NORTHWEST TERRITORY : Acorn-eating animals get bigger portions this year
Posted on Thursday, September 25, 2008
Concerns about there being enough
acorns to sustain deer, bears and
other mast-dependent wildlife have been alleviated by a generous crop of white oak and post oak acorns in the forests of Northwest Arkansas. The concerns go back to the severe freeze of April 2007, when temperatures dropped into the teens throughout the region. The freeze couldn’t have come at a worse time for various hardwood species of the white oak family that “set” what is to be their fall crop of acorns each spring. As a result, nearly the entire crop of last fall’s white oak acorns was lost, leaving wildlife to get by with acorns from trees of the red oak family, which fortunately were abundant. Since red oaks set their acorns on a two-year cycle, last fall’s crop was set in spring of 2006, but this year’s batch were hit by the 2007 freeze. Biologists, hunters and other wildlife watchers have been looking to this fall as crunch time for acorn-eating animals. We needed the white oaks to produce, and apparently they have responded well to a relatively mild spring and unusually wet weather through the spring and summer.
“The white oak and post oak crops in some areas are actually looking real good,” said Ray Wiggs, the Eureka Springs-based regional wildlife supervisor with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
Wiggs was speaking about the abundance of white oak acorns in various areas of his bailiwick known as the new Region 10 comprising Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington counties.
“A lot of the acorns have been dropping to the ground for about a week, especially after the high winds associated with Hurricane Ike, and the deer are already all over them,” Wiggs said last week.
While red oak acorns are few regionwide, the hickory and walnut trees have had good production of nuts that are mostly eaten by squirrels.
Besides the white oak acorns, many species of wildlife also are benefiting from a good crop of “soft mast” consisting of persimmons, pawpaws and other fruiting plants.
“I’ve seen an incredible amount of soft mast in some places,” Wiggs noted.
The abundance of mast in the northern part of the region also applies to the central and southern areas in the Ozark National Forest, according to Jack Davis, a forester with the National Forest Service in Russellville.
“We pretty much have a bumper crop of white oak acorns down here,” Davis reported Friday,
He said he had also seen a few acorn- bearing red oaks in scattered areas that were more protected from the freezing temperatures.
During visits to Lake Fort Smith State Park last Thursday and a part of the Madison County Wildlife Management Area on Friday, acorn-bearing white oaks and post oaks were easy to find. Most had anywhere from a few acorns to being absolutely loaded to the point of their limbs being weighed down.
Wiggs’ remaining concern is for the longevity of the crop, since white oak acorns tend to deteriorate quickly and become unpalatable not long after dropping to the ground, especially in wet conditions.
A period of dry fall weather would help extend the availability of the crop. KINGS RIVER ACCESS DAMAGED
Paddlers planning fall floats in the Kings River should note that the popular Rockhouse Creek access has sustained heavy damage recently.
The torrential rains associated with hurricanes Gustav and Ike produced flash flooding that resulted in serious erosion to the bank of the creek near its confluence with the Kings River. Seeing the access Friday was nothing less than a shock.
When the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission improved the access several years ago, the key feature was the construction of a combination stairway and canoe slide beside the creek at the edge of the parking lot.
Built of welded, heavy-gauge steel and anchored in thick concrete, the stairway / slide assisted with put-ins and take-outs.
Not anymore. The entire thing has been uprooted, turned upside down and pushed about 15 yards downstream in the creek bed. Where it formerly stood is a sheer eroded bank dropping about 8 feet straight down.
During low-water times, paddlers were able to drive down a side lane leading across the creek bed and onto a wide, flat gravel bar beside the river to launch canoes or to picnic and camp.
The little lane now ends at a sheer drop-off of 3-4 feet at the edge of the creek. The gravel on the wide, flat gravel bar has been heaped high on the opposite side of the creek.
Until repairs are made, using the access will be difficult as a put-in and more difficult as a take-out.
Even before the passage of Hurricane Ike, the National Forest Service and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission had warned folks to expect difficulties in reaching remote areas because of downed trees and flooding damage.
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