LITTLE ROCK – Duck hunters visiting Arkansas’s famous waterfowl-focused public greentree reservoirs may see some changes on three of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s wildlife management areas this year.
George H. Dunklin Jr. Bayou Meto WMA, Henry Gray Hurricane Lake WMA and Earl Buss Bayou DeView WMA all will see changes in water management beginning with the 2021-22 waterfowl wintering period. All of these changes are part of the Commission’s efforts to prevent further stress to valuable red oak species on traditionally flooded bottomland hardwood forests.
“We really started talking about these issues and the need for change in water management in 2017, and a lot of work has gone on behind the scenes to study and build the groundwork for major renovations to infrastructure,” said Brad Carner, chief of wildlife management for the AGFC. “Hunters will begin to see some changes in how flooding occurs on these areas as we now move forward with some of the actions developed through that background work.”
The first change will come at Henry Gray Hurricane Lake WMA near Bald Knob. Trees in the area’s former South GTR saw a massive die-off in 2018, which led to the AGFC leaving the water-control gates open and drafting plans to help water flow through the area. Those plans are being implemented now. Trees in the area’s North GTR also had substantial stress when the die-off occurred, and continued flooding during the growing season have added to that damage.
“Beginning this year, we will leave the Glaise Creek water control structure open to allow water to flow through the North GTR instead of artificially holding it back,” Carner said. “The area can still flood with substantial rainfall or rises in the White River, but we can’t continue to artificially hold water on the area and
