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HECTOR – For two centuries, the forests of Arkansas have ridden a pendulum. The woods that furnished food and building material for early residents were later logged heavily then overly protected against fire.
Today, the latest swing is involving the Oak Ecosystem Restoration Team, a partnership of several organizations and state and federal agencies working to improve the upland oak ecosystem of the state.
Team members are the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Arkansas Forestry Commission, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, Arkansas Wildlife Federation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Forest Service and its Southern Research Station.
There is a major and essential tool for all the team members, and that is fire.
Controlled burning in forests is an established practice that, in part, mimics the woodland work of Native Americans, early Arkansas settlers and nature.
Burning, whether set by man or by lightning, gets rid of excessive undergrowth and forest floor litter, forest managers say. It helps open forests so vital sunlight can reach the ground and stimulate grasses, plants and various other vegetation that is used by wildlife of all sorts.
“Most of our historical wildlife species, including game species like deer, quail and turkey, thrive in open woodland conditions,” said Martin Blaney, habitat coordinator with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
“When forests become too dense, sunlight cannot reach the forest floor to nourish the native plants and grasses that animals need for food and cover. Over thousands of years, our wildlife adapted to coexisting with human disturbances, mostly fire and ax, that kept our forests and woodlands more open. Unfortunately, these activities were curtailed during the last century, and, as a result, our forests look quite different nowadays.”
According to historical data, Blaney said, there were 38 to 76 trees per acre in the Ozarks’ Boston Mountains. “Today there are over 150 trees per acre on average,” he says. “That’s pretty dense for these thin soils and limited moisture in the hills. No wonder we experienced a huge oak die-off in the late 1990s.”
This decline in oaks was escalated by the widespread effects of a small insect, the red oak borer.
Fire is just one tool of the Oak Restoration Team. Other objectives are centered on research and on providing information and education for the public about forests in general.
With demonstration projects, the team members are seeking to show first-hand the results and impact of forest management and the need to open up brush-choked forests.
Blaney said Arkansas’s historic wooded acres fall into three categories. One was forests of closed canopies with little undergrowth. Another was woodlands, more open forests with grasses and other plants underneath. Another was savannas, which are basically a prairie with a few trees. “As far as wildlife habitat is concerned, it is the woodlands and savannas that are missing from the landscape nowadays and our attempts with thinning and fire is to once again restore some of this around the state,” he said. |
