The post AGFC forest management earns high marks in independent audit appeared first on Arkansas Game & Fish Commission.

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Wildlife Podcast Host Trey Reid catches up with Delta Waterfowl’s Senior Marketing Director Brad Heidel for a virtual chat about Delta Waterfowl’s Duck Hunters Expo. The huge event will be held July 28-30 at the Statehouse Convention Center in downtown Little Rock. Anyone interested in duck hunting and waterfowl conservation should tune in to learn how they can join in the fun.

Visit the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s YouTube page to listen to this and other informative podcasts from the Arkansas Wildlife crew.

The post Delta Waterfowl Expo preview on Arkansas Wildlife Podcast appeared first on Arkansas Game & Fish Commission.

Jim Harris

Managing Editor Arkansas Wildlife Magazine

WEINER – Greentree reservoirs in Earl Buss Bayou DeView Wildlife Management Area in Poinsett County are getting the full attention of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and Ducks Unlimited with major renovation work planned over two phases. Phase One began in early June with heavy machinery bringing in modern infrastructure to be installed in the WMA’s Thompson Tract GTR.

It’s all part of the AGFC’s plan to address aging infrastructure and promote long-term bottomland hardwood forest health around the state. Much public attention has centered on loss of forage-producing red oak trees in Henry Gray Hurricane Lake and George H. Dunklin Jr. Bayou Meto WMAs, but they’re only two of the WMAs in need of help. Earl Buss Bayou DeView is due now for several million dollars in renovation work to halt any more loss of waterfowl habitat and to support long-term, sustainable management.

The work this summer calls for two large (15- and 18-feet wide) electrically powered metal overshot gates that can be operated remotely to replace two outdated 48-inch structures that used a screw gate and aluminum “boards” to retain water. Phase Two, most likely next summer, will add more water-control structures, the rebuilding of levees and the addition of spillways that, in concert with the water control structures going in now, will let spring and summer floodwater flow through the WMA more efficiently.

That is what Buck Jackson, the AGFC’s wetlands program coordinator, sees for all the agency’s GTRs as the agency seeks funding for the work via grants such as those awarded to Ducks Unlimited through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act for the Bayou DeView project. Ducks Unlimited is serving as the contractor and hired a subcontractor for the work underway now. According to Jason Carbaugh, an AGFC biologist in the Jonesboro office, Phase One should be complete in early fall. A rainy spring initially slowed things, but he said the summer’s drought-like conditions have allowed work to proceed fairly swiftly.

The new water control structures are going in at the Thompson Tract, in the middle of the WMA, and the South Oliver greentree reservoir, on the property’s south end.

“Bayou DeView is where we started our GTR assessments,” Jackson, who oversees all the staff planning on GTR renovations, said. “We went through as a group of biologists and looked at it. Bayou Deview is in better health than some of the other GTRs, but it’s also smaller and is in a really flashy system (for flooding). But it’s a pretty short-term flash. A significant rain can be out within a couple of weeks. A flood at Hurricane can hang around for six months.

“We don’t see a lot of tree death at Bayou DeView, but we have a closed canopy. We’ve been working on punching holes in the canopy to create the next generation of red oaks up there. There’s a little pocket of overcup oaks, but most of these two GTRs have a fair bit of red oak component.”

Compared to the other GTRs, particularly where tree stress is obvious, Jackson said the Bayou DeView work will show the public that the investment to repair GTRs will be worth it in the long term. “Phase One is just over one and a half million dollars,” Jackson said. “It’s much less expensive and faster to fix it now to prevent more damage and we can go ahead and show progress to staff and the public.”

The new channel-wide water control structures will allow AGFC staff to reestablish what Jackson terms “sheet flow” in the GTR after rain.

“We have large enough water control structures that will overcome the (rain event) and actually be able to pass the water right out.” The key to all these GTRs, biologists have learned, is the importance of moving water across the woods in the growing season, the spring and summer months, rather than having water stagnating, but to also keep it moving all year. They are now looking more for pulses of water, and staggered artificial flooding, rather than leaving stable water on the landscape. “That’s how the next generation of trees will survive,” Jackson said.

On the ridge near the Thompson Tract is a growth of new red oaks that are surviving, and they should continue to thrive as water management improves, Jackson said. While there has been much discussion about when red oaks actually go dormant and can then withstand long periods water on their roots before suffering stress, Jackson notes that younger seedlings don’t have the root structure or the available starch to go dormant like paternal trees, and need periods of sunlight even in the winter. Water topping out over the seedlings from a large rain event keeps them from expelling gas and can kill them, he said.

Instead, they need conditions such as “sheet flow,” which the new larger structures will allow the staff to mimic. They’ll know when a flood is occurring and can operate the gates to keep the water in the GTR at a desired level, or off the GTR if that’s what’s required.

Carbaugh said, “It’s natural for the area to flood and reflood in the springtime. In the spring of 2021 when duck season closed, I started pulling boards (after two large snowfalls) in February. Bayou DeView flooded and drained five times from March through July. This past spring it flooded (and drained) four times after duck season closed.”

Bayou DeView is channeled in northeast Arkansas, unlike the winding parts of Bayou DeView found near Interstate 40 near Brinkley. The bayou’s periodic flooding can cover nearby roadways by up to a foot. But Jackson and Carbaugh understand that spring floods are going to happen.

“These new structures that we’re putting in, as well as renovating levees and putting in large spillways, will allow those natural floods in the springtime to flow through these WMAs at a much more efficient rate,” Carbaugh said.

The post Renovation in full swing at Earl Buss Bayou DeView WMA appeared first on Arkansas Game & Fish Commission.

Randy Zellers

Assistant Chief of Communications

BALD KNOB — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission completed work to remove clogged culverts and install stream crossings on Mallard Pond Road at Henry Gray Hurricane Lake Wildlife Management Area last week and the road will be able to see some traffic this weekend in time for the second segment of the 2021-22 waterfowl season. 

Although the drier-than-normal fall has caused some heartache with waterfowl hunters so far this duck season, these conditions have allowed contractors to work quickly and complete the project  ahead of schedule. Heavy equipment is still being moved from the area, but access is open across this portion of the WMA.

Jason “Buck” Jackson, wetlands biologist specialist for the AGFC who oversees efforts at wetland restoration and management, said construction in bottomland areas that are prone to flooding can be very complex and can always be delayed by rainfall and site conditions, so the speed at which the work was completed was satisfying. 

“If we had seen a lot of water come into the system through rainfall or the river, we could have had to shut down work until things dried out again, but the weather was on our side to get this done,” Jackson said. 

Hurricane Lake WMA has been a major focus of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission since a large portion of the southern greentree reservoir on the area experienced a major die-off of trees that provide the pair-bonding shelter and food resources mallards seek during their wintering period in Arkansas. The continued degradation of tree health in greentree reservoirs due to extremely wet years and high water throughout Arkansas has prompted the AGFC to alter management strategies on publicly owned waterfowl habitat and hunting areas it controls. 

“Water needs to rise and fall more naturally through these systems if we want to keep the quality of the habitat they provide in the long-term,” Jackson said. “But keeping the water flowing when it is high is much more complicated than simply unplugging a drain. All that water has to have a place to go and the passages have to be large enough to pass the water efficiently. Otherwise it’s like trying to drain a swimming pool with a garden hose.”

The plug removal was the first step in a series of infrastructure changes planned for the area, but it was vital to allowing water out of the WMA when the river levels recede. 

Mallard Pond Road was originally built on a natural high river bank, and the dirt plugs blocking under-road culverts and water-control structures created an impromptu levee that held water back. Using LiDAR, a high-detail elevation mapping technique, Jackson and other staff at the AGFC identified seven plugs and water-control structures that had to be removed and water passage allowed to promote free flow of water to the Little Red River on the other side of the road. 

In place of the plugs and water control structures, contractors constructed five bridges and a low-water crossing that will allow water to flow out of the WMA when river levels allow and continue to provide good public access. The seventh water-control structure was removed, but building a crossing was unnecessary as it was beside the road and did not affect access. 

Partial funding for this project was secured through a $1 million North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant written by and awarded to Ducks Unlimited, in which the AGFC and DU each provided $100,000 of matching funds and services. The AGFC provided the remaining $1.6 million needed to complete the project. 

The post Plug removal at Hurricane Lake WMA complete appeared first on Arkansas Game & Fish Commission.

Randy Zellers

Assistant Chief of Communications

MEMPHIS — The recent changes announced to Arkansas’s greentree reservoir management have drawn the attention of many duck hunters in The Natural State, and thanks to the help of Ducks Unlimited, the word about Arkansas’s efforts to restore flooded timber duck hunting are being broadcast on a national scale. Three episodes of DU’s national podcast are available, which cover the science behind greentree reservoirs, the need for change and the plans the AGFC has to restore some of these damaged wetlands while maintaining as much public access as possible.  

The first episode covers the history of greentree reservoirs and their significance to waterfowl habitat and waterfowl hunting. Podcast host Michael Brasher speaks with AGFC Waterfowl Program Coordinator Luke Naylor and DU biologist Jake Spears to share information with the audience.

Click here to listen to Episode 33: Arkansas’s Greentree Reservoirs Part 1

Naylor and Spears revisit with Brasher in the second episode to cover the current decline in forest health within these artificially flooded wetlands and steps the AGFC is doing to remedy the situation.

Click here to listen to Episode 34: Arkansas Greentree Reservoirs Part 2

Austin Booth, director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, joins the DU Podcast to conclude our discussion about the difficult yet necessary changes to water management in Arkansas’s famed greentree reservoirs. From his perspective as a father, hunter, and agency director, Austin shares insights on leadership, outreach efforts, hunter concerns, and why AGFC is so committed to seeking long-term solutions to preserve the legacy of Arkansas’s flooded timber.

Click here to listen to Episode 35: Arkansas’s Greentree Reservoirs Part 3

The post AGFC wetland management focus of DU podcast series appeared first on Arkansas Game & Fish Commission.

Keith Stephens

Chief of Communications

You are hereby notified that Commissioners of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will meet on the following dates and times to consider any business that may be brought before the Commission. Unless otherwise stated, meetings will be held at the AGFC offices, 2 Natural Resources Dr. in Little Rock. To view the Thursday commission meeting, please click on this link.

The post AGFC Commissioner Meeting Notice appeared first on Arkansas Game & Fish Commission.

Keith Stephens

Chief of Communications

AGFC commission meeting

You are hereby notified that Commissioners of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will meet on the following dates and times to consider any business that may be brought before the Commission. Unless otherwise stated, meetings will be held at the AGFC offices, 2 Natural Resources Dr. in Little Rock.

The post AGFC Commissioner Meeting Notice appeared first on Arkansas Game & Fish Commission.

Randy Zellers

Assistant Chief of Communications

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will host a series of public meetings in October and November to explain recently announced changes to some of Arkansas’s most popular duck-hunting areas.

The meetings will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the following dates at these locations:

• Oct. 26 — White County Cooperative Extension in Searcy

• Oct. 28 — Rich-N-Tone’s Flying Duck Taproom in Stuttgart

• Nov. 9 — Diamond Bear Brewing Company in North Little Rock

• Nov. 18 — ASU Cooper Alumni Center in Jonesboro

“The goal of these meetings is to once again present the reasoning behind the changes planned to protect the trees on these treasured waterfowl-hunting areas in more of a public, one-on-one atmosphere,” AGFC Director Austin Booth said. “Our responsibility is to not only make these changes for the health of our waterfowl habitat and for the long-term benefit of waterfowl hunters, but to reinforce why we’re making these adjustments.”

Lidar and Avenza Maps, and USGS Gauge Readings can be found here.

In September, Booth announced at a special press conference that winter flooding on George H. Dunklin Bayou Meto Wildlife Management Area, Henry Gray Hurricane Lake WMA and Earl Buss Bayou DeView WMA all would see changes to their traditional water management plans. He also announced that Sheffield Nelson Dagmar WMA would continue following a recent change to its water management plan, forgoing intentional flooding on one of its popular waterfowl-hunting areas.

Trouble on Arkansas’s famous greentree reservoirs came to the forefront of the AGFC’s waterfowl habitat management plans in 2017, when noticeable damage to the red oak component of many GTRs prompted the AGFC to have a series of public meetings across the state to discuss the need for changes in management on these vital portions of duck habitat in Arkansas. Decades of flooding at constant water levels combined with extended periods of wet weather during the growing season have slowly changed the composition of these bottomland hardwoods to more water-tolerant species that are less beneficial to waterfowl than the red oaks previously found on these sites. Further flooding has even caused large-scale die-offs of all trees within Hurricane Lake WMA, prompting the need for immediate action. Conditions at Bayou Meto WMA are similar to those experienced at Hurricane Lake, prompting proactive measures on this WMA as well.

“We are not pulling the plug on greentree reservoirs and the hunting experience they have brought Arkansans for years and years,” Booth said during a Sept. 2 press conference. “We are doubling down on them. To ensure that these GTRs are around for the next generation of Arkansans, the time to act is now.”

A video of the press conference is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wvR0kA6hcs&t. Visit www.agfc.com/gtr for more information on greentree reservoir management in Arkansas.

The post Meetings scheduled to provide details on duck season water level and forest management changes appeared first on Arkansas Game & Fish Commission.

Randy Zellers

Assistant Chief of Communications

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Director Austin Booth announced last Thursday at a special press conference that the AGFC will make changes to existing water management schedules on three of Arkansas’s popular wildlife management areas to protect critical habitat for wintering waterfowl.

Henry Gray Hurricane Lake WMA, George H. Dunklin Jr. Bayou Meto WMA and Earl Buss Bayou DeView WMA all will see changes in water management beginning with the 2021-22 waterfowl wintering period. All of these changes are part of the Commission’s efforts to prevent further stress to valuable red oak species on traditionally flooded bottomland hardwood forests and promote regeneration of this valuable red oak component.

Henry Gray Hurricane Lake WMA near Bald Knob saw a massive die-off of hardwood trees beginning in 2018 within its southern greentree reservoir, an area historically flooded for ducks during waterfowl season. The trees, which had been showing signs of stress, succumbed to excessive flooding during the growing season in multiple years. Even though gates stay open outside of fall and winter, extremely wet years saw high levels of rainfall and high water levels throughout the White River system that kept water on trees throughout the growing season. The AGFC immediately began leaving the gates to the south greentree reservoir open year-round to relieve additional stress that could be caused by winter flooding. But that was only the first step in the long process of restoring Henry Gray Hurricane Lake WMA.

This year the Glaise Creek water-control structure that intentionally holds water on the northern GTR, and also influences water levels in the former south GTR, will be left open as well, to further promote the flow of water through the WMA. This is being done in conjunction with major infrastructure work being performed on the area.

A water-control structure and dirt plugs along the road to Mallard Pond are being removed. The road essentially acted as a levee to hold water in the former southern GTR, but the design needs changes to help save the waterfowl habitat on Hurricane Lake. The AGFC provided $1.7 million with $100,000 coming from Ducks Unlimited and a $1 million North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant completing the needed funds to complete this phase of the project. The completed design should help water move through the WMA and out into the Little Red River on the other side of the road.

“In 2022, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission plans to replace the water control structure that we are leaving open this year. It will be replaced with [the framework for] a much larger structure that will let more water flow through the area.”

Booth said conditions immediately preceding the die-off in Henry Gray Hurricane Lake WMA were beginning to be seen in portions of Bayou Meto’s greentree reservoirs near DeWitt as well. This has prompted water management changes at this famous duck-hunting area as well. For the 2021-22 wintering period, area managers will only hold water artificially at 179 MSL, a foot lower than historically flooded levels. During the 2022-23 season, managers will reduce the managed water level another half foot, keeping the maximum artificial flood level at 178.5 MSL during winter.

According to Brad Carner, chief of wildlife management at the AGFC, the changes may mean as much as 1,857 acres of traditionally flooded areas without managed water during the 2021-22 season and even more area affected during the 2022-23 duck season. But these changes are necessary to prevent further decline and a possible die-off at Bayou Meto as well.

“The goal with Bayou Meto is to prevent Bayou Meto from turning into Hurricane,” Booth said.

AGFC staff are working to clear boat lanes and access points in Bayou Meto and will work during the offseason during 2022 to improve access to help hunters adjust to the lower water levels required to protect the habitat that has made the area a bucket-list destination for many in the duck-hunting world.

At Earl Buss Bayou DeView WMA, the Thompson Tract greentree reservoir also will be allowed to rise and fall naturally without the gates being operated beginning with the 2021-22 season. Instead of saving stressed trees, the action at this greentree reservoir is an effort to help the next generation of forest.

“Forest management practices in 2019 opened up the canopy of that forest and allowed sunlight to reach the forest floor,” Carner said. “We’ve seen an excellent crop of willow oaks sprout from that effort. Logging being conducted in Bayou DeView will open more forest up for this regeneration to create the next forest and benefit ducks and other wildlife. We need to allow water to flow freely through the area to protect those young trees that will one day be the forest our children and grandchildren will hunt.”

Booth stressed that the AGFC’s actions do not mean these areas will not flood naturally. During the last few years, water still entered Hurricane Lake WMA’s duck hunting areas when the White River reached 24 to 25 feet high at the USGS gauge in Augusta.

Booth added that as long as sufficient rain falls throughout the watershed at Bayou Meto, the area will fill to that 179 MSL mark. Additional rainfall during duck season in the WMA’s watershed will naturally flood even more acres within the WMA and then the waters will recede back to 179. He also pointed out that the WMA is 33,000 acres, but the watershed that feeds the WMA spans 750,000 acres.

“Any time that area gets rain, all that rain is coming to Bayou Meto. That water will pulse up over 179 feet, and the public opportunity will pulse up with it.”

Booth also reassured Arkansas hunters that the actions being taken are not abandoning Arkansas’s rich waterfowl heritage, but investments to maintain and enhance it.

“We are not pulling the plug on greentree reservoirs and the hunting experience they have brought Arkansans for years and years,” Booth said. “We are doubling down on them. To ensure that these GTRs are around for the next generation of Arkansans, the time to act is now.

“What Arkansans expect of this agency is to be accountable, and to control the things we can control and that is exactly what we are doing with this decision,” Booth said. “We’re controlling the aspects of the timber health that we can control right now for the benefit of our trees right now so that when we make progress on the things that are outside of our control, our trees will live to see it.”

A video of the press conference is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wvR0kA6hcs&t

The post Changes to east Arkansas hunting areas planned to save duck habitat appeared first on Arkansas Game & Fish Commission.

Randy Zellers

Assistant Chief of Communications

LITTLE ROCK – Duck hunters visiting Arkansas’s famous waterfowl-focused public greentree reservoirs may see some changes on three of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s wildlife management areas this year.

George H. Dunklin Jr. Bayou Meto WMA, Henry Gray Hurricane Lake WMA and Earl Buss Bayou DeView WMA all will see changes in water management beginning with the 2021-22 waterfowl wintering period. All of these changes are part of the Commission’s efforts to prevent further stress to valuable red oak species on traditionally flooded bottomland hardwood forests.

“We really started talking about these issues and the need for change in water management in 2017, and a lot of work has gone on behind the scenes to study and build the groundwork for major renovations to infrastructure,” said Brad Carner, chief of wildlife management for the AGFC. “Hunters will begin to see some changes in how flooding occurs on these areas as we now move forward with some of the actions developed through that background work.”

The first change will come at Henry Gray Hurricane Lake WMA near Bald Knob. Trees in the area’s former South GTR saw a massive die-off in 2018, which led to the AGFC leaving the water-control gates open and drafting plans to help water flow through the area. Those plans are being implemented now. Trees in the area’s North GTR also had substantial stress when the die-off occurred, and continued flooding during the growing season have added to that damage.

“Beginning this year, we will leave the Glaise Creek water control structure open to allow water to flow through the North GTR instead of artificially holding it back,” Carner said. “The area can still flood with substantial rainfall or rises in the White River, but we can’t continue to artificially hold water on the area and add additional stress to the trees there.”

Bayou Meto, the crown jewel of Arkansas public land duck hunting, also will see some changes this year in managed water levels. Much of the red oak component in Bayou Meto is showing severe stress, and managers will hold all intentional flooding during the 2021-22 wintering period at 179 MSL, an elevation that will relieve stress on many of those trees. Again, rain and increased flow into the WMA will allow water to rise above that level periodically, but artificial flooding will be stopped at the 179 MSL mark.

“This will potentially leave 1,857 acres of Bayou Meto’s greentree reservoirs with unmanaged water,” Carner said. Fifteen percent of the Government Cypress GTR, 27 percent of Upper Vallier and 8 percent of Lower Vallier greentree reservoirs will be affected.”

Managers will further reduce controlled water levels on the WMA during the 2022-23 wintering season, keeping managed water at or below 178.5 MSL.

“This stands to impact much more hunter access on the WMA,” Carner said. “46 percent of Government Cypress, 53 percent of Upper Valier and 31 percent of Lower Vallier are above 178.5 MSL. The extra year before we implement this change will hopefully allow us to get in and improve access where we can on these greentree reservoirs.”

The third change to water management will come at Bayou DeView WMA. The Thompson Tract on the WMA also will be allowed to rise and fall naturally without the gates being operated beginning with the 2021-22 season. Instead of saving stressed trees, the action at this greentree reservoir is an effort to help the next generation of forest.

“Wildlife stand improvements in 2019 opened up the canopy of that forest and allowed sunlight to reach the forest floor,” Carner said. “We’ve seen an excellent crop of willow oaks sprout from that effort. Logging being conducted in Bayou DeView will open more forest up for this regeneration to create the next forest and benefit ducks and other wildlife. We need to allow water to flow freely through the area to protect those young trees that will one day be the forest our children and grandchildren will hunt.”

Carner explains that although trees are very long-lived, they do have a lifespan and do have an age when their productivity drops.

“As trees lose their productivity from age or severe stress, we must make room and care for the young trees that will take their place,” Carner said. “It will be decades before the seedlings we see today are producing acorns for wildlife, and we need to manage for that transition now to prevent larger-scale habitat loss in the future.”

The post AGFC adjusts water management to protect critical duck habitat appeared first on Arkansas Game & Fish Commission.