Construction 2021-2022
1. From Forest to Farmland
The rich bottomlands of Big Creek were once a thriving old growth riparian forest made up of oaks, bald cypress, hickory, and associated riparian vegetation. These ancient habitats did not escape the land clearing madness of the 1960's to satisfy the soybean farming craze of the era. After conversion from riparian forest to farm land, the natural process of flooding did not change (and in fact increased). Year round flooding continued to wipe out the agricultural crops almost every year.
2. Planning and Permits
In the spring of 2021, the process began to convert Ozotiowe back to its best use: a natural landscape that would better fit the year round cycle of flooding along Big Creek. In late 2021 environmental analysis, planning/management, and construction plans were completed with the aid of biologists from the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission and Ducks Unlimited. Permits were secured from the US Army Corps of Engineers in the summer of 2022, setting the stage for construction.
3. Construction/Habitat Restoration
In the fall of 2022, the farmland sections were tilled, a well was dug, and a pump was installed. Soon afterward, precision grading commenced on the North and South side of Big Creek to develop a series of managed moist soil units. Grading was completed in the fall of 2022.
The moist soil units were immediately filled with pumped water, and wildlife use of the new habitat was immediate and dramatic. Egrets, spoonbills, herons, ibis, and shorebirds settled into the ponds, eager to feed on the invertebrates that hatched a few days after filling the units. Waterfowl arrived in early winter. The rest of the winter of 2022 and early 2023 was spent planting thousands of cottonwoods, willows, persimmons, oaks, bald cypress, tupelo, buttonwillows, and emergents to jumpstart the revegetation process.
4. Post Construction Success
Mother Nature and Father Time have enriched Ozotiowe. Floodwaters continuously bring in native plant seeds that germinate as the weather warms up in the spring. Sprangeltop, toothcup, panic grass, sedges, smartweed, and millet create a luxurious growth of plants that cover all of Ozotiowe.
Planted and naturally germinating woody vegetation adds to the habitat. The combination of moist soil plants, invertebrates, amphibians, and fishes provide the resident and migratory wildlife of Ozotiowe with habitat the year round.
