The Nature Conservancy in Arkansas - Conservation Forestry Program

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Related Information

Still photography camera View a photo gallery of images pertaining to the Conservation Forestry program.

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Video: What's the difference between shortleaf and loblolly pine trees, and why are the latter usually preferred at pine plantations?

Articles & Places

Read a feature story about Kingsland Prairie Preserve

Ouachita River Nature Preserve

Kingsland Prairie Preserve

Moro Big Pine Natural & Wildlife Mgt. Area

Warren Prairie Natural Area

Nacatoch Ravines Natural Area

Falcon Bottoms Natural Area

Poison Springs State Forest Sand Barren & Oak-Pine Forest Preserve

Kingsland Prairie Nature Preserve Photo © TNC

In Arkansas 81 percent of forestland is privately owned, and most of it – 57 percent – is owned not by companies, but by individuals and families. Much of this land is located in south Arkansas, where relatively little public land exists. It’s for this reason the Conservancy focuses its conservation forestry efforts primarily in this region, known as the Upper West Gulf Coastal Plain.

Adopt-An-Acre and Help Protect Shortleaf Pine Forests in Arkansas.

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 Charles Sargent described in the 1880s were not only an impressive sight; they also harbored a great diversity of plants and wildlife. The Upper West Gulf Coastal Plain that covers much of south Arkansas is a mosaic of barrens, prairies, savannas and a variety of forest types. The biologically rich region is home to at least seven federally listed endangered species, including the red-cockaded woodpecker.

Threats

In Arkansas – and across the South – forests are increasingly degraded by urban and suburban development and ecologically incompatible forestry practices, such as conversion to loblolly pine plantations and the absence of prescribed fire, which create conditions less suitable for wildlife. The National Report on Sustainable Forests (USDA, Forest Service) found that less than two percent of the loblolly-shortleaf pine forest type – a major component of south Arkansas’ forests – is protected, making it the second least-protected forest type in the United States.

What We've Done

The Conservancy works with forest landowners to demonstrate conservation forestry – the merging of good economic returns and a healthy ecosystem that provides habitat for native plants and animals as well as clean air and water and other services for humans. The Conservancy purchased its first conservation forestry site, the 820-acre Kingsland Prairie Preserve, in 2002. Just six years later, proceeds from sustainable timber harvests had offset 84 percent of the land’s purchase price. Small, selective thinnings every five years or so will provide income for essential stewardship activities such as prescribed burning and species monitoring as well as capital for the conservation of additional properties.

The Conservancy worked with Potlatch Corporation and the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission in 2003 and 2004 in purchasing voluntary landowner agreements that expanded Warren Prairie Natural Area to more than 2,100 acres. In 2006 the Conservancy teamed with several agency partners to purchase a 16,000-acre conservation easement on Potlatch property that harbors red-cockaded woodpeckers. Selective timber harvesting continues to provide local jobs and forest products, and the site is now open for hunting and other recreation as the Moro Big Pine Wildlife Management and Natural Area.

Conservation forestry also benefited from an historic land sale in 2006, when the Conservancy purchased 173,000 acres from International Paper Company in nine southern states. Among the parcels were 8,123 acres at priority areas in south Arkansas. The Conservancy transferred most of the acres for permanent conservation in state-owned reserves but still manages more than 1,600 acres.

Ongoing Conservation Actions

The Conservancy works with public land managers, such as the U.S. Forest Service and state agencies, in the development and implementation of ecologically appropriate forest management plans. Partnerships with timber companies include identifying ecologically sensitive forests and species on their land. The Conservancy’s work with non-industrial private landowners includes workshops on conservation forestry practices and incentive programs for fire restoration. In targeted areas of high biodiversity, the Conservancy accepts easements that allow landowners to conserve their land while retaining ownership, generating economic returns and improving habitat for wildlife like turkey and quail.

Today the Conservancy owns more than 3,000 acres as part of its conservation forestry program and with its partners co-manages another 20,000 acres.