McCurtain County Wilderness Area

McCurtain County Wilderness Area
Map showing the location of McCurtain County Wilderness Area

Map of Oklahoma

Location McCurtain County, Oklahoma
Nearest city Broken Bow
Coordinates 34°17′45″N 94°38′27″W / 34.29583°N 94.64083°W / 34.29583; -94.64083Coordinates: 34°17′45″N 94°38′27″W / 34.29583°N 94.64083°W / 34.29583; -94.64083
Area 14,087 acres (5,701 ha)
Governing body Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation
http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/facts_maps/wma/mccurtain.htm
Designated 1974

The McCurtain County Wilderness Area is a 14,087 acres (5,701 ha) wilderness nature preserve 25 miles (40 km) 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]

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

Visiting

There is a short 1 mile (1.6 km) 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. ↑ Bruce A. Smith, Ronald J. Tyrl, and Ronald E. Masters. "Floristic Inventory of the McCurtain County Wilderness Area, Oklahoma" (PDF). Herbarium, Department of Botany, and Department of Forestry, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
  6. ↑ Official Site and Visitor Instructions

Please replace Mccurtaincountygetaways.com url with the new website which is visitmccurtaincounty.com. It is the official website of the McCurtain County Tourism Authority.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, October 23, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.