HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. (May 30, 2019) — “It is hard to remember a time when Senator Cochran wasn’t in Congress, rooting for Mississippi and protecting our wild places,” said Jill Mastrototaro, Audubon Mississippi’s policy director. “He was instrumental in securing funding after Hurricane Katrina ravaged our state, and in passing the RESTORE Act, which is helping our shorelines recover from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.”

“Nearest and dearest to my heart will always be how Senator Cochran helped get us a paved road to Audubon’s Strawberry Plains Center in Holly Springs so more people can come and visit,” noted Sheryl Bowen, Audubon Mississippi’s board chair.

In addition to championing projects close to home, Senator Cochran also served more than 36 years on the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, created with the passage of the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which was one of National Audubon Society’s first legislative victories. During his tenure on the Commission, Cochran oversaw conservation of 2.4 million acres of waterfowl habitat in national wildlife refuges and helped conserve, restore or enhance more than 30 million acres of wetlands and associated uplands.

Senator Thad Cochran, who represented Mississippi first in the U.S. House and later the Senate, died on May 30, 2019 at his home in Oxford. In 2018, he retired after serving more than 50 years in Congress, at which time Audubon issued a statement wishing him well and commending his bipartisan spirit which benefitted the people and wildlife of Mississippi. 

About Audubon: Established in 1998, Audubon Mississippi is a pioneering non-profit that uses conservation, education, advocacy, and science to benefit birds, wildlife, and their habitats. Audubon Mississippi is a state office of the National Audubon Society.

The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon’s state programs, nature centers, chapters and partners have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire and unite diverse communities in conservation action. Since 1905, Audubon’s vision has been a world in which people and wildlife thrive. Audubon is a nonprofit conservation organization. Learn more at www.audubon.org and @audubonsociety.

Contact: Anne Singer, asinger@audubon.org, 202-271-4679