Seventh Eastern Old-Growth Conference

The Eastern Native Tree Society, the University of Arkansas, and the USDA Forest Service are pleased to announce that the Seventh Eastern Old-Growth Forest Conference will be held in the Conway Lecture Hall at the Peabody Hotel in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas, on March 24-25, 2006. The Conference is free and open to the public, and on-site registration will be permitted!

Old-growth baldcypress and tupelo at Bayou DeView, Arkansas

An aerial perspective of the old-growth tupelo (yellow)-baldcypress (rusty brown) canopy north of I-40 at Bayou DeView. This image from fall 2005 was taken approximately 60 meters above the ground and depicts ancient cypress up to 38 meters tall.

The Seventh Eastern Old-Growth Forest Conference will be specifically dedicated to the ancient forest ecosystems and endangered species of Arkansas and the surrounding south-central United States. Speakers will describe the aesthetic, conservation, and scientific values of native old-growth forest types, including the bottomland hardwood-baldcypress community, the oak-hickory, oak-pine, eastern redcedar, and Cross Timbers ecosystems. The rediscovery of the critically endangered ivory-billed woodpecker in the cypress-tupelo woodlands along Bayou DeView in eastern Arkansas, which still retains remnants of centuries-old baldcypress and tupelo forest in a heavily developed agricultural landscape, confirms the significance of our remaining old-growth forests and justifies the federal, state, and private efforts to conserve and restore the Big Woods ecosystem of the lower Mississippi Valley. The successful restoration of the pine-bluestem ecosystem on the Ouachita National Forest, including the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, will also be described. The presentations will conclude with a description of the long-term conservation and restoration vision of The Nature Conservancy for the upland and bottomland forest communities of the south-central United States.

The Conference will include a half-day visit to the ancient cypress-tupelo forests of Bayou DeView in the Dagmar Wildlife Management Area, near the rediscovery site of the ivory bill woodpecker, on March 25. Space on the field trip is also limited, so be sure to reserve your spot early!