Photo of Bald Eagle at Blue Mountain Lake Taken By: Bobby J. Rice

Wise management of natural resources on and around Blue Mountain Lake is necessary and important to maintain the quality of the environment we enjoy.  The public land that surrounds the lake provides a buffer that ensures high quality water, as well as habitat for the abundant wildlife and plants found here. Comprehensive natural resource plans are developed to guide our efforts toward accomplishing this goal. The US Army Corps of Engineers, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and volunteer groups play important roles in the cooperative management of hunting and non-hunting areas.

Management of natural resources on Blue Mountain Lake emphasizes the biological requirements, as well as the recreational and scenic interests and will be managed as a watershed approach. Protection and enhancement of existing resources, while allowing maximum and practical use, will be the management concept.  Enhancement of the existing resource will be accomplished in areas where site potential warrants, or where carrying capacity can be reasonably increased without degradation of the existing resource. The primary goal of Natural Resource Management is to follow accepted conservation practices that will enhance the recreational and wildlife values and benefit the total environment.

The total project acreage on Blue Mountain Lake is 17,018 acres, with 5,968 acres above the top of the flood conservation pool and 7,700 acres between the average conservation pool and top of the flood control pool. The surface of the area of the lake varies from approximately 3,550 acres at conservation pool, to approximately 11,000 acres at the top of the flood control pool. The project is divided up into 15 management units.

There are many different habitats managed on Blue Mountain Lake. We manage bottomland hardwoods, pine plantations, mature and old growth pine stands, pine-oak-hickory mixed forests, wetlands, and grasslands. These habitat types consist of early stages of ecological succession to mature forest type stands.

We intend to maintain and create healthy ecosystems that will promote wildlife habitat and timber production, while enhancing recreation, preserving aesthetic values, and protecting soil, air, and water quality.  We will also protect all cultural and historical resources on the project.