The Bassfield resident and former U.S. congressman will be back at the beaver pond Saturday - on his bicycle - as part of the Denbury-Beaver Pond Festival, an event that signals the start of development of the pond along the Longleaf Trace.

"The trail answers so many quality of life issues in our region," Shows said. "The development of this area into an educational-nature retreat is going to set it apart."

Shows said the only problem he sees with Longleaf Trace is the lack of more trails in the state.

"We need five more rails-to-trails projects like this one," Shows said.

Shows was instrumental in getting the Mississippi Department of Transportation to buy the railroad right-of-way when it was abandoned in the late 1990s.

"A group of residents had worked for months to try and acquire the property," said Herlon Pierce, executive director and trail manager for the Pearl and Leaf Rivers Rails-to-Trails Recreation District. "At the last minute when the railroad was looking at selling it off in pieces to others, Ronnie Shows stepped in and the state bought it."

Shows was Southern District highway commissioner when Bassfield resident Bobby Garraway asked him for help.

Once the state saved the land, the Pearl and Leaf Rivers Rails-to-Trails Recreation District was created to develop it into one of the nation's rails-to-trails projects. Garraway was the district's first president.

Now, Shows is back with a $10,000 donation from Denbury Resources Inc., one of the largest oil and gas producers in Mississippi. Shows is a consultant with the company.

With the initial donation, Pierce said the district has $30,000 toward the $500,000 needed to develop the beaver pond with walking trails, overnight camping facilities, an outdoor classroom facility, a horse corral and a road to connect the pond with nearby Epley Road.

"Denbury was very receptive to this project," Shows said. "One of the founding members of the company, Mark Worthy, is an Aberdeen native."

Top Denbury officials are expected at Saturday's event.