Pea Ridge altering vegetation to attract dwindling bobwhites

PEA RIDGE -- Bobwhites once filled fields in the south, but their numbers have dropped. A new partnership and plan at Pea Ridge National Military Park aim to boost their numbers.

Ten years ago, people might have seen a bobwhite or two on the park land, said Kevin Eads, park superintendent. In recent years, park managers have seen an increase, Eads said.

A new vegetation plan meant to return the battlefield land to a state closer to what it was during the battle could further help the bobwhite population. The plan calls for about two-thirds of the park's fields to be converted to native grasses, Eads said.

"Those native grasses will look similar to some of the crops that would have been there," Eads said.

Research for the new vegetation plan started in 2012, and park staff members took their landscape cues from 1836 and 1837 survey records.

The plan calls for thinning the forests and removing invasive species such as cedar trees, which will be cut and reused in fences around the battlefield or for mulch.

The plan set the stage for a partnership of the park, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative.

Bobwhite hunting used to be a pastime on par with eating fried catfish or barbecue or watching Southeastern Conference football, said Don McKenzie, National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative director.

The tradition "slipped away on our generation's watch," he said.

But at the same time, farming practices and residential development replaced habitat where bobwhites once thrived.

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Pea Ridge altering vegetation to attract dwindling bobwhites