Projects

The project area for the 2024 Big Piney Burning and Habitat Restoration Project proposes periodic prescribed burning on approxiamtely 245,690 acres of National Forest lands in Johnson, Newton, Madison, Searcy, Pope, Conway, and Van Buren Counties.

The Big Piney Ranger District of the Ozark National Forest is proposing a project involving vegetation treatments on approximately 14,033 total acres of National Forest System (NFS) lands within Johnson and Pope Counties.

This is a programmatic plan amendment affecting vegetation management practices described in Appendix F of the Forest Plan.

Replacement of the Bear Creek Lake dam primary chute spillway & associated activities to address deficiencies that led to failure of the existing spillway in 2019 & to ensure the structure meets established national standards

Renovation of the Blanchard Springs Caverns Visitor Information Center and cavern trail infrastructure within Blanchard Springs Caverns

Forest management in the Carter Mountain area of the Mt. Magazine Ranger District.

Repairing the spillway on the Cove Lake Dam

Forest management activities to reduce the risk of insect and disease outbreaks and increase stand health.

Multi-resource project to help improve forest conditions; stands more resilient to stressors such as weather, insects, and disease. Improving habitat for game species as well as threatened, endangered, and sensitive species. Improving trails, roads.

Multi-resource project to help improve forest conditions with trees that are more resilient to insects, diseases, weather events; improve habitat for threatened, endangered and sensitive species; improve watershed conditions.

Restoration of habitat for the endangered Indiana bat through timber harvests, thinning, prescribed fire and associated actions within the primary and secondary conservation zones utilizing an adaptive management approach.

Salvage of storm damaged trees in area impacted by May 7th 2024 wind event. Use of heavy equipment using skidders, dozers, logging tricks. System roads will be needed to access areas. May create up to 1/2 mile temporary roads.

Salvage of trees damaged by wind event in Fern Community on May 7th, 2024. Use of heavy equipment to extract timber such as skidders, dozers, logging trucks using system roads and up to 1/2 mile temporary road construction.

Vegetation management activities across Ozark National Forest, including timber, silvicultural treatments, burning, and wildlife management, also connected actions such as roads/firebreaks.

Manage allotments on district by grazing livestock to combat woody plant encroachment and maintain open conditions.

Improvement of 10.17 miles of Shores Lake Road.

Vegetation management activities including regeneration and thinning harvests, prescribed burning and control of non-native invasive plants to improve resilience against environmental stressors on 2906 acres of NFS land.

To control non-native aquatic invasive plant infestations within Bear Creek Lake and Storm Creek Lake. Control methods could include aquatic labeled herbicide applications, manual removal, and/or mechanical removal.

Proposing management of 4 range allotments with conversion from exotic pasture grass to native grasses, forbs and herbaceous species on fields; proposal includes placing 2 allotments in closed status and removing them from the NFS range system.

Maintenance and improvement of non-motorized trails; actions will include realignment when needed;limited herbicide use; converting a road and a user-created trail to system trail; constructing new trail