In general, species composition and management strategies should be dictated by site, soils, and the management objectives of the landowner. All management activities should comply with state Best Management Practices (BMPs). Special areas may be identified in a given tract area or region, and management strategies formulated to maintain or enhance them. Such areas should include cypress stands for den sites, canebreaks, palmetto or other thickets for escape cover, key hard and soft mast sources for food, and corridors connecting forested areas for travel cover.

Forest Diversity

Diversity is the key to maintaining good bear habitat. In some areas, bear densities are extremely high and home ranges are relatively small in part because of the mix of bottomland hardwoods, managed timber, and agriculture on the landscape. Diversity within the forest stand is also important. Maintaining a diversity of age classes, stand types, and vegetative composition within the forest will provide excellent habitat conditions for black bears. Stand diversity will be greater using an uneven-age management system, with single tree selection, group selection, or small patch harvest cuts. Harvesting operations should be scheduled to create optimum between-stand diversity by scheduling cuts on adjacent compartments at different times. The size, shape, arrangement and proximity of harvest cuts should be relative to state BMPs as well as black bear needs.

Streamside Management Zones

Travel corridors that allow bears to move through vegetative cover from one forest block to another are extremely important components of bear habitat. Connecting the currently isolated bear populations living in separate forested areas is one of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s criteria for recovering the species. Because bears will take advantage of waterways to travel through their home ranges, Streamside Management Zones (SMZs) can provide travel corridors and other benefits to bears. A SMZ is a vegetated buffer zone along streams, bayous, and drainages that aids in preventing erosion and siltation and also provides critical elements for good bear habitat. Because a majority of SMZs are managed for hardwoods, they can provide hard mast production, den sites, and escape cover as well as travel corridors. These areas should be managed by selective harvesting, favoring hard mast species and cavity tree den sites. State BMPs and site characteristics should be employed during layout of SMZs. If included in the timber base, SMZs should be wide enough to be a silviculturally manageable stand separate from adjacent stands. Mature hollow or cull hardwoods should be left along drainages in SMZs and travel corridors for potential denning sites. These trees should be marked and protected during management activities. Fire should be excluded from these areas, except on soils and slopes where the plowing of fire lanes would result in more site damage than a cool burn. Herbicides should only be applied in an SMZ on a selective/individual tree basis, and are otherwise discouraged to protect water sources. The SMZs should be as wide as possible, based on site evaluation and landowner objectives.

Den Sites

Black bears den in heavy cover or tree cavities in winter. Most bears in the Atchafalaya Basin den in brushpiles next to discarded logs or in thick briar and vine growth. Winter den sites in the Tensas Basin, however, are predominately found in tree cavities rather than ground dens. The federal listing specifically states that den trees, den tree sites, and candidate den trees in occupied habitat are to be protected. Candidate den trees are considered to be bald cypress and tupelo gum with visible cavities, having a minimum diameter at breast height (dbh) of 36 inches, and occurring in or along rivers, lakes, streams, bayous, sloughs, or other water bodies. However, studies throughout the region frequently document other tree species used as den sites that are not necessarily over water. Landowners wishing to manage for den trees should retain as many trees that are >36 in dbh with visible cavities as feasible, regardless of tree species or proximity to water. Through work on the Tensas River NWR, researchers suggest landowners managing bear den trees maintain a minimum of 5% of their forests managed in the >250 yr age class. From studies in southern Arkansas, researchers suggest that in areas where frequent flooding occurs, forestry operations should concentrate logging debris (e.g., cut tree tops, cull piles, slash) on higher ground to prevent bears from selecting den sites in debris that could flood during winter.

Roads

Roads may influence bear movements and habitat use, although responses vary depending on road type, traffic volume, and where they are located on the landscape. Previous studies suggested that bears avoid wide areas along busy roads, but roads with low traffic do not necessarily affect bear habitat use. In fact, logging roads with little vehicular traffic are used by bears for travel and foraging along the roadside. Maintenance of wide roadsides will promote the production of soft mast. These areas should be burned, bush-hogged or disked on a 3 to 5 year cycle. Construction of logging and other roads that may provide permanent routes of access to occupied bear habitat should be limited to a minimum of 1/2 mile apart. Using gates to control vehicular traffic on these roads after completion of logging will limit disturbances to bears.

Forest Openings

Some small forest openings should be maintained in early successional natural plant species such as dewberry or pokeweed or in planted foods. Plantings of corn or clover in summer and small grains and clover in winter are beneficial. These areas should be burned, bush-hogged or disked on a 3 to 5 year cycle. Emphasis should be placed on integrating forest and agricultural management by utilizing existing adjacent agricultural fields or rights-of-way for the permanent openings.