This is a list of Wildlife Management Areas in Arkansas. All counties are represented except Boone, Chicot, Crittenden, Dallas, Fulton, Grant, Jackson, Lincoln, and St. Francis County.[1]

Wildlife Management Areas in Arkansas
Name County or counties Area (acres) Year Established Remarks Image
Bayou Des Arc WMA White 953 1966 Created with a 320-acre public fishing lake.[2]
Bayou Meto WMA Arkansas, Jefferson 33,832 Called the "George H. Dunklin Jr. Bayou Meto WMA" and also called "Wabbaseka Scatters" or just the "Scatters".[3]
Beaver Lake WMA Benton, Carroll, Madison 8,007 Includes Devil's Eyebrow Natural Area.[4]
Bell Slough WMA Faulkner 2,040 Kenny Vernon Nature Trail and Bell Slough Water Trail.[5]
Benson Creek Natural Area WMA Monroe 1,458 Includes 610 acres of bald cypress/water tupelo swamps along Bayou DeView.[6]
Beryl Anthony Lower Ouachita WMA Ashley, Union 7,020 3,600 new acres to be added in 2018 and 2019. The WMA joins the Moro Big Pine WMA and the Warren Prairie Natural Area WMA having colonies of Red cockaded woodpeckers.[7]
Big Lake WMA Mississippi 12,320 1950 7,000 acres purchased in 1950. The rest purchased up to 1969.[8]
Big Timber WMA Clark 45,000 Includes 3,500 acres (Olds Foundation) added in 2018. Also known as Big Timber Leased Lands WMA. Private land owners including The Ross Foundation, Clark Timberlands, Anthony Timberlands. and Red River Texarkana that is managed by Hancock Forest Management giving annual leases to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.[9]
Blevins WMA Hempstead 128 1991[10]
Blue Mountain WMA Logan 8,200 Corps of Engineers property.[11]
Brewer Lake Cypress Creek WMA Conway 1,200 Surrounds Brewer Lake.[12]
Brushy Creek WMA[13] Cross 215 Co-op of private land owners that have joined together.[14]
Buffalo National River WMA Baxter, Marion, Newton, Searcy 95,730 The entire 135 miles of the Buffalo National River is a WMA. Certain areas are also under national park regulations for hunting and fishing.[15][16][17]
Camp Robinson WMA[18] Faulkner, Pulaski 26,675
Caney Creek WMA Howard, Montgomery, Pike, Polk 85,000 1968 Contains Caney Creek Wilderness
Casey Jones WMA Ashley, Drew 83,832
Cattail Marsh WMA Greene 78
Cedar Creek WMA Scott 103
Cherokee Prairie Natural Area WMA Franklin 566
Cherokee WMA Cleburne, Conway, Independence, Logan, Pope, Scott, Stone, Van Buren 62,203
Cove Creek Natural Area WMA Faulkner 228
Crossett Experimental Forest WMA Ashley 1,675
Cut-Off Creek WMA Drew 9,314
Cypress Bayou WMA Lonoke, White 2,478
Dardanelle WMA Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Pope, Yell 42,658
Dave Donaldson Black River WMA Clay, Greene, Randolph 21,150
DeGray Lake WMA Clark, Hot Spring 14,000
Departee Creek WMA White 450
DeQueen Lake WMA Sevier 8,792 Owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.[19]
Devil’s Knob Natural Area WMWA Izard 519
Dr. Lester Sitzes III Bois D’Arc WMA Hempstead 13,646
Earl Buss Bayou DeView WMA Poinsett 4,435
Ed Gordon Point Remove WMA Conway, Pope 8,694
Electric Island WMA Garland 115
Ethel WMA Arkansas 176 Formerly only open to residents of Ethel
Falcon Bottoms Natural Area WMA Columbia, Lafayette, Nevada 2,787
Fort Chaffee WMA Crawford, Franklin, Sebastian 66,000 The WMA is within Fort Chaffee Maneuver Training Center area. WMA rules are in effect and a Sportsman’s Orientation class is compulsory.[20]
Freddie Black Choctaw Island WMA Deer Research Area East Unit Desha 8,300 Also referred to as the Choctaw Island WMA. The WMA is not a true island but includes the Choctaw Bar Island in the Mississippi River[21]
Freddie Black Choctaw Island WMA Deer Research Area West Unit Desha
Frog Bayou WMA Crawford 812 2005 Partnership with Ducks Unlimited and the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service and expanded in 2017 with The Trust for Public Land and Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration money. The WMA is located along Frog Bayou, that is also known as Clear Creek, adjacent to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land.[22]
Galla Creek WMA Pope 3,329 The Galla Creek WMA is among several others involving controversy of flooding protocols used in Greentree reservoir management that has seen deteriorated conditions and a substantial dying off of timber.[23][24]
Garrett Hollow Natural Area WMA Washington 670
Gene Rush WMA Newton, Searcy 17,963
Greers Ferry Lake WMA Cleburne, Van Buren 9,914
Gum Flats WMA Howard, Pike 15,661
H. E. Flanagan Prairie Natural Area WMA Franklin 457 The Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission (ANHC), a division of the Department of Arkansas Heritage added the property in 1988.[25] Along with the Presson-Oglesby Preserve (The Nature Conservancy, 155 acres), and the Cherokee Prairie (ANHC) are three contiguous tracts of protected prairie land.[26]
Hall Creek Barrens Natural Area WMA[27] Cleveland
Harold E. Alexander Spring River WMA Sharp 13,859
Harris Brake WMA Perry 3,769
Henry Gray Hurricane Lake WMA White 17,524
Hobbs State Park – Conservation Area WMA Benton, Carroll, Madison 11,744
Holland Bottoms WMA Lonoke 6,190
Hope Upland WMA Hempstead 2,115
Howard County WMA Howard 26,000
Howard Hensley Searcy County WMA Searcy 170
Iron Mountain Natural Area WMA Polk 260
Jamestown Independence County WMA Independence 971
Jim Kress WMA Cleburne 14,527
Jones Point WMA Marion 1,200
Kingsland Prairie Natural Area WMA Cleveland 400
Lafayette County Natural Area WMA Lafayette 16,739
Lake Greeson Natural Area WMA Howard, Pike 200
Lee County WMA Lee 200
Little Bayou WMA Ashley 1,284
Little River WMA Hempstead, Little River 597
Loafer’s Glory WMA 2,616
Maumelle River WMA Pulaski
McIlroy Madison County WMA Madison 14,496 Looking out into the Ozark forest from the Bluff Shelter at the Ozark Natural Science Center
Mike Freeze Wattensaw WMA Prairie 19,184
Moro Big Pine Natural Area WMA Calhoun 16,000
Mount Magazine WMA Logan, Yell 120,000
Muddy Creek WMA Montgomery, Scott, Yell 146,206
Nacatoch Ravines Natural Area WMA Hempstead 645
Nimrod/Lloyd Millwood WMA Yell 3,550
Norfork Lake WMA Baxter 10,000
Ozan WMA Hempstead 580
Ozark Lake WMA Crawford, Franklin 7,834
Palmetto Flats Natural Area Little River 1848
Petit Jean River WMA Yell 15,502
Pine City Natural Area WMA Monroe 870
Piney Creeks WMA Johnson, Newton, Pope 180,000
Poison Springs WMA Nevada, Ouachita 17,604
Prairie Bayou WMA Lonoke 453
Provo WMA Sevier 11,327
R. L. Hankins Mud Creek Upland WMA Randolph 1,025 1989 Deeded by FMHA.[28]
Railroad Prairie Natural Area WMA Prairie 244
Rainey WMA Pope 488
Rex Hancock Black Swamp WMA Woodruff 7,221
Rick Evans Grandview Prairie WMA Hempstead 4,885
Ring Slough WMA Clay 83
River Bend WMA Perry
Roth Prairie Natural Area WMA Arkansas 41
Sandhills Natural Area WMA Miller 143
Scott Henderson Gulf Mountain WMA Van Buren 14,000 1970 Created as "Gulf Mountain WMA" with an initial purchase of 6,400 acres. A 3,600 acre purchase and smaller tracts totaling 2,012 was added in 1971. 2,000 acres of Green Bay Packaging's Arkansas Mill division land was added to the WMA. The company owns over 250,000 acres in the state and this was part of the companies "Sustainable Forestry Initiative".[29] Located 12 miles southwest of Clinton the Little Red River bisects the southern area and the Ozark National Forest is the northern boundary.[30]
Seven Devils WMA Drew 5,032
Sheffield Nelson Dagmar WMA Monroe 9,720
Shirey Bay Rainey Brake WMA Lawrence 10,711
Slippery Hollow Natural Area WMA Marion 705
Spring Bank WMA Lafayette 701
St. Francis National Forest WMA Lee, Phillips
St. Francis Sunken Lands WMA Craighead, Greene, Poinsett, Clay 27,643 Patchwork of state and privately-held lands along the St. Francis River preserving bottomland hardwood forest river bottoms, well known for waterfowl and deer hunting.[31]
Stateline Sandponds Natural Area WMA Clay 4,000
Steve N. Wilson Raft Creek Bottoms WMA White 4,000
Sulphur River WMA Miller 16,681
Sweden Creek Natural Area WMA Madison 137
Sylamore WMA Baxter, Marion, Searcy, Stone 150,000
Terre Noire Natural Area WMA Clark 415
Trusten Holder WMA Arkansas, Desha 8,173
Two Bayou Creek WMA Ouachita 1,250
W.E. Brewer Scatter Creek WMA Greene
Warren Prairie Natural Area WMA Bradley, Drew 2,128
Wedington WMA Benton, Washington 16,000
White Cliffs Natural Area WMA Little River 573
White Rock WMA Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Madison, Franklin, Washington 280,000
Whitehall WMA Poinsett 111
Winona WMA Garland, Perry, Saline 160,000

Former WMAs

Wildlife Management Areas in Arkansas
Name County or counties Area (acres) Year Established Year Dissolved Remarks
Ozark National Forest WMA Conway, Crawford, Frankliln, Johnson, Madison, Newton, Pope, Searcy, Van Buren, Washington 678,878 2023[32] Merged into neighboring WMAs[32]

See also

References

  1. ^ Wildlife Management Areas- Retrieved 2019=07-27
  2. ^ Bayou Des Arc Wildlife Management Area- Retrieved 2019-02-20
  3. ^ Bayou Meto Wildlife Management Area- Retrieved 2019-02-20
  4. ^ Beaver Lake Wildlife Management Area- Retrieved 2019-02-20
  5. ^ Bell Slough Wildlife Management Area- Retrieved 2019-02-20
  6. ^ Benson Creek Natural Area Wildlife Management Area- Retrieved 2019-02-20
  7. ^ Beryl Anthony Lower Ouachita Wildlife Management Area (April 11, 2018)- Retrieved 2019-02-20
  8. ^ Big Lake Wildlife Management Area- Retrieved 2019-02-20
  9. ^ Big Timber Wildlife Management Area (by Randy Zellers Nov. 21, 2018)- Retrieved 2019-02-20
  10. ^ Blevins Wildlife Management Area- Retrieved 2019-02-20
  11. ^ Blue Mountain Wildlife Management Area- Retrieved 2019-02-20
  12. ^ Brewer Lake Cypress Creek Wildlife Management Area- Retrieved 2019-02-20
  13. ^ Brushy Creek Wildlife Management Area- Retrieved 2019-02-20
  14. ^ Brushy Creek Wildlife Management Co-op- Retrieved 2019-02-21
  15. ^ NPS: Buffalo National River Wildlife Management Area- Retrieved 2019-02-21
  16. ^ Pierce, Jason. “Creating the Natural State: Outsiders, Insiders, and the Buffalo National River.” Ozark Historical Review 35 (2006, pp. 34–49)- Retrieved 2019-02-21
  17. ^ Encyclopedia of Arkansas: Buffalo National River Wildlife Management Area- Retrieved 2019-02-21
  18. ^ Camp Robinson WMA- Retrieved 2019-02-21
  19. ^ DeQueen Lake WMA- Retrieved 2019-02-21
  20. ^ Land Conservation Assistance Network: Fort Chaffee WMA- Retrieved 2019-02-21
  21. ^ Audubon: Choctaw Island Wildlife Management Area- Retrieved 2018-02-21
  22. ^ Frog Bayou WMA- Retrieved 2019-02-22
  23. ^ Greentree Reservoir Management- Retrieved 2019-02-22
  24. ^ Duck hunters realize changes necessary at green tree reservoirs (Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette)- Retrieved 2019-02-22
  25. ^ H. E. Flanagan Prairie Natural Area WMA- Retrieved 2019-02-22
  26. ^ Nonnative Species Control at the Cherokee Prairies in the Arkansas River Valley (pp. 2)- Retrieved 2019-02-22
  27. ^ Hall Creek Barrens Natural Area WMA- Retrieved 2019-02-22
  28. ^ R. L. Hankins Mud Creek Upland WMA- Retrieved 2019-02-22
  29. ^ Arkansas Mill division- Retrieved 2019-02-22
  30. ^ Gulf Mountain WMA- Retrieved 2019-02-22
  31. ^ "Quake Creates Habitat". Southwest Times Record. Fort Smith, AR: Gannett. October 29, 2012. OCLC 15172460 – via Newsbank.
  32. ^ a b Ledbetter, Richard (April 8, 2023). "Arkansas turkey season open for youths". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Little Rock: WEHCO Media. ISSN 1060-4332. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
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