THE DELTA INITIATIVE

The Lower Mississippi Delta is a tremendously large and diverse area encompassing all or parts of seven states bound together by their ties to the Mississippi River. Broadly defined, the Delta region spans the entire lower portion of the river beginning in southern Illinois, covering portions of Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and including all of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. As the fourth largest drainage basin in the world, the Mississippi drains nearly half of North America. It contains the most important bird and waterfowl migration corridor in North America, and the lowlands make up the largest wetland area and bottomland hardwood forest in the United States.

The Delta also contains many nationally and internationally significant heritage resources. The Mississippi and its tributaries provided major prehistoric and historic transportation routes and stimulated extensive habitation along their banks, as evidenced by the many distinct cultural influences and traditions.

Major legislation was passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton in October 1994. Public Law 103-433 includes language that directs the Secretary of the Interior to undertake a comprehensive program of studies on heritage in the Lower Mississippi Delta. In response to this mandate, the Moundbuilders poster was created by the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior's lead agency in this initiative in cooperation with many other agencies and organizations from the Delta region. Just one component of a comprehensive, multiyear project, the poster recognizes and promotes the area's rich, yet often overlooked and unappreciated heritage resources.

to SEAC Posters

to "Ancient Civilizations-Forgotten Cultures" poster