generated by the easement.
  • Indicates intent to inform and educate stakeholders, with transmission of the resolution to NASC’s Executive Council and making it available to Capitol press.

3) Who/What Would Be Affected

  • Landowners who hold or may consider voluntary conservation easements on private property.
  • Private lands used for wildlife habitat, conservation, agriculture, or related purposes.
  • Private conservation organizations, easement holders, and agricultural interests that utilize voluntary easements.
  • The broader public, through the preservation of habitat and the protection of private property rights, as framed by the resolution.

4) Procedural and Timeline Aspects

  • Status: Died in Committee (as of April 15, 2026).
  • Referred to: Rules (March 20, 2026).
  • As a Senate Resolution, it serves a declarative and commemorative purpose rather than creating or changing statutory requirements.
  • No funding, tax policy, or regulatory changes are enacted by this resolution.

Practical Takeaway

SR 94 is a formal acknowledgment by Mississippi’s Senate of the value of voluntary conservation easements for habitat protection and private property rights, and it commends the NASC for its work in this area. While it signals legislative support, it does not create new legal obligations, funding, or programmatic changes. The measure did not advance in the 2026 session.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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