Caney Mountain Natural Area
OZARK 151 Caney Mountain
Long Bald - 1983
Long Bald - 1985
Long Bald - 1993
A 1,330-acre area located north of Gainesville within the 7,899-acre Caney Mountain Conservation Area in Section 1, T23N, R14W and Sections 5, 6, 7 and 8, T23N, R13W, Gainesville NW 7.5 min. topographic map. This area contains the former Long Bald Natural Area. Designated June 16, 1983 (Long Bald portion) and June 26, 1990 (addition).
Natural Features
Glades and savannas on Jefferson City-Cotter dolomite, old-growth upland forest, caves and a headwaters creek with a variety of plants and animals in the White River Section of the Ozark Natural Division. Caney Mountain is owned by the Department of Conservation. The area is managed as a landscape mosaic of Ozark natural communities. For further information contact the Wildlife District Supervisor, Ozark District Office, Box 138, West Plains, MO 65775, phone 417/256-7161.
The following photo sequence shows the results of using prescribed fire and cedar cutting to restore dolomite glades and chert savannas at Caney Mountain Natural Area. Fire reduces the numbers of invading woody species, like eastern red cedar and winged elm, that shade out the native herbaceous ground flora and stimulates the herbaceous vegetation. When a glade is opened up with prescribed burns, native grasses and forbs (wildflowers) revegetate the formerly shaded, bare ground.
The first photo was taken in 1983, prior to any prescribed fire management treatment. In 1985, after cutting some of the cedar and one burn, the glade has been opened up and some grasses and forbs appear. Following the third prescribed burn in 1993, the glade's herbaceous component flourishes.
