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Cache River National Wildlife Refuge

Cache River National Wildlife Refuge

About

GENERAL INFORMATION

Criteria
  • Currently a Ramsar Site
  • Listed on more than one "valuable wetland" list by natural resource agencies or nongovernment organizations
  • Protects biological diverse wetland flora, fauna and/or their habitat
  • Supports significant numbers of wetland-dependant fauna, such as water birds or fish

The Cache River basin remains one of the most important bottomland hardwood ecosystems in North America and many national and international conservation entities cite it for its ecological significance and as a priority region for future protection and restoration. The Cache River basin contains a variety of wetland communities including some of the most intact and least disturbed bottomland hardwood forests in the Mississippi Valley region. These unique and valuable wetlands have been protected by the RAMSAR Convention as “Wetlands of International Importance”. The Cache River NWR is being nominated by the Wetland Restoration Section of SWS, because of the extensive wetland restoration (~5,000 acres) and reforestation efforts (~22,000 acres) that have occurred in the refuge since its inception in 1986. 

The Cache River basin is a major wintering and stopover point in the Mississippi River Flyway for waterfowl. Additionally, the Cache River basin is important to the nation's agriculture. Crops grown in the basin include soybeans, cotton, rice, and grains for ethanol production and feed (corn, milo, giant miscanthus). Because the Cache River NWR is one of the few remaining minimally-altered areas in the Lower Mississippi River Valley, and contains unique and ecologically important wildlife habitat, this wetland should be considered a national Wetland of Distinction.

Cache River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) was established in 1986 to protect significant wetland habitats and provide feeding and resting areas for migrating waterfowl. As one of the few remaining areas in the Lower Mississippi River Valley not drastically altered by channelization and drainage, the Cache River basin contains a variety of wetland communities including some of the most intact and least disturbed bottomland hardwood forests in the Mississippi Valley region. These unique and valuable wetlands have been protected by the RAMSAR Convention as "Wetlands of International Importance". It is so designated because it is the longest continuous expanse of bottomland hardwood (forested, periodically flooded wetlands) in the Lower Mississippi Valley.

Cache River NWR is designated as a “Wetland of International Importance,” and is part of the Cache-Lower White Rivers Globally Important Bird Area. The refuge is located in the most important wintering area in North America for mallard ducks. The lower Cache River has also been declared a “River of Life” by The Nature Conservancy. A short segment of the Cache River between two areas of the Rex Hancock Black Swamp Wildlife Management Area (WMA) has been designated state Extraordinary Resource Waters. 

The Cache River NWR is home to more than fifty species of mammals, 247 species of birds, and forty-eight species of reptiles and amphibians. According to USFWS, several federally listed species may occur within the counties of the Cache River basin. They are: Ozark hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi), pink mucket (Lampsillis abrupta), rabbitsfoot (Quadrula cylindrica), Curtis pearly mussel (Epioblasma florentina curtisii), scaleshell (Leptodea leptodon), fat pocketbook (Potamilus capax), gray bat (Myotis griescens), pondberry (Lindera melissifolia), red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis), the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis), and ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis). 

The Cache River watershed is located in the Mississippi Flyway and the Lower Mississippi River Ecosystem. The Lower Mississippi River Ecosystem is the primary wintering habitat for mid-continent waterfowl populations, as well as breeding and migrating habitat for songbirds returning from Central and South America. The wetlands and wooded areas in the lower Cache River watershed provide important winter habitat for waterfowl from the northern prairies and Great Lakes. Most years, more mallard ducks overwinter in Arkansas than anywhere else in North America (Ducks Unlimited 2014). Large numbers of raptors also winter in this area, including bald eagles, and red-tailed hawks. These wetlands and wooded areas are also important for the support of migrating birds that use the Mississippi Flyway. These include waterfowl, shorebirds, songbirds, and raptors. A number of migratory songbirds breed in these areas, including Acadian flycatcher, wood thrush, and several species of warblers.


Exemplary Ecosystem Services:
  • Aesthetic/cultural heritage value/provisioning
  • Recreation (birdwatching, ecotourism)
  • Flood storage/mitigation

The Cache River was an important water resource for prehistoric Native Americans; for instance, important Indian mound sites connected to the Plum Bayou culture lie within the Cache River floodplain. These early peoples could utilize the variety of natural resources provided by the river and surrounding area, which was home to a variety of animals, including black bears, various species of waterfowl, gray and fox squirrels, freshwater mussels, and numerous species of fish. The internationally known Dalton period graveyard site known as the Sloan Site is located in the upper Cache River watershed in Greene County. An additional culturally important site in the lower Cache River watershed is the site of the Cotton Plant Battle of the Civil War.

The refuge attracts 120,000 visitors annually. The Cache River National Wildlife Refuge is open for the hunting of deer, turkey, waterfowl, rabbit, squirrel, and other game. In the upper Cache River watershed, hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, and wildlife watching opportunities are available in WMAs and State Parks on Crowley’s Ridge. In the lower Cache River watershed, hunting, fishing, camping, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, and wildlife watching opportunities are available in WMAs and the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). Wildlife observation, photography, and boating also are popular activities on Cache River National Wildlife Refuge due to the diversity and abundance of wildlife that can be seen and the scenic beauty of the bottomland hardwood forest, other wetlands, and aquatic systems. Managed-access areas have been established for those hoping to catch sight of the ivory-billed woodpecker. The Bayou DeView Water Trail runs through the refuge and provides amazing views of old-growth stands of baldcypress-water tupelo and a diversity of wildlife.

Bottomland hardwoods serve a critical role in the watershed by reducing the risk and severity of flooding to downstream communities by providing areas to store floodwater. There are approximately 130,000 acres of wetlands in the lower Cache River watershed. The majority, 119,806 acres, are bottomland hardwoods. Notably, the Cache River basin contains a variety of wetland communities including some of the most intact and least disturbed bottomland hardwood forests in the Mississippi Valley region. Floodplain wetlands (e.g. along the Cache River) reduce flooding by absorbing and slowing floodwaters.

CONSERVATION STATUS AND THREATS

Conservation status: Ramsar Designation, National Government Protection

Adjacent Land Use: Forested wetland, Mixed prairie/forest, agricultural (cropland, orchards, greenhouse)

Approximate natural buffer width: > 100 ft

Public Access: Yes, extremely accessible

Other information:

The Cache River National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Contact Station/Headquarters is located 16 miles south of Augusta, Arkansas on AR-33 south. If traveling on US-64, turn south on Highway 33. Follow AR-33 approximately 16 miles and the headquarters will be on the left side (east) of the road. Once you are close there should be signs on highway intersections giving direction to the Refuge Headquarters. 

The Cache River basin is important to the nation's agriculture. Crops grown in the basin include soybeans, cotton, rice, and grains for ethanol production and feed (corn, milo, giant miscanthus). Eight of the eighteen most productive rice-producing counties in the United States fall partially or wholly in the Cache River Basin.

ECOLOGY

Approximate size: 27920.48 ha
General wetland characterization: Inland fresh seasonally flooded basin/flat, Inland fresh shrub swamp, Inland fresh wooded swamp
Adjacent Water Bod(ies): 
  • Stream
Name of body of water: Cache River, White River, Black River

Surficial Geology:

Soils:

The refuge is dominated by nine soil series: Askew fine sandy loam, Foley-Bonn complex, Foley-Calhoun complex, Kobel silty clay loam, McCrory fine sandy loam, Mhoon soils, Sharkey soils, Tuckerman silty clay loam, and Yancopin silty clay loam.


FLORA AND FAUNA

The Cache River basin is in the lower east-central area of the White River watershed. The basin covers about 2,018 square miles in portions of 12 counties in northeast Arkansas and one county in southeast Missouri. The basin is approximately 143 miles in length and at the widest point 18 miles across. The Black/White River watershed lies to the west and north of the Cache basin, the Grand Prairie terrace is to the south along its western boundary, and Crowley’s Ridge is on the east side.

The Cache River Basin is characterized by meandering channels, shallow sloughs, oxbow lakes, bald cypress-tupelo brakes, and scrub/shrub wetlands. The topography includes natural levees, stream channels, and a series of shallow ridges typical of the floodplain. Bottomland hardwood forest was historically the predominant habitat type in this basin, and currently accounts for about 50,000 acres of the refuge. In addition, approximately 21,000 acres of marginal croplands have been reforested on the refuge and about 3,000 acres of croplands are actively managed through a cooperative farming program.

Dominant flora: Moist soil (native) plants primarily dominate the refuge in emergent wetlands, such as smartweeds, barnyard/panicum grasses, sedges, and rushes. Duckweed and submerged aquatic vegetation such as hydrilla, coontail, widgeongrass, milfoil, etc. dominates the forested/permanent wetlands.

Unique flora: Some unique flora/plant communities that dominate the refuge are rivercane brakes, extensive cypress/tupelo brakes, and a diversity of BLH species such as swamp white oak, Nuttall oak, overcup oak, water oak, willow oak, ash, sweetgum, buttonbush, bitternut hickory, and shellbark hickory.

Dominant fauna: The Cache River NWR is home to more than 50 species of mammals, 247 species of birds, and 48 species of reptiles and amphibians. Fauna includes, deer, raccoon, bobcat, otter, birds (including ducks, geese, wading birds, and assorted migratory birds), reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates. The aquatic community within the lower Cache River ecosystem contains 70% of the fish and mussels known to occur in the Arkansas Mississippi River Alluvial Plain ecoregion.

Unique fauna: USFWS and AGFC have collaboratively been monitoring alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula) within the lower White River and in other basins where the species historically occurred.

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