McCurtain County Wilderness Area

The McCurtain County Wilderness Area is a 14,087 acres (5,701 ha) wilderness nature preserve 25 miles north of Broken Bow, Oklahoma. It has been owned by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation since 1918[1] It was designated a National Natural Landmark in December 1974 for its excellent example of a xeric upland oak-pine forest.[2]

Contents

Description

The Area is in the southern section of the Ouachita Uplift and ranged from 575 feet (175 m) to 1,363 feet (415 m) in elevation. It receives 47.5 inches (121 cm) of rain annually, the highest amount in the state.

Wildlife

There are over 110 bird species have been identified in the area, including the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker[3] and Bald Eagle. It was nominated as an Important Bird Area in 2008 by the Audubon Society[4]

There were over 359 species of plants in the area.[5]

Visiting

There is a short 1 mile nature trail, but further exploration of the east side of the reservoir requires advance permission.[6]

References

  1. ^ McCurtain County Getaways
  2. ^ NPS NNL Summary
  3. ^ Tulsa Audubon Society
  4. ^ IBA description of site
  5. ^ "Floristic Inventory of the McCurtain County Wilderness Area, Oklahoma". Herbarium, Department of Botany, and ¹Department of Forestry, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078. http://digital.library.okstate.edu/oas/oas_pdf/v77/p99_102.pdf. Retrieved 2008-12-15. 
  6. ^ Official Site and Visitor Instructions

External links