A map showing the location of the White River National Wildlife Refuge
Possible dicamba damage has been found at the Dale Bumpers White River National Wildlife Refuge, prompting its manager to file a complaint with the state Plant Board. This is a very important piece of land, I just wanted to make sure I lived up to my responsibilities and reported the damage to the Plant Board, Charles Bo Sloan, manager of the 160,000-acre refuge, said. I guess I saw it as a civic duty.
Filed about two weeks ago, Sloan s complaint centers on damage to trees, especially to sycamores, around St. Charles, where the refuge has its headquarters and visitors center, and south to the Ethel community, also in Arkansas County.
Photo source: Google/Jimbo Bond
Hunting on national wildlife refuges is a tradition that dates back to the early 1900s. Today, more than 370 refuges are open to the public for hunting across the country. Here in the southeast, national wildlife refuges are a huge part of this tradition. Refuges like the Dale Bumpers White River National Wildlife Refuge welcome sportswomen and men of all backgrounds and abilities to experience hunting in amazing places.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to add dark and light geese, dove, and woodcock hunting to current seasons on designated areas of the Dale Bumpers White River NWR in accordance with State and NWR-specific regulations. The refuge is seeking comments on these proposed changes.
Unsung heroes of American conservation
African-Americans played huge, but little-known role in creation of wildlife refuges
By Dan Chapman, public affairs specialistFebruary 3, 2021
St. Charles, Arkansas – Naomi Mitchell is the clerk and treasurer for this small White River town (pop. 230) renowned for duck hunting. She also, for a fee, plucks ducks clean. And, in her spare time, she runs the local museum, a folksy repository of many things St. Charles.
Tucked into a back corner of the museum, which shares space with the Town Hall, is an exhibit featuring the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps. It chronicles the construction work done by the young, dollar-a-day men of Company 1741 and Company 3791 who helped create a national wildlife refuge from the bottomlands of the White River.