Greentree Reservoir Management

The sight of mallards falling through the trees in Arkansas’s flooded timber is a magical experience for duck hunters. At the turn of the 20th century, the Arkansas Delta and other river floodplains in the state boasted more than 5 million acres of bottomland hardwood forests. Changes in land and water use eventually destroyed or degraded more than 60 percent of this amazing bottomland ecosystem in Arkansas. In the 1950s greentree reservoirs were developed to offer reliably flooded bottomland hardwoods to mitigate these losses and provide habitat and duck hunting opportunity. But time has not been kind to Arkansas GTRs. The forest composition and health have gradually changed to less desirable conditions. Scientific information gained during the last few decades encourages a more natural and sustainable management philosophy for GTRs.