Wetland Management Plan Update

Newsletter of the White Oak Bayou Wetland Management Plan

thecypressknee@swbell.net

The Cypress Knee

A trail system

is beginning to

develop in

White Oak

Bayou (WO B).

The city has

started to build

a wetland trail

that will en-

compass a sec-

tion of the WOB. The sec-

tion completed can be viewed

off of Country Club Parkway.

A water trail would be an ex-

cellent addition to this trail

system. Arkansas Game &

Fish Commission’s Kirsten

Bartlow offered some guidance

for this endeavor. Kirsten said

that currently Burns Park has a

grant to create a WOB Water

Trail within Burns Park and

felt additional areas trails in the

Bayou would be great for the

area.

On September 30, 2014, the

cities wetland consultants went

out in the field and mapped

possible sections that that can

be accessed by canoe. The

pictures on this newsletter are

from that day. Some concep-

tual canoe routes were mapped

that day and the city is consid-

ering possible public access

points for the future.

This fall, a meeting was held

in Dallas, TX with the EPA.

Representatives with the city of

Maumelle, representatives of

the Steering Committee, and

city consultants presented a

project update to the EPA

wetland chief and other head

figures within EPA. The re-

ception was very good. Jim

Narey (City’s Planning Direc-

tor) commented that, “They

were completely enthralled and

said they had never seen a pro-

ject with as much heart.”

Some of the key discussions

were the Wetland Mitigation

Plan, Technical Advisory Com-

mittee success, developing

public outreach, and renewing

the EPA Grant.

A draft prospectus for a pos-

sible Wetland Mitigation Bank

was submitted to Arkansas

Natural Resources Commis-

sion (ANRC) for evaluation.

After

ANRC

reviews

the pro-

spectus,

they will

send the

document

to the U.S.

Army

Corps of

Engineers

July-November 2014

Volume 6 Issue 4

Wetland Management Plan Update

1

Wetland Ecology: Anaerobic Conditions

2

Plant of the Month: Hardy Orange

2

Inside this issue:

Important Dates:

November 18 –

Steering Commit-

tee Meeting,

3:00-4:30 p.m.;

Civic Room of Jess

Odom Community

Center

Beaver Dam and Lodge on the Bayou!

Story Ideas?

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thecypressknee@

swbell.net

Current developments, meeting updates, and future plans

Find this newsletter on Maumelle’s Planning and Zoning website: http://maumelle.org/city-departments/planning-a-zoning.html

for review. It is hoped that the

process will define a path to

protect WOB wetlands!

Future plans for WOB in-

clude the City of Maumelle

hiring a WOB coordinator.

This position would be able to

coordinate the City’s White

Oak Bayou wetland programs,

map wetland with GIS, coordi-

nate volunteer groups, work

with technical consultant, and

work with other city staff and

divisions to accomplish their

objectives in the watershed.

A WOB volunteer group is

being assembled to help keep

the community involved with

the WOB and to proceed with

WOB endeavors. The volun-

teer group will participate in

leading field trips, helping build

the Maumelle Middle School

wetland trail, and other public

involvement.

Canoeing on the Bayou for the future Water Trail!

Before we get into how anaer-

obic conditions are formed and

how they influence wetland

characteristics, we need to

know the literal meaning of

anaerobic conditions. Aerobic

means “living in the presence

of air, ” so anaerobic literally

means “living without air.”

Wetlands are “areas that are

inundated or saturated by sur-

face or ground water at a fre-

quency and duration sufficient

to support,...a prevalence of

vegetation (hydrophytes) typi-

cally adapted for life in saturat-

ed soil conditions.” As soil

becomes increasingly wet, the

space between soil particles are

filled with water, and soil be-

comes saturated. Saturated

soils do not transfer oxygen

efficiently. Bacteria, hydro-

phytic vegetation, and other

living organisms in the soil use

up the limited remaining oxy-

Wetland Ecology: Anaerobic conditions

is 1.5 –2 in. in diameter, ripening

from green to dull yellow, and

sticky . These “oranges” are very

bitter, but people have been known

to make marmalade when they are

dried and powdered.

This invasive plant can be found in

some locations along White Oak

Bayou.

Plant of the Month: Hardy Orange

Scientific Name:

Poncirus trifoliata

This hardy orange is an invasive

deciduous shrub or small tree that

grows from 8-30 ft. in height. This

shrub came from the temperate en-

vironment of Asia. Since Arkansas

is considered a temperate ecosystem,

the plant is able to survive and

thrive in our state.

This shrub is distinguishable from

other plants due to its 1 inch long

thorns! The stems are green and in

the spring the shrub has white flow-

ers with five petals. The bark has

green stripes.

The shrub does produce a fruit that

Page 2 The Cypress Knee Volume 6 Issue 4

Wetland Trivia

Featuring plants, animals and other critters in your area

This picture was taken by Jeff McMillian.

Exploring the functions and values of wetlands in the ecosystem

Wetlands are neither terrestrial

(land-based) nor aquatic (water-

based), but a transitional area be-

tween the two.

gen, causing anaerobic condi-

tions to occur.

Now that we know how the

anaerobic conditions develop,

we need to know why these

condition are significant to the

process of wetlands soil and

plants. If soil had enough

oxygen the iron in soil would

be oxidized resulting

in soil to be a red or

brown in color. Wet-

land soils (hydric

soils) having little to

no oxygen causes the

iron to become solu-

ble with the water in

the saturated soil.

The iron is then

leached out and re-

duced to produce a

generally grey soil.

Hydrophytes are

plants that have special adapta-

tions for living in wet anaero-

bic soils. Therefore, soils that

are saturated for many days

each year will influence the

plants growing in the soil de-

veloping the characteristics or

properties of a wetland.

Saturated soil with hydrophytic vegetation in the White Oak Bayou.