Black Fork Mountain
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The Black Fork Mountain Wilderness Area is located in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
s of
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
and
Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
. Created by an act of
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
in 1984, the wilderness covers an area of 13,139 acres (53 km²). The Arkansas portion contains and the Oklahoma portion contains . Located within
Ouachita National Forest The Ouachita National Forest is a vast congressionally-designated United States National Forest, National Forest that lies in the western portion of Arkansas and portions of extreme-eastern Oklahoma, USA. History The Ouachita National Forest is ...
, the wilderness is managed by the
U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...
. The area is about north of
Page, Oklahoma Page is an unincorporated community in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. Page is located along U.S. routes 59 and 270, west of the Arkansas border. History A post office was established at Page, Indian Territory on April 6, 1896. It ...
, and about north of
Mena, Arkansas Mena ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Polk County, Arkansas, Polk County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 5,558 as of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. Mena is included in the Ark-La-Tex socio-economic region. Surro ...
.U.S. Forest Service. "Black Fork Mountain Wilderness."
May 14, 2014. This infrequently visited wilderness follows the main ridgeline of Black Fork Mountain for 13 miles (21 km) which rises to more than 2,400 feet (731 m). Steep cliffsides provide sanctuary to groves of Dwarf Oak, Serviceberry and Granddaddy Greybeard (known as the fringe tree ''
Chionanthus ''Chionanthus'' (), common name: fringetrees, is a genus of about 140 species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae. The genus has a wide distribution primarily in the tropics and subtropics, but with three species extending north into t ...
'') which have a few unique species represented here. There are few trails through the wilderness and none at all in the Oklahoma sections. Visitors should expect difficult hiking conditions and few sources for water as there are only two springs along the higher mountain slopes. Black bears are known to inhabit the wilderness, along with
white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...
,
bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus '' Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the c ...
,
skunk Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or gi ...
and
pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera's native range is restricted to Eura ...
. The wilderness contains extensive areas of unlogged,
old-growth forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...
. Along the ridge of Black Fork Mountain are several thousand acres of stunted old-growth
Post Oak ''Quercus stellata'', the post oak or iron oak, is a North American species of oak in the white oak section. It is a slow-growing oak that lives in dry areas on the edges of fields, tops of ridges, and also grows in poor soils, and is resistant ...
,
Shortleaf Pine The shortleaf pine or ''Pinus echinata'' is a species of coniferous tree endemic to the United States. The shortleaf pine is sometimes referred to as the "old field", "spruce", "rosemary", "yellow", "two-leaf" and "heart" pine. The common name " ...
, and
Hickory Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes 19 species accepted by ''Plants of the World Online''. Seven species are native to southeast Asia in China, Indochina, and northeastern India (Assam), and twelve ...
. There is also a small grove of old-growth sugar maple forest nestled in the folds of the mountain slopes. U.S. Wilderness Areas do not allow motorized or mechanized vehicles, including
bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...
s. Although
camping Camping is a form of outdoor recreation or outdoor education involving overnight stays with a basic temporary shelter such as a tent. Camping can also include a recreational vehicle, sheltered cabins, a permanent tent, a shelter such as a Bivy bag ...
and
fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...
are usually allowed with a proper permit, no roads or buildings can be constructed and there is also no
logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksmining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...
, in compliance with the 1964
Wilderness Act The Wilderness Act of 1964 () is a federal land management statute meant to protect U.S. Wilderness Area, federal wilderness and to create a formal mechanism for designating wilderness. It was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Socie ...
. Wilderness areas within
National Forests National Forest may refer to: * National forest or state forest, a forest administered or protected by a sovereign state ** National forest (Brazil) ** National forest (France) ** National forest (United States) ** State Forests (Poland) ** The N ...
and
Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...
areas also allow
hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...
in season. The mountain was the site of the crash of Texas International Airlines Flight 655 on September 27, 1973, in which 11 persons died.


See also

* List of U.S. Wilderness Areas * List of old growth forests


References


External links

* * * * {{Protected Areas of Arkansas Protected areas of Le Flore County, Oklahoma Protected areas of Polk County, Arkansas Protected areas of Scott County, Arkansas Wilderness areas of Arkansas Wilderness areas of Oklahoma Old-growth forests Ouachita National Forest 1984 establishments in Arkansas Protected areas established in 1984 1984 establishments in Oklahoma