Blue Goose ~ Day 267

February 18, 2015 ~ Texarkana, AR to Bastrop, LA

Feeling rested, I continued this morning, going east in sunshine on a main road with little traffic. It is only on the secondary roads all through here that the logging trucks make one drive with extreme caution. They carry medium- to small-sized logs and are very different from those seen out west. Here the trees hang over the end of the trailers on a downward slant and have small twiggy branches with greenery still attached, blowing in the wind as the trucks go 70 mph down narrow two-lane roads with no shoulders. It's crazy how fast they go and how much logging is occurring. I constantly passed denuded clear-cut and very messy places, with unsalvageable logging litter scattered about, leaving the land bereft and open.

Felsenthal NWR is described on the FWS website as a "low lying area is dissected by an intricate system of rivers, creeks, sloughs, buttonbush swamps and lakes throughout a vast bottomland hardwood forest that gradually rises to an upland forest community." 

Ouachita River - Felsenthal WR - AR

The waters of the Ouachita River flow through this refuge about halfway in its course from headwaters in the Ouachita Mountains in west central Arkansas to the Tensas River in Louisiana and then ultimately to the Mississippi. 

WWW.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Below Lake Jack Lee, the Ouachita continues south into Louisiana. The river flows generally south through the state, collecting the tributary waters of Bayou Bartholomew, Bayou de Loutre, Bayou d'Arbonne, the Boeuf River, and the Tensas River. The river below the junction of the Tensas is called the Black River in Catahoula Parish and Concordia Parish until it joins the Red River, which flows into both the Atchafalaya River and the Mississippi River, via the Old River Control Structure.

I like the names of things down here...the bayous, Atchafalaya, parishes (counties elsewhere)...and am intrigued when I see words like the "Old River Control Structure." I think the solid ground of half of the states of Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Georgia has been claimed from swamps and tidal marshes. It is so WATERY everywhere. The road beds are all elevated to varying degrees.  

Lake Jack Lee is the reservoir adjacent to Felsenthal. The Ouachita has five major dams. So, when a watercourse claims the distinction of being a free-flowing river, pay attention. It is not common, especially on our major rivers. I think bodies of water created by dams should never be called "lakes" but always "reservoirs." Just a personal bias in favor of original and natural water features.

Felsenthal NWR - AR

I only drove to one river access point on Felsenthal and then checked in at the large VC, which was situated in a lovely sun-dappled grove of trees. Pine Warblers were foraging here also in the parking lot. Felsenthal does what many of these southeastern refuges do, and this includes managing for the Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Savannah-like areas are created in long-needled pine habitat and man-made nesting cavities are provided. In addition, they mess around with water and hunters and invasive species eradication, migratory waterfowl, resident species...always working to optimize habitat for flora and fauna. At Felsenthal, feral swine are also a concern causing all kinds of problems, including issues with hunters, which is one more thread on the Internet that distracted me. Check it out if you are interested. Feral hogs are increasing and are problematic. 

I am ignored when I go into the Visitor Centers lately, but that is in part my fault as I don't try to find staff, and there often is no one at the front desk. I think visitors are a minor annoyance at some refuges, and while courteous if someone does poke their head out of offices, they mostly just want to tend to whatever it is they do.  But there are other refuges which welcome visitors and are genuinely grateful that someone is interested and seeks them out. 

I found a motel in Bastrop where I worked a few hours. There has been been little relief from the night-time freezing temperatures and a dismal forecast for the next several days. This, also, I did not expect so far south.