About the 12 Miles South Coalition

Who Are We?

The 12 Miles South Coalition is a coast-wide group of business and community leaders who support the limitation of oil and gas production or testing to an area twelve nautical miles south of Mississippi’s barrier islands.

Officers, Board of Directors, Organization Members

12 Miles South Coalition Resolution

How Were We Organized?

As plans emerged to explore and drill in and near the Gulf Islands National Seashore, Coast groups came to the rescue. Political, business and community leaders urged protection for the islands at a rally sponsored by the Gulf Islands Conservancy and Sierra Club.  Meanwhile, business and conservation minded community leaders formed the committee to Save Mississippi’s Tourism & Island Economy (SMITE) whose aim is limiting testing or drilling to an area 12 miles south of the barrier islands. When more than seven hundred citizens supported the islands at a Biloxi meeting, the various groups agreed to pool their energies into the 12 Miles South Coalition.

Why 12 Miles South?

We believe that any oil and gas production or testing within this area would have significant negative impacts on our tourism-based economy, quality of life and environment.

The only way to avoid serious coast-wide long-term negative impacts from oil and gas drilling or testing is to create an Economic Interest Zone that prohibits this activity in the Mississippi Sound and 12 nautical miles south of the islands.

This would ensure that industrial development could not be seen from high-rise hotels and residential units on the beach.

What Are Our Goals?

We support the federal government’s purchase of the mineral rights under our islands to preserve into perpetuity our national wilderness areas. Those areas would then be permanently protected from oil and gas drilling or testing and the state would be paid for the mineral rights. Florida is attempting this now as it has been done in other states.

We support creation of an Economic Interest Zone to keep all offshore industrial development from damaging our economic growth, quality of life and environment.

These proposals would end any prospect of oil and gas drilling or testing in the Economic Interest Zone. It would also raise millions of dollars in state revenue from the sale of the mineral rights. This would offset any loss of revenue to the state while saving our islands.