Green Trees & Greenheads
Shawn Swearingen for SPLIT REED
How did we get here?
Arkansas was blessed with being thought uninhabitable during the western expansion of the United States. Through time and determination rivers were levied and swamps drained with only the most unsuitable places for living and farming left for the wild. Those parcels were the hardwood bottoms that became recognized as extremely suitable for duck hunting.
The aerial shot is of a large, recent deadening in the former South GTR at Henry Gray Hurricane Lake WMA. This massive forest loss played a major role in recent management changes in the area, including cessation of management of the area as a GTR, replacement of undersized infrastructure with a series of reestablished connections between the South GTR and the Little Red River, and ongoing forest management and planned restoration
When it was discovered that ducks, especially mallards, used the timber stands when flooded due to run-off from storms or rivers overflowing, dikes, levees, and gates were installed to retain the water through the winter seasons. Owners and managers of the privately held land, and those officials operating public lands, would see these timber stands flooded in time for each duck season. These became perpetual areas of habitat each winter for the migrating ducks to feed on the acorns and other food sources occurring naturally in the ecosystem.
Over time the infrastructure had begun to age and the effects of standing water held too early or for too long on trees had started to be noticed. Add in an increase in springtime rains over the past decade, and the wear and tear on the timber and infrastructure exacerbated. These vast tracts of timber had been managed like clockwork, and water gates opened and closed on dates because they always had been that way by the state. Flooded with an all or nothing mentality, because it was just the way it was always done and was about all the infrastructure would allow. Now, management is changing because it needs to, for the sake of habitat sustainability and with it the culture of Arkansas waterfowling.
An example of one of the old, vastly undersized water control structures connecting the South GTR and the Little Red River
What is happening now?
“During the first week of May, we still had Blue Wing Teal on the farm,” Max Sharp, founder, and manager of Strait Lake relayed over the phone. At the same time, over 300,000 acres and oak trees that have fully leafed out in the White River Watershed are over flood stage and ripping through some of the Green Tree Reservoirs (GTR). This in itself is the conundrum that is being faced by the landowners and the state of Arkansas. As Max, managers, and other biologists note, when the sap starts up in the oaks the water has to be off the root systems. When the sap is gone in the fall, you can start to put water on them. With an aging infrastructure though, how does the state protect the timber stands while making sure there is appropriate habitat available for the waterfowl?
While private landowners are managing comparatively smaller tracts than the GTR, the state of Arkansas manages more acres of this type of habitat than anywhere else in the country. Luke Naylor, biologist for Arkansas Game & Fish states that “Everything [infrastructure] is undersized, old, and likely in the wrong locations. All of the GTRs have the same issues. The infrastructure was built more in the mind to hold water back, rather than to move the water as needed.” With the later spring rains, water control measures implemented upstream by the Army Corps of Engineers, and other land-use changes over time within the watershed, it is more difficult to keep water off of the timber when the trees are green in spring. “The infrastructure really needs to be able to move a lot more water.”
Public and private alike, most have suffered from the same issues and are responding to the drainages and overbank flooding. Arkansas Game and Fish have staff whose major responsibility is communicating and coordinating with the Army Corps. While the state can be nimble in its planning and responsiveness to conditions, the Army Corps’ plans require more approvals and input. However, the coordination efforts are starting to result in re-evaluations of water plans that have been decades coming, especially in the White River Watershed.
Arkansas Game and Fish are being proactive. There are steps to be taken and at the same time, there will be some growing pains. These answers aren't simple clear-cut solutions. The state is having to deal with water coming into and flowing out of the region while trying to perform hydraulic studies and understand water movement at all of GTRs. Part of this comes from working with the United States Geographical Survey (USGS) in understanding how, when, and where flooding occurs. Luke states that “The goal of management is twofold: what can we do now, and what can we plan for. Everything is about what we can do to give the forest the highest chance of sustainability and we have not backed away from the responsibility of this land. A sustainable forest benefits long term waterfowling”
Arkansas is adapting to the changes in several ways with how they can utilize these hydraulic studies in planning for infrastructure updates as well as how and when water is moved. In the meantime, they have started putting water on a little bit later but still in time to make sure there is water in the GTRs for the duck season. The different types of water, such as standing vs. moving, is also a consideration with timing and amount. This isn’t just for the health of the current standing trees and hunting, but for the future of hunting and the growth of new trees.
What is the future going to look like?
Luke states, “We manage GTRs for wildlife and the hunting benefits from it. Starting with last season and moving forward, the public will hear from Game & Fish in late summer of what the management plans will be for specific GTRs for that season.” While the ecosystem might be the same, each GTR is different from the other and is being updated and managed accordingly. A reflection of what private land managers like Max Sharp and many others have been able to do. Boots on the ground, watching and learning from the individual areas and responding accordingly.
“The future plan is to be able to allow and manage increments down to the inch of water in GTRs, as well the ability to flood where and when as needed within it,” Luke details. Arkansas Fish and Game will be able to respond to the different elevations within the area, and the needs of these areas. This includes forest management treatments, forest community conditions, and hydraulic conditions. Certain trees and the ages of trees respond to water in different ways.
With so many of the older oaks in peril, regeneration of the forest is critical to the sustainability of the ecosystem. Luke relays that the state is having regeneration discussions with biologists and research centers. Younger trees do not seem to go completely dormant in the winter, not completely drawing down their sap in the winter months, in order to take advantage of the clearer canopy above them. Private landowners are doing the same in planting young oaks for future generations of hunters and waterfowl. As land managers have learned, sometimes that means planting a little bit taller and older so that the abundant deer population does not eat the crowns out of the trees.
While work is being done within the GTRs, other habitats are helping to take the pressure off of them. Moist-soil management has been recognized by private and public managers as a way to have additional habitats available for waterfowl. This includes flooding when the GTR is too green in the fall to flood, as well as when the water starts to be drawn down as leaves begin to show. Overall, the addition of moist-soil management contributes to the biodiversity available for waterfowl. Max relates, “It's our job to send birds back north healthy and well-nourished just as it is up to Canada and the prairies to send birds to us in the fall, healthy and well-nourished.”
An example of one of the new, properly sized unmanaged connections between the South GTR and the Little Red River. These improvements are designed to restore drainage corridors to as close to natural channel width and depth as possible, thereby reestablishing desirable flow through water-stressed bottomland hardwood forests.
All of these improvements to the GTR and moist-soil management cost money. The funds from the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act and state resources cover the maintenance and management. The improvements to the GTR infrastructure certainly require more funding. Work from Ducks Unlimited (DU) on grants such as the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grants go a long way but only go so far. DU is also helping with some of the engineering and design work needed.
“We are trying to be good stewards of the land and try to make it the best it can be. I want my grandchildren to be able to enjoy it,” states Max. This is a shared sentiment across the board from everyone involved in the management of the towering oak stands in Arkansas.
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