Arkansas Wildlife Federation Inc

ARKANSAS WILDLIFE FEDERATION/ ARKANSAS RIVER VALLEY AND KARST HABITAT ON PRIVATE LAND

AWF-FWS WILDLIFE HABITAT IMPROVEMENT PARTNERSHIP

THE FOCUS OF THIS PROJECT IS TO RESTORE, ENHANCE AND PROTECT RIPARIAN, IN-STREAM, SPRINGS AND SPRING-RUN AQUATIC HABITATS BY STABILIZING STREAMBANKS AND REDUCING SEDIMENTATION. RIPARIAN RESTORATION WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY INSTALLING FENCES AND ASSOCIATED FEATURES TO CONTROL LIVESTOCK ACCESS TO STREAMS, CONDUCTING SIT PREPARATION, PLANTING NATIVE TREES, SHRUBS OR HERBACEOUS VEGETATION TO RESTORE RIPARIAN BUFFERS USING BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES(BMOS) WHEN CONDUCTING FOREST MANAGEMENT, PRESCRIBED FIRE AND TARGETED OUTREACH TO LANDOWNERS. NATURAL CHANNEL DESIGN WILL BE EMPLOYED ALONG STREAM REACHES WHERE STREAMBANK STABILIZATION IS NECESSARY TO ABATE CONTINUED BANK DEGRADATION.ADDITIONALLY, CAVE-DWELLING BATS, AS WELL AS CAVE OBLIGATES SUCH AS CAVEFISH AND CAVE CRAYFISH, HAVE BEEN IN STEADY DECLINE. THE PFW RO BAT STRATEGY OUTLINES MANY FACTORS THREATENING CAVE ECOSYSTEMS AND THE SPECIES THAT DEPEND ON THEM. THESE FACTORS INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO HUMAN DISTURBANCE, VANDALISM, POLLUTION, (ILLEGAL TRASH DUMPS, ETC) INADEQUATE SUMMER/FORAGE HABITAT, AND WHITE-NOSE SYNDROME. FOREST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES HAVE LED TO LIMITED ROOSTING HABITAT FOR TREE ROOSTING BATS IN SOME AREAS AS WELL. THIS PROJECT WILL HELP PRESERVE THE INTEGRITY OF THE KARST HABITAT BY MITIGATING THE ABOVE-LISTED THREATS THROUGH THE INSTALLATION OF APPROPRIATE CAVE GATES/FENCES, SPRING/SPRING RUN PROTECTION AND ENHANCEMENT, AND FOREST MANAGEMENT THAT ENHANCES OR PRESERVES SUITABLE FOREST HABITAT TYPES NECESSARY FOR FORAGING.A PORTION OF THE FUNDING FOR THIS PROJECT IS IN SUPPORT OF THE REGIONAL CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM EFFORT LED BY THE ARKANSAS-LOUISIANA CONSERVATION DELIVERY NETWORKS OPEN PINE LANDSCAPE RESTORATION PARTNERSHIP WILL ADVANCE THE RECOVERY OF SPECIES OF CONSERVATION CONCERN BY IMPLEMENTING DESIRED FOREST CONDITION MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ACROSS 30,000 ACRES OF PRIVATE LANDS IN ARKANSAS AND LOUISIANA. PFW PROGRAM FIELD STAFF WILL HELP FACILITATE THIS EFFORT THROUGH CONTINUED COLLABORATION WITH PRIVATE LANDOWNERS AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GROUND RESTORATION PROJECTS. USDA-APPROVED CONSERVATION PRACTICES INCLUDE: 338-PRESCRIBED BURNING, 394 -FIREBREAK, 643-RESTORATION OF RARE OR DECLINING NATURAL COMMUNITIES-WOODLAND, GLADE, BARREN, SAVANNA OR PRAIRIE RESTORATION, 645-UPLAND WILDLIFE HABITAT MANAGEMENT( HABITAT MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT, MEDIUM INTENSITY AND COMPLEXITY) AND 666 FOREST STAND IMPROVEMENT.

THIS PROJECT IS FOR HABITAT RESTORATION IN ARKANSAS TO SUPPORT THE ARKANSAS PARTNERS FOR FISH AND WILDLIFE STRATEGIC PLAN. PROJECTS WILL BE IN PRIORITY HABITATS TO INCLUDE BUT NOT LIMITED TO REMNANT PRAIRIE, OPEN PINE OAK WOODLANDS, IN-STREAM AQUATIC, RIPARIAN, AND KARST. PROJECTS WILL BE ON PRIVATE LANDS AND EXECUTED THROUGH THE PFW LANDOWNER AGREEMENT.

TALLGRASS PRAIRIE WAS ONCE COMMON IN THE MIDWEST AND SOUTHEAST BUT IS NOW ONE OF THE NATIONS AND ARKANSAS RAREST COMMUNITY TYPES AS A RESULT OF CENTURIES OF CONVERSION TO AGRICULTURAL USE AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT. ALONG WITH PRAIRIES THAT HISTORICALLY EXPERIENCED FREQUENT FIRE RETURN INTERVALS, ARKANSAS WOODLANDS (PINE-DOMINATED AND HARDWOOD-DOMINATED) WERE CHARACTERIZED BY A RELATIVELY OPEN OVERSTORY WITH A DIVERSE HERBACEOUS UNDERSTORY THAT SUPPORTED HUNDREDS OF SPECIES OF FLORA AND FAUNA. GLADES, CHARACTERIZED BY POOR SOILS AND BEDROCK CLOSE TO THE SURFACE, WERE ALSO A UNIQUE AND IMPORTANT HABITAT TYPE SCATTERED AMIDST ARKANSAS PRAIRIES AND WOODLANDS. CURRENTLY, PRAIRIES, WOODLANDS, AND GLADES ARE FACING SIMILAR THREATS WHICH INCLUDE FIRE SUPPRESSION, INVASIVE SPECIES, WOODY ENCROACHMENT, AND THE MESOPHICATION OF WOODLANDS TRANSITIONING TO CLOSED-CANOPY SYSTEMS WITH MORE FIRE-INTOLERANT SPECIES. THESE CHANGES HAVE LED TO THE DECLINE AND PROPOSED LISTING OF MANY GRASSLAND-DEPENDENT SPECIES, INCLUDING POLLINATORS. IN ARKANSAS, 41 OF STATE IMPERILED SPECIES REQUIRE FIRE-DEPENDENT PLANT COMMUNITIES. THIS PROJECT WILL AIM TO RE-INTRODUCE FIRE, CONVERT PASTURE TO NATIVE PRAIRIE, OPEN THE CANOPY IN WOODLANDS TO PROMOTE A NATIVE HERBACEOUS UNDERSTORY, AND REDUCE WOODY ENCROACHMENT AND INVASIVE SPECIES IN PRAIRIES AND GLADES.

ARKANSAS WILDLIFE FEDERATION - PRIVATE LANDS HABITAT RESTORATION