As time passed, equipment improved, and market needs increased which left the remaining trees in many areas populating only the least favorable lands. Like many acreages across Oklahoma the history of this area traces to the late 1800s, when European settlers began clearing forest in favor of land for crops and grazing. This was a feature returned to the landscape through no small effort. Below the water’s surface grains of sand and pebbles sparkled clearly as if they sat atop a mirror. “I think the clearness of your water tells the story right here,” says Patton, as he admired the relatively deep bend in the new, winding stream. Tall willows that recently found new life bent in the light breeze behind them and crystal-clear water flowed in a stream past their boots. But on this day, they stood below a shallow embankment with a wetland developing behind it. This location likely was a damp spot below a pond populated with cattle standing belly deep in the waters to stay cool in years past. A low bank above them indicated what used to be a pond dam from a former cattle ranch on what’s known as the “Oka’ East” side of the preserve.
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From this viewpoint the winding paths marked by the white tubes between them, and the river brought the full scope of the sinuosity involved into perspective.
“We found that the natural capital or the dollar value of the Blue River watershed contributes $928 million to $1.7 billion in ecosystem benefits each year.”įuhr and Chickasaw Nation Director of Natural Resources Kris Patton found a spot to admire the restoration project on a hillside that offered a welcomed breeze on a humid early summer day, not long after a heavy rain. “It helps us gain a better understanding of the relationship between a healthy environment, a resilient economy and a thriving community,” says Fuhr. TNC turned to a budding field of study called ecosystem economics which calculates the value of a river in terms of cultural, natural and physical values, says Fuhr. It supports agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and recreation and is a water source for more than 150,000 people in cities like Ada, Sulphur and Durant. TNC, the Chickasaw Nation and private donors teamed up to purchase the initial 3,108 acres in 2011.Īs one of only two Oklahoma rivers that remain unimpeded by dams, the Blue River is both a rare, sparkling jewel and a vital breadbasket. Oka’ Yanahli, the Chickasaw word for flowing waters, is the name of the 3,598-acre preserve along the banks of the Blue River, which is one of TNC’s five priority Oklahoma watersheds. “We are essentially trying to give Mother Nature a head start helping the trees grow instead of waiting for them to come back only from seeds spread by birds and other wildlife.” “Look across here and just imagine it in 10 or 15 or even 50 years, as these trees grow,” says Mike Fuhr, state director for The Nature Conservancy in Oklahoma. It will grow more resilient to a changing climate and stand stronger against flooding, drought and heat.
Unchecked soil erosion and stream sedimentation will slow, soil health will improve, and the landscape will thrive with more life, from deer, Northern bobwhites, Prothonotary warblers, bobcats, wild turkeys and bald eagles to fish, freshwater invertebrates and microorganisms. Like a person who has found a way to defeat the source of an unhealthy habit or damaging diet, this piece of land is meant to become a replenishing, nourishing acreage not just for the waters of the Blue River but for the land, all living things in this place over the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer, and for people who come to witness the transformation.
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The trees and shrubs and their offspring, plus native species waiting in the existing seed bank, are poised to make a transformation. Carefully engineered grades, curves, riffles and pools, the wetland features that hold, soak, filter and guide rainfall from the green hills to the river, hang on the future of these anchors. Their formations show the future of restored critical stream sinuosity-or the winding squiggles that flowing water paints on the land.
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