The focus of this project is to restore, enhance and protect riparian, in-stream, springs and spring-run aquatic habitats by stabilizing streambanks and reducing sedimentation

The Arkansas Wildlife Federation will receive $302,000 through a Cooperative Agreement awarded by the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 4 under the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program (CFDA 15.631).

The funding will support efforts to restore, enhance and protect riparian, in-stream, springs and spring-run aquatic habitats on private lands in Arkansas and Louisiana. This will be accomplished through installing livestock exclusion fencing, conducting site preparation and planting native vegetation to restore riparian buffers, employing natural channel design on stream reaches requiring bank stabilization, and implementing USDA-approved conservation practices including prescribed burning and forest stand improvement. A portion of the funding will also facilitate private landowner collaboration as part of the Arkansas-Louisiana Conservation Delivery Networks Open Pine Landscape Restoration Partnership to advance the recovery of species of conservation concern across 30,000 acres through desired forest condition management practices.

Riparian restoration will be accomplished by installing fences and associated features to control livestock access to streams, conducting SIT preparation, planting native trees, shrubs or herbaceous vegetation to restore riparian buffers using best management practices(bmos) when conducting forest management, prescribed fire and targeted outreach to landowners. Natural channel design will be employed along stream reaches where streambank stabilization is necessary to abate continued bank degradation.additionally, cave-dwelling bats, as well as cave obligates such as cavefish and cave crayfish, have been in steady decline. The PFW RO BAT strategy outlines many factors threatening cave ecosystems and the species that depend on them. These factors include but are not limited to human disturbance, vandalism, pollution, (illegal trash dumps, etc) inadequate summer/forage habitat, and white-nose syndrome. Forest management practices have led to limited roosting habitat for tree roosting bats in some areas as well. This project will help preserve the integrity of the karst habitat by mitigating the above-listed threats through the installation of appropriate cave gates/fences, spring/spring run protection and enhancement, and forest management that enhances or preserves suitable forest habitat types necessary for foraging.a portion of the funding for this project is in support of the regional conservation partnership program effort led by the arkansas-louisiana conservation delivery networks open pine landscape restoration partnership will advance the recovery of species of conservation concern by implementing desired forest condition management practices across 30,000 acres of private lands in arkansas and louisiana. PFW program field staff will help facilitate this effort through continued collaboration with private landowners and the implementation of the ground restoration projects. USDA-approved conservation practices include: 338-prescribed burning, 394 -firebreak, 643-restoration of rare or declining natural communities-woodland, glade, barren, savanna or prairie restoration, 645-upland wildlife habitat management( habitat monitoring and management, medium intensity and complexity) and 666 forest stand improvement.