The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is looking at the possibility of linking two wildlife refuges on the Louisiana-Arkansas border with the addition of more than 46,000 acres of land.
Morehouse Parish citizens will have the chance to share their input about the proposal next month.
According to a USFWS news release, the proposal to link Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas with the Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Louisiana fits into the “America’s Great Outdoors” program and will conserve a “large functional landscape for wildlife, ecosystem services, and historic and cultural resource protection and to provide the American public with outstanding recreational opportunities.”
Located along the Ouachita River at the Louisiana-Arkansas border, the Upper Ouachita NWR provides a seasonal haven for tens of thousands of migratory birds which visit each year for resting, foraging and breeding.
In December, the Conservation Fund purchased 2,340 acres of farm and timberland in Morehouse Parish to be incorporated into the Upper Ouachita NWR. The donation completed efforts by the USFWS to add a total of 3,905 acres to the refuge.
John Saenz, project leader for the North Louisiana Refuges Complex, said the proposed linkage would benefit citizens as well as wildlife.
“This will provide increased hunting opportunities, fishing as well as wildlife observation and photography for everyone,” said Saenz.
The USFWS plan includes the purchase of 46,064 acres from “willing sellers only” to expand the two refuges to 172,000 total acres and 58 river miles of wildlife habitat. The proposed purchase would link and expand both Felsenthal and Upper Ouachita refuges, and would be funded from the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund and the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
“While we have always worked with our fellow refuges, the expansion and direct linkage will really enhance the bottomland forests for the hundreds of thousands of waterflow, Louisiana black bears and songbirds,” said Saenz.
Public comments will factor into the USFWS’s planning process. Public “scoping” meetings are slated to be held from 6-8 p.m. July 6 at the Crossett Economic Development Commission, and from 6-8 p.m. July 7 at the Bastrop Visitor Center.
The planning process will continue through this year and the public will have the chance to review the plans again in November. A final plan is expected to be submitted to the USFWS director for approval in Jan. 2012.
“We look forward to hearing from our neighbors on this exciting proposal,” said Bernie Petersen, project leader for the South Arkansas National Wildlife Refuge Complex. “The proposal can have an extremely positive effect on the ecosystem here, and allow increased hunting opportunities on a more intact and seamlessly managed refuge.”