AGFC updates Northeast Arkansas hunters about Dave Donaldson WMA renovation • Arkansas Game & Fish ... - Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
In the last decade, many forest health assessments in WMAs managed for waterfowl have shown alarming declines in the health of red oak species that provide food for wintering mallards. A massive die-off at Henry Gray Hurricane Lake WMA in 2018 that wiped out every tree in 200 acres, and expanded to well over 800 acres since that time, emphasized the need for change and the grave consequences of maintaining the current path.
The need for change is evident, but the solution is not as cut-and-dried.
"This is a balancing act between improving the health of the habitat and maintaining public hunting opportunities," Booth said. "If all we cared about was the trees, we would remove all the levees and water-control structures and let it just flood naturally when Mother Nature decides. If we only cared about short-term public hunting opportunities, we'd leave things the way they are knowing that the forests that are attracting the ducks to the area would continue to decline and eventually die. Conservation is finding that right mix of meeting the desires of our hunters and other users of the resource with the needs of the habitat that brings the waterfowl to these treasured areas."
In his presentation of the planned updates to Dave Donaldson Black River WMA, Booth highlighted the increased opportunity for public involvement through two initiatives.
"One, we're going to bring back public cleanup days before hunting season on Dave Donaldson," Booth said. "These were very popular with the hunters and beneficial to the hunting experience but a few incidents forced us to shut them down. We want to bring those back.
"Two, we are forming an advisory council to keep an open line of communication between the agency and the public throughout the renovation process. We hope to have both of these in place very soon and will be looking for people to join in this effort."
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