Arkansas River Master Plan: The Greater Tulsa Area communities recognized that the Arkansas River Corridor is an important natural resource that could be developed to stimulate immense private investment and to greatly improve the quality of life for current and future generations. Adaptive Ecosystems, Inc. completed a field reconnaissance of the 45-mile river corridor to identify existing natural resource and mitigation/restoration opportunities. Adaptive Ecosystems, Inc. coordinated with the USACE, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, INCOG, Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory/Oklahoma Biological Survey, and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (Natural Diversity Section) to obtain species data, protected species habitat information/mapping, and the locations of intact natural communities. These data were used to develop the masterplan.

Arkansas River Master Plan

The Greater Tulsa Area communities recognized that the Arkansas River Corridor is an important natural resource that could be developed to stimulate immense private investment and to greatly improve the quality of life for current and future generations. A Phase 1 study was completed that addressed privately and publicly owned property within the river corridor and identified potential conservation, development, and redevelopment sites.

For Phase II, Adaptive Ecosystems, Inc. assisted C.H. Guernsey in assessing the feasibility of specific sites, identifying funding measures and mechanisms, and identifying natural resource constraints and opportunities. Adaptive Ecosystems, Inc. completed a field reconnaissance of the 45-mile river corridor to identify existing natural resource and mitigation/restoration opportunities. We coordinated with the USACE, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, INCOG, Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory/Oklahoma Biological Survey, and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (Natural Diversity Section) to obtain species data, protected species habitat information/mapping, and the locations of intact natural communities.

Adaptive Ecosystems, Inc. provided C.H. Guernsey with an Ecological Opportunities and Constraints Report for Phase II. The report described the general ecological condition of the corridor including both terrestrial and aquatic resources. Adaptive completed a series of agency interviews regarding the biological resources in the corridor with emphasis on threatened and endangered species habitats in the project area. The report provided a culmination of agency responses relative to the opportunities and constraints associated with threatened and endangered species such as the interior least tern (Sterna antillarum), piping plover (Charadrius melodus), and bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). The report also provided a summary of additional ecological constraints often overlooked during master planning such as golden algae blooms(Prymnesium parvum) blooms and zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) that may occur with implementation of project elements. The report concluded with mitigation opportunities to offset the potential impacts to the project corridor ecology.