It will be replaced with a much larger structure that will let more water flow through the area.”īooth 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. “In 2022, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission plans to replace the water control structure that we are leaving open this year. The completed design should help water move through the WMA and out into the Little Red River on the other side of the road. 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 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. This is being done in conjunction with major infrastructure work being performed on the area.Ī water-control structure and dirt plugs along the road to Mallard Pond are being removed. 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. But that was only the first step in the long process of restoring Henry Gray Hurricane Lake WMA. 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. 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 trees, which had been showing signs of stress, succumbed to excessive flooding during the growing season in multiple years.
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. 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. Bayou Meto WMA and Earl Buss Bayou DeView WMA all will see changes in water management beginning with the 2021-22 waterfowl wintering period. 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.