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The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is preparing the newly acquired Oakwood Wildlife Management Area for its first year as a public hunting opportunity, and two local partners are joining in the effort to improve access.
Desha County Judge Wayne Smith and the Cypress Creek Drainage District are both working to contract the renovation of a bridge crossing from Arkansas State Highway 277 east of Dumas to the area.
“The bridge has been there for years, and it’s been functional, but out of an abundance of caution, the Arkansas Department of Transportation marked it as in need of repair,” David Luker, assistant chief of wildlife management for the AGFC, said. “The AGFC was looking to replace that infrastructure this year, but Desha County and the Cypress Creek Drainage District quickly stepped up and partnered with us on the project because they see the increased value for the community opening this 2,206-acre WMA will have.”
Luker says contractors will be on-site within the next week or two and should be able to complete the project quickly, weather permitting.
“We fully expect to be done with the repair by the opening of deer archery season (Sept. 26),” Luker said. “Barring any unforeseen delays, we may be complete by the time the early buck-only archery hunt starts on Aug. 29. I’ve already fielded a few calls from hunters excited about getting out there this year.”
Oakwood WMA was added to the AGFC’s hunting opportunities earlier this year, thanks to a land trade between the agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The USFWS previously owned the land known as the Oakwood Unit, but a lack of a public right-of-way hindered the agency’s ability to allow public hunting. The AGFC worked with the USFWS and a private landowner to acquire the property and establish a public right-of-way earlier this year. In exchange, the USFWS acquired a 2,202-acre portion of Beryl Anthony Lower Ouachita WMA that helps connect Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge in south Arkansas with Lower Ouachita NWR in north Louisiana. The property will remain open to hunting under USFWS ownership, thus giving Arkansas public land hunters a net gain of 2,206 acres in south Arkansas.
