A railroad line between Brookhaven and Natchez targeted forabandonment will continue operation for at least another year, Gov.Haley Barbour said Monday.

The decision by Canadian National Railroad is in response to theeconomic impact of Hurricane Katrina on the area. In addition tothe hurricane’s impact, the railroad’s action is in response to aSeptember decision by Georgia-Pacific to reopen a sawmill in Roxieand a plywood plant in Gloster, according to the governor.

“Canadian National is bending over backwards to help this area,”Barbour said.

The mill activity alone, however, is not expected to besufficient to keep the rail line open in the long term.

“While reopening of the GP mills is a help, it is a far cry fromwhat is needed to operate the line,” the governor said. “CN is justtrying to be a good corporate citizen.”

The governor said the rail line remaining open will give thestate an opportunity to continue a search for another year tolocate an industry in the southwest Mississippi. An industry whichneeds rail service would hopefully allow the rail line to remainoperational.

Following Hurricane Katrina, Georgia Pacific reopened its twomills, which had been closed for about three years, to handledamaged timber from Mississippi, Louisiana and other areas affectedby the storm. Timber with an estimated value of over $1 billion wasdamaged in the storm.

In June, Canadian National announced plans to abandon the linefor economic reasons within the next three years.

The line, known for years as the Mississippi Central, has been afreight line between Brookhaven and Natchez since the early 1900s.The line has struggled over the years but the closing of theInternational Paper mill in Natchez two years ago on top of theclosing of the GP mills forced consideration to close the line.