Eric Plowman has been fishing for more than 40 years, and the Collinsville resident’s favorite spot is, of course, Lake Okatibbee.

While it’s not uncommon to see plenty of boats parked out on the lake during warm months, that wasn’t always the case, Plowman said. It wasn’t until the last decade that Okatibbee became a spot for people to stop and fish rather than drive by as they headed elsewhere.

The growth has economic implications. On one hand, the economic impact of hunting, fishing and outdoors recreation is difficult to quantify. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks says hunting brings $1.4 billion to Mississippi every year, according to research done by Mississippi State University, along with an $829 million economic impact for wildlife watching and a $772 million economic impact for fishing. Those numbers aren’t broken down into counties, though department numbers show a total of 5,486 hunting and fishing licenses were sold in Lauderdale County last year.

“Twenty years ago, Okatibbee was called the Dead Sea,” Plowman said. “The fishing wasn’t that great as far as bass fishing goes, so people would drive past it to go to (the) Ross Barnett (Reservoir) or the (Mississippi) River, but over the last eight or 10 years, the Corps of Engineers has worked to get it better. Last year, it was listed in one of the Bassmaster magazines as one of the top lakes in the country.”

That brought more attention to the lake from both Lauderdale County residents and people from outside Meridian and Collinsville. Suddenly, Lake Okatibbee became a destination for recreational fishing and fishing tournaments, Plowman said. With that came people spending money locally.

“I wouldn’t say a lot of people stay in hotels and all that, but as far as local stores where you buy gas, snacks, drinks and bait, I think it’s pretty significant,” Plowman said of the lake’s economic impact. “Okatibbee is very recreational as far as waterskiing goes, so it’s not only beneficial to fisherman. I couldn’t put a number (on the economic impact), but it certainly has to help. When Okatibbee got mentioned in that magazine, you started to see more and more out-of-town tags.”

Mark Dean, the operations site manager for Collinsville’s Army Corps of Engineers, said Okatibbee’s main purpose is to reduce flood damage, but whenever there’s a substantial pool of water, spinoff missions are a natural result. In the case of Lake Okatibbee, those spinoff missions include waterbed activities, fishing, boating and camping, as well as wildlife management for land surrounding the lakes, and hunting is allowed on these lands.

“The corps is involved in (outdoor recreation) because you just can’t have these waterways and operate it and not get into that area,” Dean said.

The Corps of Engineers periodically does things to enhance the lake’s fisheries, such as a work day it recently hosted Feb. 26, and it works hand-in-hand with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks on both the fisheries and wildlife habitat. Currently, Okatibbee is one of the few lakes in Mississippi that doesn’t have a slot limit — or size requirements on fish that are allowed to be harvested — on bass or crappie.

“I think that shows they feel our stocking process is what it needs to be,” Dean said.

Dede Mogollon, executive director for Meridian Lauderdale County Tourism, said she doesn’t have specific numbers to show the local economic impact of outdoors and recreation annually, though tourism overall — which includes the area’s outdoor and recreational outlets — had a strong 2016.

“Our hotel occupancies were 61.9 percent, which was the highest in the state and 4.8 percent higher than the state average, so we have a very busy market,” Mogollon said.

Mogollon also said bed tax income was approximately $100,000 in 2016, which is the entire tourism budget, and sales tax income was approximately $425,000.

“Industry experts estimate an additional $1.4 million in sales tax off non-hotel visitor-related spending is collected in the city’s coffers through sales tax,” Mogollon said.

Meridian Star outdoors columnist Mike Giles said hunting and fishing are good sources of revenue locally. In addition to licenses, people who hunt will spend on equipment, gas, fertilizer and deer feed.

“It would take some research, but I guarantee you there’s no telling how many dollars are spent on corn in Lauderdale County,” Giles said.

Randy Pope, a recreational specialist at Mississippi Land and Lakes, which offers recreational design and development services in Meridian, said Lauderdale County and east Mississippi have an “enormous” number of natural resources for both locals and out-of-towners to use for outdoor recreation.

“It’s a huge industry, one that people tend to take for granted,” Pope said. “We’re always looking for an auto plant or some big industry — which is good, we should be — but one of the rules is you should always promote, talk about and push your natural resources, because you’re not having to recruit anybody to come here — they’re already here. We have streams, creeks, the East Mississippi Foothills… the Chunky River is one of the most underrated, un-talked about scenic rivers in Mississippi. If you’ve ever canoed or kayaked on that river, you’ll know why they say that.”

Pope also mentioned Bonita Lakes’ 5-mile hiking trail and fishing and picnic opportunities, the fact that east Mississippi is on the tail end of the Appalachian Chain — which offers nice views of nature as well as rockbottom creeks and rivers — and plenty of hunting opportunities. He pointed out Mississippi’s 3 million population, meaning it won’t feel too crowded wherever you go. Lauderdale County and the surrounding area offer plenty of outdoors and recreational opportunities to bring in money, Pope said, if there would be a concentrated effort by local leaders to advertise what’s available.

“People are (coming from out of town), but not in the numbers they could be,” Pope said. “If they knew what we had to offer, it would greatly increase. We need to pay more attention to these numbers and what we should do to let the world know about the amazing natural resources we have.”

Giles agreed, saying people will come into town to fish Okatibbee Lake or hunt, and even if there isn’t a lot of public land on which to hunt, people can join hunting clubs.

“A lot of people from the coast will come up here and hunt, and they do buy gas and seeds at local stores, and eat,” Giles said. “It doesn’t cost a whole lot of money to join a lease, and there are different areas that grow bigger bucks, but there’s no problem for someone to go out and kill a deer.”

Mogollon said the tourism department has developed an outdoors and recreation insert for the visitor’s guide, which are sent out across Mississippi and handed out to guests who use the city’s convention center. They’ve also created some digital billboards, which can be seen at the airport and have had conversations with the state in regard to trade shows that promote outdoors recreation.

“Those are traditionally handled by the state, because they’re multi-state conventions,” Mogollon said.

In addition, Mogollon said they’ve been in touch with outdoor societies that are looking to do some press junkets in Meridian and are planning to host The Wildlife Society’s Mississippi and Alabama chapters in September.

Not everyone is keen on the idea of the word getting out. David Clark, who grew up near the Collinsville-Kemper County line but has lived elsewhere for about 30 years, likes to bring his sons to his childhood home every weekend during deer season. He estimates he spends $200 to $250 per weekend while he’s there, and he says much of the attraction for him comes from the nostalgic feeling and from running into old friends.

“I don’t run into a lot of people from outside the area… and I’m thankful for that,” Clark said. “I’m glad it’s the same people from 30 years ago. I have nothing against people coming up and hunting, it’s just a whole lot more homey if it’s people you know and people who are your neighbors. I’d prefer it stay that way.”

That’s why Clark said he’s wary of any concentrated effort to promote the area’s outdoor recreational opportunities.

“You have to be careful what you wish for,” Clark said. “When anything gets too commercial, I don’t think it’s enjoyable anyone. If it becomes too sought after, it puts it out of reach for a lot of people (financially), and the locals are probably spending as much money as I am every week.”

In Mogollon’s opinion, though, letting people know about what Meridian and Lauderdale County has to offer is too important to pass up.

“We have so many assets in Meridian,” Mogollon said. “Some people are music people, some people are art people, but there are a lot of people who are outdoor people. We have so many outdoor assets that there is a large portion of the population that is attracted to that.”