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Randy Zellers

Assistant Chief of Communications

NORTH LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission named Rock Creek Ranch in Franklin County as the Deer Management Assistance Program Club of the year at the second annual Natural State Landowner Conservation Awards banquet held at the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel in downtown North Little Rock July 19.

The evening, which was sponsored by the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, offered the AGFC the opportunity to recognize landowners in The Natural State who have gone the extra mile working with the agency to improve aquatic and terrestrial habitat for game and nongame wildlife.

Rock Creek Ranch is a 1,400-acre deer club that has been involved with DMAP since 2001. They have collected valuable biological data, observation data, CWD samples and winter herd health data and does an excellent job of maintaining and submitting annual herd age information to keep track of biodata trends.

“We have been in DMAP for many years,” Eugene Post, club representative, said. “This program has assisted us in maintaining a healthy, balanced deer herd. By collecting detailed biological data through time, we help increase our opportunity at harvesting does and mature bucks alike.”

Hunters at Rock Creek Ranch use antlerless deer tags in coordination with the management guidelines provided by the AGFC to keep their local deer population below the carrying capacity of their habitat to promote a productive deer herd and meet their goals of having opportunities to harvest mature bucks (3.5 years and older). They have consistently harvested at least two mature bucks each year and have had opportunities to harvest more. Youth and guests have been very pleased to observe and harvest does and bucks alike each year.

In addition to harvest management, the club has made a large push into habitat management to improve the health of the wildlife on their property, including deer and ground-nesting birds.

Eugene Post and other Rock Creek Ranch hunters enrolled their property in the AGFC’s Acres for Wildlife program as well as the Arkansas Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry’s Forest Stewardship Program to increase the amount of native grasses and low-lying vegetation on their property. These seed- and insect-rich plants provide excellent food and cover for white-tailed deer and other wildlife.

This DMAP club is working on a plan to complete timber stand improvement throughout their property with the assistance of the AGFC, Quail Forever, Partners for Fish and Wildlife and the Division of Forestry.

To date, the club already has completed 45 acres for mulching undesirable species to increase sunlight to the ground to boost food and cover for wildlife. They also completed about 400 acres of prescribed burning to promote highly desirable plants such as ragweed, partridge pea and asters. Nearly 180 acres of native warm-season grasses and forbs have been planted to increase the amount of fawn bedding cover and high-protein forage for deer. The plantings included 15 acres of food plots, including sunflowers, mixed clovers, chicory, alfalfa, brassicas and winter wheat, to offer supplemental food during summer and winter. These habitat manipulations have contributed to success in their secondary goal, seeing an increase in eastern wild turkeys on the property.

“By increasing native food and cover on the ground, we have witnessed an increase in the amount of does with fawns on the property,” club member Kody Rudolph said. “We are excited to see what the future holds as we continue habitat management.”

The Deer Management Assistance Program is a component of the AGFC’s Private Lands Habitat Division supported, in part, by the AGFC’s cultivating partner Greenway Equipment. The program assists landowners and hunting clubs manage their local deer herd through voluntary management plans, which are customized to each club’s habitat and goals. Participants may request free site visits to improve not only the harvest structure of the deer on their property, but also to learn how to improve the habitat on that property to increase its potential to meet the desires of club members. Visit www.agfc.com/DMAP to learn more.

CUTLINES:

AWARD

Members of Rock Creek Ranch in Franklin County were honored at the AGFC’s Natural State Landowner Conservation Awards banquet.

DEER IN FIELD
Deer and other animals have shown excellent results from the DMAP club’s efforts.

FIELD

Native vegetation that provides cover and forage for quail, turkey and deer is abundant on Rock Creek Ranch thanks to hard work by club members.

FIRE
Prescribed fire is an important tool in Rock Creek Ranch’s success story.

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Randy Zellers

Assistant Chief of Communications

LITTLE ROCK — Forty-three eastern collared lizards bred at the Little Rock Zoo found new homes in the Arkansas Ozarks last week thanks to an innovative partnership between the zoo, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, University of Arkansas, University of Central Arkansas and the Arkansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. 

While not the first attempt at relocation of eastern collared lizards, which are listed as a species of greatest conservation need in Arkansas, this is the first time researchers and biologists have collaborated with the zoo to provide yearlings to introduce in newly restored habitat.

The eastern collared lizard is one of the the largest lizard species found in Arkansas. Some males may reach 14 inches long, while the females tend to be a bit smaller. Sometimes referred to as “mountain boomers,” the lizards are particularly striking with vibrant yellow, green and teal blue colors in males and females sporting more muted greens with red-orange markings. The species has experienced declines in the last few decades, primarily as a result of the loss of sparse, rocky glades. Suppression of fire along many of these thin-soiled mountain areas has allowed cedars and other woody plants to invade these spaces, changing the plant communities required by animals that historically called them home.

The Collared Lizard Conservation Team, as well as several other federal, state and private agencies have been focused on restoring glade habitat throughout the state to benefit many species, including northern bobwhite, wild turkey and several glade endemic plants, arthropods and vertebrates. Restoration efforts include prescribed fire, cedar removal, invasive plant treatments, prairie plant reseeding and the addition of large rock piles (the primary refuge for many glade species).

For the last year, the conservation partners have worked on collaborative efforts including a captive propagation program at the zoo to provide lizards for reintroductions to restored habitat sites. Last week’s release was the first of many planned for the future to re-establish this valuable Arkansas treasure to the landscape before it is too late. 

The team anticipates reintroducing several more populations to other locations in the state, which will include State Parks, AGFC and private land.

Contact Dr. Casey Brewster at clbrewst@uark.edu or Dr. Matt Gifford at megifford@uca.edu for more information about the Collared Lizard Conservation Team and this effort. For more information on how to re-establish native habitat on your property, visit www.agfc.com/habitat.

CUTLINES:

Lizard climbing rocks:
Affectionately called “mountain boomers” by Ozark locals, eastern collared lizard has experienced population declines from loss of habitat. Photo courtesy Levi Horrell.

Lizard in crevice:
Last week’s introduction saw 43 yearling lizards released into prime locations for future growth. Photo courtesy of Levi Horrell.

Man with lizard:
AGFC Assistant  Regional Wildlife Supervisor Levi Horrell with one of many yearling lizards released during last week’s reintroduction effort.

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Randy Zellers

Assistant Chief of Communications

LITTLE ROCK — Landowners in Arkansas wishing to improve their private land for wildlife can apply for up to $15,000 in cost-share incentives through the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s newly revamped Acres for Wildlife program, offered through the agency’s Private Lands Habitat Division from now until July 1.

The AGFC’s contingent of private lands biologists have always offered free technical advice to landowners and helped them secure funding to accomplish some of the work needed to improve their land through sources such as the Farm Bill.

Through the freshly invigorated program and a partnership with Greenway Equipment these biologists now can put more money to work for private landowners who wish to engage in activities such as prescribed burning and herbicide treatments to eradicate invasive species and promote native plants, and thin closed-canopy forests to allow more sunlight to hit the ground and promote vegetation that offers year-round forage for wildlife.

Acres for Wildlife began in 1973 as a cooperative partnership between the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. Participating landowners would receive plants or seeds to create wildlife-friendly plantings on their properties. Beginning with only 60 participants, the program swelled to as many as 5,000 landowners receiving seed mixes and plants by 1993. The program changed from the more commercial food plot mixes to native plants in 2011 to offer more benefits to wildlife, especially ground-nesting birds such as northern bobwhites and wild turkeys.

Garrick Dugger, chief of the AGFC’s Private Lands Habitat Division, is excited about helping breathe new life into this once popular program. 

“From 2013 until 2019, the AGFC offered some cost-share opportunities to do habitat work beyond planting of grasses, but these opportunities were suspended in 2019,” Dugger said. “This program was ahead of its time in promoting wildlife habitat on private land. To be able to not only bring back cost-share opportunities, but to elevate it to a new standard, is really exciting.”

The program is one of many recent changes as a result of the AGFC’s new strategic plan, The Natural State Tomorrow, which Director Austin Booth unveiled in 2022. Booth’s approach to what he’s coined “common man, common woman conservation” brings renewed attention to the contributions and responsibilities of all Arkansans in the fight to conserve the state’s native habitats and the wildlife that thrive upon them.

“The AGFC and other public agencies only manage 10 percent of the land of Arkansas,” Booth said. “Even if we accomplish absolute perfection on the land we control, that still leaves 90 percent of Arkansas that’s out of our hands. Private landowners aren’t just our partners in conservation, they’re the key to any success we hope to achieve in management on a landscape level.”

Visit www.agfc.com/AFW to learn more about Acres for Wildlife and apply for cost-share opportunities to increase wildlife habitat value on your property.

Visit www.agfc.com/habitat to learn more about the AGFC’s Private Lands Habitat Division.

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Randy Zellers

Assistant Chief of Communications

SPRINGDALE — Commissioners with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission heard some good news about Arkansas’s turkey population during a presentation at today’s monthly meeting held at the J.B. and Johnelle Hunt Family Ozark Highlands Nature Center. AGFC Turkey Program Coordinator Jeremy Wood gave some preliminary results of the 2022 Wild Turkey Population Survey, which indicates some of the best reproduction in parts of Arkansas since 2012.

According to Wood’s presentation, participants in the survey recorded an average of 1.79 poults per hen throughout spring and summer. 

“Historically what biologists want to see is in the ballpark of 1.8 to 2 poults per hen,” Wood said. 

The survey ratio varied by region of the state, but overall the numbers were consistently positive. The ratio ranged from a high of 2.21 poults per hen in the Delta to a low of 1.46 poults per hen in the Ouachita Mountains. 

Gobbler-to-hen ratios saw a decrease, but Wood explained that this is common during years of high reproduction. 

“We also continue to see increased participation throughout the state in the survey,” Wood said. “Five years ago about 50 percent of our turkey survey participants were in seven counties, but we’re seeing more widespread reports thanks to increased efforts to recruit observers. We are seeing some decreased participation per observer, and we want to figure out a way to get more observations from each participant, but we are getting increased awareness overall.” 

Woods credits good weather conditions during nesting and brood-rearing seasons for the observed increase in poult-per-hen ratio.

“A lot of the habitat work we’ve done has really been small fish so far, relatively speaking,” Wood said. “But we’re just starting to move the needle and we hopefully will see increased response from the turkey population when those factors we can’t control line up.” 

Brad Carner, deputy director of the AGFC, also thanked commissioners for their continued support in setting conservative turkey season frameworks and continuing to support habitat improvements through the turkey program.

“The thing we have the most control over is our season structure,” Carner said. “We can’t control weather, but the shorter later season sets the stage for our turkeys to take advantage of good weather like we had this year.”

Habitat management across Arkansas’s landscape was a main focus of AGFC Director Austin Booth’s address to the Commission. In accordance with the AGFC’s new strategic plan, The Natural State Tomorrow, Booth announced the elevation of the AGFC’s Private Lands Program to become a major division at the agency. He named longtime wildlife biologist and AGFC assistant chief Garrick Dugger as the man who will lead this effort as the agency’s new chief of Private Lands Programs.

“We all know that success in conservation ultimately depends not just on the landscape, but more importantly on how much people treasure the landscape … ” Booth said. “… If we achieve absolute perfection on the 10 percent of land the AGFC controls in Arkansas, we only have 10 percent success. The only way to increase that is to take our amazing private lands effort that we have now and to elevate it. The Private Lands Division will be absolutely critical in delivering to the private landowners of Arkansas the assistance, the education and the incentives to help carry on the flame of conservation.”

Dugger began his career with the AGFC as a private lands biologist and has worked for the AGFC for 23 years. He has led many on-the-ground habitat efforts on AGFC-controlled public land in east Arkansas.

The Commission also authorized Director Booth to enter into a real estate conveyance agreement with the city of Benton to enable itto take control of 18 acres of property along the Saline River known as the Cherry Gingles Duluth Saline River Access for the creation of a new public access with enhanced amenities.

The property for this access was donated to the Commission from the Demuth Family and the Hastings Family for public use. Benton Parks and Recreation plans to establish campsites in addition to upgrading public access to the Saline River on the property. 

“They are planning not only campsites, but RV parking, yurts and other enhancements,” Ben Batten, AGFC deputy director, said. “This will provide funding and resources we can’t devote and really keep it in line with the original wishes of the two families who donated the land.”

The meeting was a culmination of a week celebrating conservation in northwest Arkansas beginning with the dedication of Kirk Dupps Beaver Lake Wildlife Management Area. Wednesday, Commissioners toured Pea Ridge National Military Park, where the AGFC has worked in partnership with the U.S. National Park Service to increase habitat for grassland birds such as the northern bobwhite.  They also toured Lake Elmdale, which has seen major erosion problems during the last few years, and welcomed the community of Springdale to a special night of conservation with an open house at the Ozark Highlands Nature Center on Wednesday night.

A video of the meeting is available on the AGFC’s YouTube channel.  

In other business, the Commission:

• Heard from Becky Roark, executive director of the Beaver Watershed Alliance, who gave an update on collaborative projects conducted by the AGFC and BWA (LINK TO PRESENTATION).

• Heard from Jon Stein, AGFC fisheries supervisor for northwest Arkansas, who gave a presentation on the diverse aquatic habitat and fisheries management efforts that deliver excellent fishing and healthy outdoors opportunities to Arkansans. (LINK TO PRESENTATION).

• Approved a $1.55 million budget adjustment from the stability and enhancement fund for vehicle purchases to replace high-mileage vehicles in the Commission’s fleet inventory. 

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Randy Zellers

Assistant Chief of Communications

LITTLE ROCK — The Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center is hosting a free food plot and habitat management workshop from 1-3 p.m. Aug. 27 for individuals who want to get the most out of their deer management efforts.

As triple-digit summer days become smaller in the rearview mirror, many hunters and land managers are getting their tractors cranked and schedules cleared to begin work on trails, food plots and other projects to make this deer season more enjoyable. This class can help you figure out the best methods to boost your property’s value to wildlife before you till up a perfectly good patch of native vegetation to plant something that may or may not be as beneficial.

Wes Tucker, one of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Private Lands Program biologists will cover a variety of management actions that will help landowners not only provide more attractive habitat for deer, but also offer benefits to an entire host of wildlife many Arkansans enjoy watching during their outdoors experiences.

“We’ll cover food plots, but you might be surprised at how many other things you can do to help the overall health of the deer using your property or lease,” Tucker said. “Not only can some of these techniques be more beneficial than a manicured plot, but they are less expensive and can even be less time-consuming. There are only so many acres available for plots, but with some planning you can make those plots even more attractive and provide year-round health benefits for the deer.”

Space is limited to this workshop, so register today at the AGFC Outdoor Skills Network Events Calendar.

This workshop is one of many free presentations offered through the AGFC’s network of nature centers and educators throughout the state. Visit www.agfc.com/events to find a workshop near you.

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Randy Zellers

Assistant Chief of Communications

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and its partners in conservation are hosting special workshops throughout the state to help landowners improve the wildlife habitat on their property. Whether your focus is deer, turkey, quail or the many non-game species that depend upon healthy habitat, AGFC biologists want to help.

Clint Johnson, AGFC Private Lands Program biologist, said the workshops include a variety of topics and techniques that are low cost, but have significant effect on the property’s wildlife-holding potential.

“Habitat is the key to seeing healthier deer and turkey populations on your property,” Johnson said. “Managing wildlife populations requires a holistic approach, including balancing populations with available resources through careful harvest, monitoring for wildlife diseases like chronic wasting disease in deer and habitat improvements, which can include invasive species control, prairie restoration, forest management and prescribed fire.”

The workshops are part of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s ongoing effort to work with private landowners throughout the state to help manage wildlife across the entire landscape. Close to 90 percent of Arkansas is in private ownership, so partnerships with private landowners are essential to improve habitat for quail, turkeys and many other species on a landscape level. In addition to 12 AGFC private land biologists dedicated to working with landowners, the agency works with biologists from Quail Forever, the National Wild Turkey Federation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other organizations to point landowners on the path to success with their property. 

“The workshops are all free, and there’s no obligation to sign up for any of the programs offered,” Johnson said. “I encourage anyone interested in learning more about how they can improve their property for hunting or simply using their property to help pollinators or other wildlife to register and attend.”

Registration for the workshops is available online at www.agfc.com/events. Select “Filter by Event,” and choose option 7 (Landowner), or you may click here to go directly to the landowner workshop registration panel. 

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Jim Harris

Managing Editor Arkansas Wildlife Magazine

LITTLE ROCK – Four landowners and one corporate partner who have dedicated private acreage to increase habitat for wildlife through work with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission private lands biologists, were honored with Private Landowner Awards at the Jan. 21 commission meeting. The awards, started by then-Chairman Ford Overton and AGFC Director Pat Fitts in 2019 with the honorees in attendance at the meeting, were planned again for spring 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic set those plans back.

With COVID-19 protocols and social distancing still in place, Ted Zawislak, the statewide Private Lands Supervisor, and his staff of private lands biologists presented the awards to the honorees, with a winner in each congressional district.

“Arkansas is 90 percent privately owned,” Zawislak said. “So, it takes landowners like this to make that meaningful impact on an overall wildlife population and conservation in the state of Arkansas. The hard work, commitment and achievements of these landowners are also a testament to the private lands biologists who walk with them every step of the way.”

Zawislak noted the varied landscapes involved in the latest awards, suiting a large scope of nature and wildlife.

“The diversity of the habitats and the landowner accomplishments are as diverse as the state itself,” he said. “These particular awards really show the diversity of the habitat.”

The winners were Peyton Daniel III, Woodruff County (Congressional District 1), whose efforts include enrolling up to 127 acres of rice land the past three waterfowl seasons in the AGFC’s Arkansas Waterfowl Rice Incentive Conservation Enhancement program, along with 99 acres this past fall in the AGFC’s private land permitted dove hunts; Henry and Kay Jones, Conway County (Congressional District 2), whose work included restoring 100 acres of woodland habitat through commercial timber harvest and prescribed fire; Dwan and Gerald Garrison, Marion County (Congressional District 3), who converted fescue and Bermuda grass pastures and planed 21 acres on their own, commercially logged 40 acres of cedar trees and restored 60 acres of glade and woodland habitat using prescribed fire; and Will Maxwell, Drew County (Congressional District 4), who through the Seven Devils Legacy and his family champions wildlife conservation on private lands, and most recently conducted timber thinnings over a significant area to achieve woodland conditions and established a pollinator mix on 8 acres of new pond levees on part of his 895 acres.

The Ben Geren Golf Course in Fort Smith and superintendent Jay Randolph were the first Corporate/NGO honoree in the program. 

“As biologists we don’t generally work on golf courses, per se,” Zawislak said, but Randolph’s efforts at Ben Geren were impossible to miss. The course property has remnant prairie areas that Randolph has started reestablishing on many of the 350 total acres.

“Photographers have flocked to this area,” Zawislak said of its draw. “There are a lot of wildflowers and butterflies and the like that have reappeared on the golf course.”

Michelle Furr, the area private lands biologist who nominated Randolph and the course, wrote in her nomination letter that “Jay Randolph is a true conservationist, going above and beyond reestablishing Massard Prairie throughout Ben Geren Golf Course and Park. Jay has spent countless hours collecting and planting local native seed and, in return, now frequently sees quail, many species of grassland birds and insects.”

Twenty acres of native warm-season grass habitat were established through the Acres for Wildlife Program, in addition to another 100 acres of tall prairie habitat through natural propagation. While public golf is the course’s main business, Ben Geren now hosts butterfly walks and local FFA and high school group visits, Zawislak noted. Randolph gave the OK for the Arkansas Audubon N.A.T.I.V.E. seed program to collect ecotype seed to reestablish in other parts of the state. Also, three universities now are conducting tall-prairie research at Ben Geren.

“There’s a lot you wouldn’t expect to find on a golf course. Bobwhite quail have been observed on the area,” said Zawislak, who added that other courses are inquiring with Randolph about doing similar projects.

The first Private Landowner honorees, in 2019, were Walker Morris, Crittenden County; Twig Satterfield, Faulkner County, David Love, Sebastian County, and James Gibbons, Franklin County.
“These awards were to recognize those who have set a wonderful example of conservation of private lands across the state,” Brad Carner, chief of the Wildlife Management Division, said.

During the commission meeting, Zawislak noted that despite COVID-19, private lands biologists were able to make 338 site visits with landowners so far in fiscal 2021, and 188 of those were first-time visits with landowners having their first experience meeting a PLB; the other 150 were follow-up visits with planters and landowners the biologists have been working with for several years as the program continues to grow.

He added that nearly 90,000 acres of privately owned land are under contract to a particular grant program for enhancing habitat for wildlife. Deer acres make up more than a quarter of that total. The acreage also included a first investment of Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Grant funds, which were used for the Arkansas WRICE program, providing up to 42 hunting locations during the current waterfowl season.

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