MO-Big+Buffalo+Creek+Conservation+Area


 * =Birding in Missouri=

Benton County
=Big Buffalo Creek Conservation Area= Cole Camp, Missouri 65325 Big Buffalo Creek Conservation Area Website Big Buffalo Creek Conservation Area Map Big Buffalo Creek Conservation Area Brochure

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Big Buffalo Creek CA
Coordinates: 38.342767, -93.0818367 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

Tips on birding Big Buffalo Creek Conservation Area
From Audubon Society of Missouri Birder's Guide

From Versailles go west 10 miles on MO-52, then south eight miles on Route FF to the end of the blacktop, turn west on Big Buffalo Road, and watch for area signs.

From Cole Camp go south 13 miles on Route B, then east on Route WW to the end of the blacktop. Turn north on Big Buffalo Road and go 1.25 miles to the area.

The area is mostly forest. Facilities/features: primitive camping, three interconnected hiking trails, Big Buffalo Lake (six acres), three springs and two permanent streams (Big Buffalo Creek and Pole Hollow Creek). There is one Natural Area: Big Buffalo Fen (40 acres of calcereous wet meadow, deep muck fen and sedge meadow shrub fen with associated upland watershed to buffer the fen).

Big Buffalo Creek Conservation Area is in east-central Benton and west-central Morgan counties. This 1,555-acre, mostly forested area contains one fishing pond, three springs and 1.5 miles of Big Buffalo Creek.

Big Buffalo Creek Conservation Area was acquired in 1964 with Sport Fish Restoration Funds for the purposes of fisheries research in the hatchery ponds and for smallmouth bass habitat research on Big Buffalo Creek. Stream-flow dynamics research is still on-going, but all original fisheries research projects have been finished.

Currently, the area is managed for the long-term health and sustainability of the diverse forest resources. Forest management activities that can be observed on the area include timber stand improvement, tree planting, commercial thinning, even-aged and uneven-aged commercial harvests, woodland restoration, and glade/savanna restoration. All of these practices are implemented using best management practices to protect the soil and water resources of the watershed. Management also includes the preservation of several old growth areas. All practices are carried out in such a way to provide a variety of wildlife habitats to allow the area to support diverse and vibrant wildlife populations.

Big Buffalo Creek Conservation Area has one designated natural area, Big Buffalo Creek Fen Natural Area. The fen is a 40-acre portion of the conservation area with natural features that include a small, spring-fed fen, a spring branch and creek, dolomite glades, and forest. Sedges dominate the fen vegetation, and blue flag, marsh coneflower, Riddell's goldenrod, willow, and the rare bushy aster are found here. From Big Buffalo Creek Conservation Area Website || media type="custom" key="26733676"

media type="custom" key="26654044" || L420520 US US-MO US-MO-015 38.342767 -93.0818367 Big Buffalo Creek CA