The Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is a 76,000 acre (307.56 km²)

national wildlife refuge The National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) is a system of protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), an agency within the United States Department of the Interior, Department of the Interi ...

located in south-central

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 ...

Ashley Ashley is a place name derived from the Old English words '' æsċ'' (“ash”) and '' lēah'' (“meadow”). It may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ashley (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

Bradley Bradley may refer to: People * Bradley (given name) * Bradley (surname) Places In the United Kingdom In England: * Bradley, Cheshire * Bradley, Derbyshire * Bradley (house), a manor in Kingsteignton, Devon * Bradley, Gloucestershire * ...

, and Union counties. Felsenthal NWR is one of three refuges forming an administrative complex, which also includes Pond Creek NWR to the northwest and Overflow NWR to the east.

Habitat and wildlife

Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is a

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

complex located on the confluence of the

Saline Saline may refer to: Salt-related * Saline (medicine), a liquid with salt content to match the human body * Saline water, non-medicinal salt water * Saline, a historical term (especially American) for a salt works or saltern Places United States ...

and

Ouachita River The Ouachita River ( ) is a river that runs south and east through the United States, U.S. U.S. state, states of Arkansas and Louisiana, joining the Tensas River to form the Black River (Louisiana), Black River near Jonesville, Louisiana. It i ...

s. The refuge is dissected by an intricate system of rivers, creeks,

sloughs A slough ( or ) is a wetland, usually a swamp or shallow lake, often a Backwater (river), backwater to a larger body of water. Water tends to be Water stagnation, stagnant or may flow slowly on a seasonal basis. In North America, "slough" may re ...

, and lakes throughout a

bottomland hardwood forest Bottomland forest is woodland on lowland alluvial floodplains or lower terraces of rivers and streams. Bottomland forest is very rare in Europe. The bottomland hardwood forest is a type of deciduous and evergreen hardwood forest found in broad low ...

that rises to an upland forest community. The Felsenthal basin holds approximately 15,000 acres of water that can double to over 36,000 acres during periods of heavy flooding. Felsenthal NWR's

habitat diversity Homogeneity and heterogeneity are concepts relating to the uniformity of a substance, process or image. A homogeneous feature is uniform in composition or character (i.e., color, shape, size, weight, height, distribution, texture, language, inc ...

supports a large amount of

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

. Over 1,150 species of plants and animals have been documented on the refuge. Felsenthal NWR is the only national wildlife refuge in Arkansas with a population of the federally-protected

red-cockaded woodpecker The red-cockaded woodpecker (''Leuconotopicus borealis'') is a woodpecker endemic to the southeastern United States. It is a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Description The red-cockaded woodpecker is small- to mi ...

. The refuge has been recognized as part of a globally

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

by the

National Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...

History

Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) was established in 1975 as mitigation for the creation of the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...

’ Ouachita-Black Rivers Navigation Project and Felsenthal Lock and Dam. The refuge also protects over 200 Native American archaeological sites, primarily of

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, who ...

origin. These sites include the remains of seasonal fishing camps, ceremonial plazas, temple mounds, and large villages. Archaeological sites are closed to the public to protect them from degradation.

References

External links

Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge's Official Website
National Wildlife Refuges in Arkansas Protected areas of Ashley County, Arkansas Protected areas of Bradley County, Arkansas Protected areas of Union County, Arkansas Wetlands of Arkansas Landforms of Ashley County, Arkansas Landforms of Bradley County, Arkansas Ouachita River {{Arkansas-protected-area-stub