Where River Flows Through Forest - In Arkansas, some of the nation's most important bottomland hardwood forests are teeming with both wildlife and controversy

National Wildlife, June-July, 2000 by Steve Wright

After a tour of Arkansas' White River and Cache River National Wildlife Refuges last summer, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt clearly was captivated by what he saw. "This is the first time I've been on the White River and I've got to tell you, I've never seen anything like this anywhere in the United States of America," observed Babbitt. "The only place that's even remotely comparable is the pristine headwaters of the Amazon, because of the same amazing phenomenon of rivers flowing through the forest. This is better because of the extraordinary migratory bird flight. People talk about the Everglades; there ought to be the same image of these bottomlands in the national conscience."

If Babbitt has his way, more Americans will soon share his newfound enthusiasm for one of the nation's unique-and least well-known-natural ecosystems: the bottomland hardwood forests of the 160,000-acre White River refuge and the adjacent 45,000-acre Cache River refuge. The two reserves lie in the western portion of the wild, watery region that once dominated the alluvial plain of the Mississippi River. The original bottomland forests encompassed 24 million acres through seven states-the so-called Big Woods that author William Faulkner rhapsodized about in his novels three quarters of a century ago. Today, only about 20 percent of those forests remain.

After decades of timber clearing, draining and agricultural development throughout the region, the two Arkansas refuges and nearby wildlife- management areas-together with Louisiana's Atchafalaya Basin-represent the last major examples of the continent's immense floodplain forests. This distinctive system is home to some of North America's most diverse plants and animals, including bald eagles and other threatened and endangered species, the region's only remaining native population of black bears, and the nation's largest concentrations of wintering mallards. It is also the focus of a contentious conservation controversy.

Currently, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is reevaluating a plan to dredge and dike 258 miles of the White River into a 200-foot-wide, 9- foot-deep navigation channel to allow commercial barge traffic to move year-round through the area. Ninety of those miles go through the heart of the White River and Cache River refuges. The estimated cost to U.S. taxpayers: at least $40 million.

The dredging project, which was originally proposed by the Corps a number of years ago, was deauthorized by Congress in 1988 in the face of stiff opposition to the plan. It was revived in 1996 after barging industry representatives lobbied for it on Capitol Hill. "Nothing has changed since Congress scrapped this project the first time, except that the cost to taxpayers has now doubled and the potential threat to the river and refuges may be even greater," says Susan Rieff, NWF vice president for the Southwest region. Converting a largely free-flowing river like the White into an artificially maintained ditch, she maintains, could have serious consequences.

Refuge managers are concerned that a deeper, wider navigation channel could permanently change the unique hydrology of the river, characterized by its significant seasonal flooding. They are also worried that the massive amounts of dredged silt created by the project could destroy wetland habitat for waterfowl and other animals. The refuges support the most fertile natural warm-water fisheries in the region, and dredging and siltation could seriously alter those resources. "This expensive project might benefit private shipping companies," says Rieff, "but it would threaten the river's unique wildlife-and do so at taxpayer expense."

Proponents of the navigation project maintain its environmental impact will be minimal because the section of river bottom that will be disturbed represents just a small percentage of the total river bottom. But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has jurisdiction over the refuges, disagrees. Last year, in a letter to the Corps, the agency wrote: "It is very improbable that activities associated with this project ... could ever be considered compatible with the established purposes of these refuges." The agency's basis for such remarks: the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, which requires that the biological integrity of the refuge system be maintained.

The White River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1935, primarily because of its value to migratory waterfowl. In those days, the area's thick swamplands, filled with mosquitoes, snakes and saunalike summertime humidity, were impenetrable to all but the most adventurous hunters and fishermen.

Today, much of the refuge remains mysterious and remarkably wild. Its boundaries encompass 95 miles of the lower White River near the waterway's confluence with the Mississippi River. The smaller Cache River National Wildlife Refuge was created on nearby lands in 1986 to protect additional bottomland hardwoods. Every year, both reserves become partially flooded during winter and spring. During those years when river flows are high, as much as 90 percent of the White River refuge is covered by water. This is truly a river flowing through the forest. As the water recedes into the river channels, more than 350 lakes are left in its wake.