Dixie Point – Arkansas
When the call came to help elk, deer, wild turkey, black bears and other Arkansas wildlife, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation answered and took action. Beginning in 1992, RMEF and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, or GFC, teamed up to carry out prescribed burns, create wildlife openings, invasive weed treatment, seeding and other habitat enhancement work on the Gene Rush Wildlife Management Area.
Later that decade, GFC asked RMEF to take the lead on a different kind of project – one to convert a 200-acre private inholding within the WMA to public land. Doing so would conserve the land by protecting its wildlife values, maintaining connectivity and improving access to the surrounding WMA. Located about 100 miles north of Little Rock, the property lies between the Buffalo National River to the north and the Ozark National Forest to the south. It features hardwood forests, open meadows and abundant water sources including five natural springs. In short, it’s prime wildlife habitat. RMEF got to work collaborating with the landowner and helping to raise funding, ultimately acquiring and conveying the land to GFC, which made a conscientious decision to manage the property as critical elk winter range.
And because of those efforts, hunters, anglers, hikers, wildlife watchers and others continue to the enjoy public access benefits to the now 17,652-acre WMA to this day. Since 1984 – 1.5 million acres of opened or improved public access.
To view the sites and boundaries of RMEF land conservation and access projects, turn on the RMEF layer and use the code RMEF when you sign up for your onX subscription to receive a 20% discount -> Join Here