{"id":150420,"date":"2025-07-08T16:31:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T21:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=150420"},"modified":"2025-07-08T16:31:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T21:31:00","slug":"scott-coopwood-retires-from-commissioner-position","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/scott-coopwood-retires-from-commissioner-position\/","title":{"rendered":"Scott Coopwood Retires from Commissioner Position"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The <strong>Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP)<\/strong> would like to recognize <strong>Commissioner Scott Coopwood<\/strong> for his decade of service and leadership on the MDWFP Commission.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A native of <strong>Bolivar County <\/strong>and a true son of the Mississippi Delta, Scott Coopwood has been a champion for Mississippi\u2019s natural resources. First appointed to the Commission in 2015 by <strong>Governor Phil Bryant<\/strong> and reappointed in 2021 by <strong>Governor Tate Reeves<\/strong>, Coopwood served as Chairman for two terms, guiding the Commission with integrity, vision, and unwavering dedication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCommissioner Coopwood\u2019s contributions to the MDWFP and to conservation efforts statewide have not gone unnoticed,\u201d said <strong>Lynn Posey<\/strong>, MDWFP Executive Director. \u201cHis leadership has left a lasting impact on Mississippi and the Commission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout his tenure, Commissioner Coopwood achieved numerous milestones, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Commissioner Coopwood was instrumental in the acquisition of the 18,000-acre Phil Bryant Wildlife Management Area (WMA), which, when combined with Mahanna WMA, now offers more than 30,000 acres of public land for outdoor recreation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Coopwood is a champion for the Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund, which was created in 2022, and has since invested $92 million to enhance public access to land and water, promote conservation education, and support critical restoration projects.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Throughout his tenure, Commissioner Coopwood worked to elevate public awareness of MDWFP\u2019s mission and activities, fostering a deeper appreciation for Mississippi\u2019s natural resources across the state.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Coopwood is a powerful advocate of Mississippi State Parks and collaborated closely with state legislators to secure vital funding for park improvements, ushering in a \u201cnew era\u201d for our parks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Through consistent collaboration with agency staff, Commissioner Coopwood played a key role in shaping effective and responsive policies governing the state\u2019s wildlife and natural resources.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to his service on the Commission, Coopwood is a respected publisher and business leader, known for his efforts to promote economic development in the Delta and throughout Mississippi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The MDWFP extends great thanks to Scott for his exceptional dedication and profound impact on our agency, the commission, and Mississippi\u2019s resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beginning in July 2025, <strong>Drew St. John<\/strong> will join the commission, with <strong>Gary Rhoads<\/strong> serving as Chairman, and Billy Mounger as Vice Chairman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The mission of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks is to conserve and enhance Mississippi\u2019s wildlife, fisheries, and parks; provide quality outdoor recreation, and engage the public in natural resource conservation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/TheLocalVoiceLigature-25web.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"25\" height=\"16\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/TheLocalVoiceLigature-25web.jpg?resize=25%2C16\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14544\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP) would like to recognize Commissioner Scott Coopwood for his<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":238,"featured_media":150421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17316],"tags":[28856,5,642,32110],"class_list":["post-150420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mississippi","tag-mdwfp","tag-mississippi","tag-ms","tag-scott-coopwood"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2025-JUNE-Commissioner-Meeting-07.jpg?fit=2048%2C1365&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150420"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150422,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150420\/revisions\/150422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}