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The Great Hatchie Canoe Expedition -
Day 5: The Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge
Author: Monica Clutch
Date: March 1, 2008
Location: southeast of Brownsville, TN
Photo © Monica Clutch/TNC
Previous entries in the blog
As I write this blog entry, a miserable mix of sleet and snow is being swept by chilling wintry wind across the windows of my apartment. My space heater is blowing constantly despite the thermostat being set on 60 degrees. Schools will likely be closed tomorrow due to hazardous road conditions. It is difficult to believe that less than 24 hours ago I was paddling along in the sunshine with temperatures in the low 60s. It just testifies to the fact that late winter and early spring in West Tennessee are nothing if not unpredictable. Three weeks ago this part of the state was hammered by tornadoes after a nice day in which temperatures reached the mid-70s. Last spring, we had an unprecedented mid-April freeze that wreaked havoc on agricultural crops and spring blooms and buds. This was followed by one of the most severe droughts in Tennessee history. The drought is now in its second year and predicted to extend through the upcoming summer and fall, which has dashed the hopes of many a farmer. Speaking of unpredictable weather, the last time I was out at the very location from which our trip would begin, the sun was shining and the weather was quite nice when I left the house, but by the time I got down to the Hatchie the wind was nearing gale-force. Returning home that afternoon, I found a significant number of my roof shingles scattered randomly about the apartment complex.
Mike Martin steering us down the Hatchie.
Photo © Monica Clutch/TNC
Uncertainty aside, yesterday was a great day for canoeing. I was a bit worried when I awoke and found the sky to be a threatening color of gray with heavy clouds as far as the eye could see. I was even more distressed by the temperatures, which barely hovered above freezing. Still, the forecast was for sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s, so Mike Martin and I, intrepid adventurers that we are, convened at the Highway 76 Bridge, which is at the Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge. Virtually our entire journey on this day would be graced (on one side, our left) by the Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge. Established in 1964 by the federal government, the refuge consists of 11,556 acres, which are located on the south side of 23.5 miles of the Hatchie River in Haywood County, Tennessee.
Along a Bottomland Forest
Some 90 percent of the Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge is within the floodplain of the Hatchie River. Of its 10,000 wetland acres, 9,400 acres are bottomland hardwood forest. An additional 400 acres of woodland is upland forest. There are 270 acres of open water, much of which consists of oxbow lakes, formed when a meander of the river is cut off from the river’s flow. The refuge also has 1,000 acres of cropland, which are managed for wildlife, especially for migratory waterfowl, of which we would see a great deal throughout the course of the day.
We put the canoe in a couple of miles downstream of Hatchie Station and began paddling. The sun soon began to peer through the thinning clouds, and it began to feel like spring. Wood ducks were abundant for the entirety of our journey. We came upon them in pairs, male and female, along with some mallard pairs. We counted over 120 individual ducks, or more than 60 pairs.
A male wood duck was disturbed as we passed by.
Photo © Monica Clutch/TNC
The contrast between the refuge side of the river and the private ownership side of the river was stark. The wildlife refuge possesses some majestic stands of tall hardwood trees. The opposite side of the river had been recently cut for timber and also showed evidence of disturbance from both beavers and excess sediment on the floodplain: both beavers and sediment can cause trees to die prematurely as the roots are exposed to a longer than normal duration of flooding. As for the recent timber cut, the long drought of the past two summers likely allowed timber to be harvested in areas typically too wet for equipment.
The Importance of This Refuge
As I observed the disturbed and undisturbed habitats, my thoughts turned to the importance of protecting places like the Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge. Timber is without question an important part of the West Tennessee economy, and timber harvest can be accomplished in a sustainable manner, allowing for long-term existence of the forest ecosystem. Much of the wildlife habitat that remains in West Tennessee, or anywhere in the southeastern United States, is present because forestry operations provide the market incentive necessary to keep the land out of development and in trees. Done wisely and using best management practices, forestry can be a valuable conservation tool. Indeed, we observed several large expanses of privately owned timber of significant size that provided excellent wildlife habitat. Still, places like Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge allow for permanently undisturbed areas of forest to exist. They allow trees to reach enormous stature, creating the type of habitat needed by many migratory bird species as well as the numerous creatures that require un-vegetated forest floor ecosystems. The Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge is truly a valuable legacy for future generations for as long as it survives….
This train of thought will be continued in my next blog, which completed our paddling along the Hatchie NWR.
On to Day 6...
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