Conservation Forestry Program

Southern Arkansas forests support a wide array of animals.

Photo on left © Ark. Game and Fish Commission. Photo on right © Charles Mills

Ecological Significance

“The southwestern part of [Arkansas] south of the Arkansas River and west of the broad, level plain of the Mississippi is covered outside the river-bottom lands with an almost continuous forest of pine, in which the short-leaved species occupies the high, dry ridges and the loblolly the moist soil above the bottoms. … The hard-wood forests of the state are hardly surpassed in variety and richness…” – Charles S. Sargent (1884), Report on the Forests of North America

These open forests of Arkansas that Charles Sargent described in the 1880s were not only an impressive sight, but also harbored a great diversity of plants and wildlife. While the Conservancy’s conservation forestry program in Arkansas works throughout the state, much of the program’s efforts are focused in the Upper West Gulf Coastal Plain (UWGCP), primarily because most of the forest land here is privately owned. The UWGCP, which is comprised of a mosaic of barrens, prairies, savannas and a variety of forest types, is a biologically rich region that’s home to at least seven federally endangered species, including the red-cockaded woodpecker and the Louisiana black bear.

What We've Done

While the Conservancy has a 20-year history of working to conserve forest land in Arkansas, the conservation forestry program grew out of the realization that in order to achieve landscape-scale conservation results in the UWGCP, a program focusing on the area’s unique opportunities and challenges was needed. The conservation forestry program began in 2002, with the creation of the Conservancy’s 820-acre Kingsland Prairie Nature Preserve, with support of the Sturgis Foundation. In 2003 and 2004, the Conservancy worked with Potlatch Corporation and the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission to establish a total of 545 acres of conservation easements, which are now part of Warren Prairie Natural Area. The Conservancy, with its partners, now uses these sites as working forest projects in the UWGCP, demonstrating ecologically and economically viable forest management practices.

Threats

In Arkansas – and across the South – forests are becoming increasingly impacted by urban development and ecologically incompatible forestry practices, such as conversion to loblolly pine plantations, bedding and the absence of prescribed fire. Forest fragmentation into rural home sites is also a major threat. The National Report on Sustainable Forests (USDA, Forest Service 11/8/02) found that less than 2 percent of the loblolly-shortleaf pine forest type – a major component of UWGCP forests – is currently protected, making it the second least-protected forest type in the U.S.

What We're Doing

To address threats to Arkansas’ forests, the Conservancy works with forest landowners to demonstrate the connections between ecosystem health and economic return. The Conservancy works with public land managers, such as the U.S. Forest Service and state agencies, by helping develop and implement forest management and prescribed burn plans. The Conservancy works with timber companies in identifying ecologically sensitive forests on their land. The Conservancy also supports the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and Forest Stewardship Council, which are voluntary third-party certification programs that ensures these forests are managed in ecologically sustainable ways.

The Conservancy’s work with nonindustrial private landowners includes workshops outlining ecologically compatible forest management practices, and, in targeted areas of high biodiversity, the Conservancy accepts easements that allow landowners to conserve and retain ownership of their land.