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

The dams, built to control flooding and produce electricity, altered the temperature of the White River by releasing colder water. Ever since, as mitigation for the smallmouth bass and other warm-water fisheries destroyed directly below the dams, federal authorities have stocked the river with nonnative species of trout, producing a successful trout fishery in the process. But populations of several fish native to the area have since seriously declined.

"The river changed," recalls Frank Rich, who for years operated a commercial fishing operation in Clarendon, Arkansas. "It got colder, and it was full of silt. It used to be full of minnows, but they are all gone." Rich saw his annual fish harvest drop from 6.5 million pounds in the 1940s to 180,000 pounds in 1960, the year he retired.

Today, as the gateway to the two refuges, Clarendon is the center of a multimillion-dollar sporting business. Nearly 100 duck-hunting guide services are headquartered there, and bird-watching and other ecotourism businesses are also developing. But elsewhere in the state, Arkansas' status as the nation's leading rice-producer is threatened by declining groundwater supplies, which are being drawn down by farms and other users faster than the aquifers can replenish themselves. As a result, in addition to the Corps' proposed navigation plan, five irrigation projects that would divert water from the White River or its tributaries for agriculture are now on the drawing boards.

"I'm worried about the cumulative effects of all these projects," says Larry Mallard. "I don't think the natural system has the ability to recover from too many unnatural changes. We're talking about irreplaceable resources. These refuges are American treasures and they belong to all Americans."

NWF Takes Action - Protecting Bottomland Hardwood Forests

The lower Mississippi River Basin supports some of the nation's richest and most unique wildlife habitat. As part of its ongoing efforts to protect such areas, NWF is currently attempting to stop or improve the design of several water-development projects in Arkansas and Mississippi.

With its affiliate, the Arkansas Wildlife Federation, and other groups, NWF is actively opposing proposed navigation and irrigation projects that would destroy bottomland hardwoods and clog fish and mussel habitat with sediment in the White River and other Arkansas waterways. In Mississippi, NWF has taken the Army Corps of Engineers to court to try to stop other proposed projects. For more facts and information on how you can get involved, see the Web site: www.nwf.org/gulfwetlands.> Writer Steve Wright grew up along the banks of Arkansas' White River.

COPYRIGHT 2000 National Wildlife Federation

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