|
 LITTLE
ROCK - Timber damaged by flooding spurred the Arkansas Game and Fish
Commission to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in
the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The lawsuit was filed on March 18 in
Washington D.C.
The suit states that the Corps' water management has caused at least $8
million in damage to bottomland timber on the Dave Donaldson Black River
Wildlife Management Area.
The dispute stems from the Corps' management of water releases from
Clearwater Lake on the Black River in Missouri, upstream from the WMA.
According to the complaint, during 1993-2001, the Corps deviated from
its approved water management plan and released more water during the
summer growing season than the plan allowed. As a result, low-lying
areas of Black River WMA were flooded for extended periods during the
growing season.
The bottomland hardwood trees on the WMA sustained widespread damage
because they could not tolerate increased flooding. As much as 80
percent of some oak species died on parts of the WMA, according to
forestry studies conducted for the AGFC.
In 2000, the Corps performed an environmental assessment of the water
control plan it had been using since 1993, and determined that it could
not continue the practice because of the potential for significant
impact on natural resources. The Corps returned to the water management
plan used before 1993. According to the suit, many acres of timber were
irreversibly damaged.
The AGFC and the Corps have been cooperating in studies involving Clear
Water Lake management, downstream flooding and the impact on Black River
WMA timber. But the two agencies have been unable to agree on how to
deal with the existing damage and how to restore the area.
"We are committed to working with the Corps toward a fair resolution of
these issues," said AGFC Director Scott Henderson. "But the Commission's
first priority is conserving the wildlife and fishery resources that
belong to the people of Arkansas. We must do everything we can to
protect the valuable habitat on our management areas, and it got to the
point that it was necessary to take this formal action to preserve our
claim."
The Black River WMA contains about 24,000 acres, mostly in low-lying
hardwood forests. The area is known as one of the best bottomland
hardwood duck-hunting areas anywhere. Most of it was purchased in the
1950s and 1960s, and today it represents the majority of the remaining
unbroken timberland along the Black River in Arkansas. The Black River
WMA provides critical habitat for wintering waterfowl and numerous
species of Neotropical migrating songbirds. |
