What We Do
Management activities on Theodore Roosevelt NWR include forest management, law enforcement, invasive species invasive species
An invasive species is any plant or animal that has spread or been introduced into a new area where they are, or could, cause harm to the environment, economy, or human, animal, or plant health. Their unwelcome presence can destroy ecosystems and cost millions of dollars.
Learn more about invasive species control, research, inventory and monitoring, education, and interpretation.
Management and Conservation
Habitat management programs are implemented to meet conservation objectives for migratory and resident wildlife, as well as native plant communities.
As additional land is acquired within refuge boundaries, various management techniques are used by complex staff to achieve optimal wildlife habitat conditions. Much of the land available for purchase by refuges has been farmed in the past and usually requires reforestation. A variety of native tree species are planted based on elevation, topography, and water levels. As planted trees mature and in already existing forests throughout the refuge complex, management activities include timber harvest. Timber harvest for forest management is currently conducted complex wide in accordance with an approved Forest Management Plan that is designed to meet wildlife habitat objectives. The plan emphasizes activities that protect, restore, and manage the functions and values of the forest to support viable populations of native flora and fauna, consistent with sound biological principles. Priority is given to management activities for federal trust species, such as migratory birds. Forest management prescriptions include timber stand improvement, commercial timber harvest, and reforestation. Habitat manipulations would be conducted primarily through commercial timber harvests of surplus forest products. The sale and disposition of forest products would comply with open market rules and formal bid solicitations.
Individual forest stands are inventoried, timber harvest prescriptions developed, and timber harvest operations carried out in a manner that will accomplish the forest habitat management objectives for migratory birds, threatened or endangered species, and resident wildlife. Timber marking operations will select trees that would be harvested by commercial timber and pulpwood operators. Trees may also be removed through timber stand improvement operations or by permittees when commercial sales are not feasible.
Forest management operations are directed at providing more vertical diversity throughout the overstory, mid-story, understory, and ground flora. Favoring trees of varying ages and sizes, including some of the largest dominants within each forest block, will promote the habitat requirements of forest-dwelling birds and other resident wildlife. Forest conditions following timber harvest are more beneficial to wildlife as harvest operations can help restore the functions and values typically associated with bottomland hardwood forests historically occurring throughout the region.
Our Projects and Research
Theodore Roosevelt NWR Complex has collaborated with Mississippi State University (MSU) and University of Southern Mississippi to conduct multiple studies as part of the graduate programs.