Waterfowl hunters heading into the Ed Gordon Point Remove Wildlife Management Area this season will notice a significant shortage of flooded habitat after thieves stripped critical components from the area’s water-delivery system earlier this year.
According to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, vandals removed all copper wiring, electrical controls and other components from a 200-horsepower electric pump used to flood 20 of the WMA’s 23 moist-soil units. The pump feeds a seven-mile network of underground pipes that helps produce native wetland plants essential for ducks, shorebirds and other wintering migrants.
“They essentially stripped everything from the meter loop to the VFD and motor,” AGFC wildlife biologist Alex Zachary said. “They cut the wire so close to the motor that we had to have it pulled and rewound. And the VFD was completely gutted.”
Jason Jackson, AGFC’s statewide wetland renovation program coordinator, said the variable frequency drive functions as the “brain” of the system, controlling torque and speed for a pump with no internal gearing. The specialized component had to be custom-built, contributing to delays.
AGFC staff are hopeful the system can be repaired before duck season opens, but the setback has already had major consequences. With no ability to manipulate water throughout the summer, moist-soil production was significantly reduced. Crews attempted to keep vegetation alive using a portable camel-back pump, but the temporary setup was far less efficient and failed after only a few weeks.
Last yearthe first year the 200-horsepower pump was operationalthe system ran almost continuously from July through fall, providing the extensive habitat hunters and migrating waterfowl rely on. This year, that pumping never happened.
Jackson said the damage will exceed $50,000, but the habitat loss poses the greater threat.
“Every acre of water and moist-soil habitat is important to the duck energy days Arkansas needs to keep waterfowl populations healthy,” he said. “With reduced water in greentree reservoirs and less waste grain available because of modern farming practices, moist-soil habitat like what Ed Gordon provides is critical.”
Anyone with information about the theft is asked to call the AGFC Enforcement Radio Room at 833-356-0824, the Conway County Sheriff’s Office at 501-354-2411, or email tips@conwaycountysheriff.org.
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