The White River National Wildlife Refuge (officially Dale Bumpers White River National Wildlife Refuge) is a wildlife refuge located in Desha, Monroe, Phillips, and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

counties 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 sover ...

. The refuge is managed by the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

. White River NWR borders on

Cache River National Wildlife Refuge Cache, caching, or caché may refer to: Places United States * Cache, Idaho, an unincorporated community * Cache, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Cache, Oklahoma, a city in Comanche County * Cache, Utah, Cache County, Utah * Cache County, ...

at its northern boundary. In 1974, the White River Sugarberry Natural Area was designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service. In 2013, the FWS proposed the gradual expansion of the refuge up to a maximum of .

Description

White River National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1935. The refuge is wide and encompassing of the lower of the White River. It also includes of the Arkansas Post Canal which is part of the Army Corps of Engineers' McClellan-Kerr Navigation System on the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

. This refuge has the largest concentration of wintering

mallard duck The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argen ...

s in the

Mississippi Flyway The Mississippi Flyway is a bird migration route that generally follows the Mississippi, Missouri, and Lower Ohio Rivers in the United States across the western Great Lakes to the Mackenzie River and Hudson Bay in Canada. The main endpoints of t ...

. It also has large concentrations of

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

and

Canada geese The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), or Canadian goose, is a large wild goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North America, and it is o ...

. This refuge is home to four active

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

nests and a

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

population. Black bears have increased in numbers from about 25 in the 1940s to more than 300. It is believed by some to host one of the last populations of the

ivory-billed woodpecker The ivory-billed woodpecker (''Campephilus principalis'') is a possibly extinct woodpecker that is native to the bottomland hardwood forests and temperate coniferous forests of the Southern United States and Cuba. Habitat destruction and hunting ...

, a bird considered extinct or nearly so. The refuge lies with the

Mississippi lowland forests The Mississippi lowland forests are a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion in the eastern United States, covering an area of . Setting Located on the Mississippi Alluvial Plain from Louisiana north to the southern edge of Illinois, the ...

ecoregion. Within the refuge, the Sugarberry Natural Area includes a

old-growth An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

bottomland hardwood forest of varied composition. The area contains four forest types:

American sweetgum American sweetgum (''Liquidambar styraciflua''), also known as American storax, hazel pine, bilsted, redgum, satin-walnut, star-leaved gum, alligatorwood, or simply sweetgum, is a deciduous tree in the genus ''Liquidambar'' native to warm temper ...

Nuttall's oak ''Quercus texana'', commonly known as Nuttall's oak, is a fast-growing, large deciduous oak tree. It is a tree growing up to 25 meters (83 feet) tall, with dark brown bark. It has leaves with sharp pointed lobes somewhat similar to those of t ...

willow oak ''Quercus phellos'', the willow oak, is a North American species of a deciduous tree in the red oak group of oaks. It is native to the south-central and eastern United States. Description It is a medium-sized tree growing to tall (exceptional ...

;

sugarberry ''Celtis laevigata'' is a medium-sized tree native to North America. Common names include sugarberry, Southern hackberry, or in the southern U.S. sugar hackberry or just hackberry. Sugarberry is easily confused with common hackberry ('' C. occ ...

American elm ''Ulmus americana'', generally known as the American elm or, less commonly, as the white elm or water elm, is a species of elm native to eastern North America, naturally occurring from Nova Scotia west to Alberta and Montana, and south to Flor ...

green ash ''Fraxinus pennsylvanica'', the green ash or red ash, is a species of ash native to eastern and central North America, from Nova Scotia west to southeastern Alberta and eastern Colorado, south to northern Florida, and southwest to Oklahoma and e ...

;

American sycamore ''Platanus occidentalis'', also known as American sycamore, American planetree, western plane, occidental plane, buttonwood, and water beech, is a species of ''Platanus'' native to the eastern and central United States, the mountains of northeas ...

pecan The pecan (''Carya illinoinensis'') is a species of hickory native to the southern United States and northern Mexico in the region of the Mississippi River. The tree is cultivated for its seed in the southern United States, primarily in Georgia, ...

; and baldcypress. The refuge has 356 natural and man-made lakes which make up of the refuge. There are of

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

land, of agricultural land, and of

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

. The refuge is classified as a Wetland of International Importance.

Expansion proposal

White River Boardwalk Trail (5781633755)

In 2013, federal government designated the White River watershed as the nation's second "National Blueway". Later that year, the Fish and Wildlife Service proposed that the White River NWR be expanded. The expansion proposal calls for the refuge to be expanded from the present to as much as . The expansion would be carried out by purchasing land from willing sellers as funds are available from Federal Duck Stamps, the

Migratory Bird Conservation Fund Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

, and the

Land and Water Conservation Fund The United States' Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is a federal program that was established by Act of Congress in 1965 to provide funds and matching grants to federal, state and local governments for the acquisition of land and water, and ...

. The proposed expansion would add to the refuge 9 miles of White River

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

, 26 miles of the

, and 34 miles of the west bank of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

. The land would provide additional habitat for a variety of birds, fishes, and other animals. The expansion would also be important for the preservation and restoration of Arkansas's "Big Woods," a floodplain forest of which less than 10 percent remains intact. The Fish and Wildlife Service has also proposed expansion of the

, which borders the White River NWR on the north. The proposed expansions, if fully implemented, would preserve almost of land in the White River watershed. Additional parcels of conservation land owned by the state of Arkansas and private conservation groups are contiguous with the national wildlife refugees.

Name of refuge

In 2014, the refuge was officially renamed "Dale Bumpers White River National Wildlife Refuge", in honor of former Arkansas Governor and Senator

Dale Bumpers Dale Leon Bumpers (August 12, 1925 – January 1, 2016) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 38th Governor of Arkansas (1971–1975) and in the United States Senate (1975–1999). He was a member of the Democratic Party. Prio ...

. At a dedication ceremony,

Daniel M. Ashe Daniel M. Ashe is the President and CEO of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Ashe was the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) from February 2011 to January 2017. The United States Senate held a hearing on his nom ...

, Director of the

, said:

The Service is proud to recognize the many contributions Senator Bumpers has made to give many future generations the same opportunity to enjoy Arkansas' natural beauty as we have had. He is a giant among conservationists and a visionary who followed an unconventional path to set aside some of Arkansas' last wild places. It is fitting that he will be forever linked with the White River.

References

External links

White River National Wildlife Refuge official site
{{authority control Protected areas of Arkansas County, Arkansas Protected areas of Desha County, Arkansas Protected areas of Monroe County, Arkansas National Wildlife Refuges in Arkansas Protected areas of Phillips County, Arkansas Protected areas established in 1935 Ramsar sites in the United States Wetlands of Arkansas Landforms of Arkansas County, Arkansas Landforms of Desha County, Arkansas Landforms of Monroe County, Arkansas Landforms of Phillips County, Arkansas 1935 establishments in Arkansas National Natural Landmarks in Arkansas