Conservation in Arkansas
Arkansas is part of the Mississippi Flyway and provides important winter habitat for waterfowl that are produced in the prairies and Great Lakes states. In most years, Arkansas winters more mallards than any other place in North America. Eastern Arkansas comprises an important portion of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, known regionally as the Delta. Historically, flooded forests of the Delta provided reliable high quality habitat for millions of mallards, wood ducks, and other waterfowl. DU has worked to conserve over 300,000 acres of waterfowl habitat throughout Arkansas. Our goal is to perpetually secure habitat and the future of Arkansas as a key wintering area in North America. Your support of DU will help us achieve that goal.
Arkansas Habitat Projects
Mississippi Alluvial Valley
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Leading Energy Company Focuses on Wetland Conservation
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Sept. 25, 2006 – Waterfowl that winter in Arkansas will benefit from the wetland conservation efforts made possible by a $50,000 donation from XTO Energy to Ducks Unlimited. With this gift, wetlands restoration on public lands, similar to that completed at Frog Bayou Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Crawford County, will be possible throughout Arkansas.
“Last year, a contribution from XTO helped us protect and restore Frog Bayou WMA,” said DU Director of Development Jack McCarty. “That project is a prime example of wetlands restoration success made possible through conservation partnerships.”
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Arkansas Conservation Report 2006
Ducks Unlimited’s wetland conservation program continues to grow and gain popularity. Our habitat conservation priorities continue to be the protection, restoration and enhancement of forested wetlands, moist soil vegetation and flooded agricultural crops, with an emphasis on rice. Collectively, DU conservation programs have benefited in the protection, restoration and enhancement of over 288,000 acres of various wetland habitats on both public and private lands across Arkansas since conservation activities began with the MARSH program in 1985.
The following is a summary of activities and accomplishments of the Arkansas DU Conservation Program for the period July 2005 through June 2006. I hope this information is of interest and use to you. Please feel free to share this with others that share our passion for waterfowl and DU! Without our dedicated DU VOLUNTEERS, none of this work would have been possible! Thank you for all YOU do each day for the ducks!
Craig Hilburn
Director of Conservation Programs
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Ducks Unlimited to Plant Record Number of Trees in Arkansas
 MEMPHIS, Tenn., June 29, 2005 – Thanks to the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP), Ducks Unlimited (DU) is gearing up to plant more than four million trees on 13,000 to 14,000 acres in Arkansas within the next year. The effort marks the largest bottomland hardwood restoration project ever undertaken by DU in Arkansas.
“On average, DU plants about 6,000 acres of trees per year in Arkansas, but this year, thanks to increased funding and a more public appreciation of conservation work in these areas, DU is able to do more now than ever before for the flood-prone lowlands of the natural state,” explained Craig Hilburn, director of conservation programs for DU in Arkansas.
Funding for the program comes from WRP, a voluntary program administered by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). WRP provides financial and technical assistance to landowners wanting to restore and conserve wetlands on their property. Each year, DU works with the NRCS to implement WRP by providing trees, site preparation, planting and supervision. DU also constructs shallow wetlands on WRP lands to attract waterfowl and other wetland dependent wildlife...
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