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McALESTER, Okla. — McAlester Army Ammunition Plant (MCAAP) covers 45,000 acres, which is comparable in size to Washington, D.C. It encompasses more than 16,000 acres of timberland, 14,000 acres of grassland, 10,000 acres of brush land and 1,000 acres of aquatic habitat and wetlands.
On top of all that, the ammunition plant contains almost 3,000 acres reserved for mixed industrial, administrative, road and rail usage — since it is a fixture and an integral piece of the Army's Organic Industrial Base (OIB).
Protecting and managing a slice southeastern Oklahoma's flora and fauna is a herculean responsibility for MCAAP's Natural Resources Office (NRO), which is staffed by two Department of the Army Civilians.
"Most of my cohorts contract out their natural resources [conservation program], but we do it ourselves," said Ryan Toby, NRO chief, alongside his deputy, Sherman Ellis. "We're the experts."
Quality deer management, agriculture outlease, invasive species control and pest management, threatened and endangered species, wetlands rehabilitation, and public outreach are the major components of the program.
MCAAP has a reputation as fertile deer hunting grounds, which Toby attributes to the LMO's quality deer management program. He said the change in 1989 to restrict hunting to traditional "stick and string" archery has stabilized the successful harvest rate at 13 percent throughout the years and has resulted in larger and healthier deer.
The annual hunt on MCAAP is co-managed with the help of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, which receives about 20,000 applications for the 1,600 permits it issues to the public each year.
This year's deer harvest broke records at MCAAP that have been kept for 80 years. Hunting began with a bow hunt for physically challenge hunters in first weekend in October and concluded with the youth shotgun antlerless hunt during the Thanksgiving Weekend. A total of 1361 hunters harvested 213 deer — 110 buck and 103 does. Thirty-one of those harvested were certified entries into the Pope & Young Records Program. To be eligible for entry into Pope & Young's Records Program, an animal must have been taken:
- Entirely by the use of the bow and arrow (as defined by Pope & Young)
- In complete compliance with the controlling state/provincial hunting regulations
- In complete compliance with the Club’s Rules of Fair Chase
- After official measurement, the score must meet or exceed the corresponding minimum score entry requirement for that species category
MCAAP’s hunting and fishing program generates $60,000 of revenue for natural resource program on MCAAP and 7,500 man-days of outdoor recreation for both MCAAP employees and the public. Highly sought after hunting opportunities on MCAAP generate over 20,000 individual applications each year.
MCAAP manages five agricultural leases on the Installation. All leases are native warm-season grass hay meadows. Lease benefits include $40,000 work-in-kind for Installation and $15,000 cash income.
MCAAP manages 3,085 acres of wetlands and 576 acres of deepwater wetlands that serve as a waterfowl breeding and overwintering area.
MCAAP performs population surveys and habitat monitoring for the American Burying Beetle, MCAAP’s only endangered species. All activities on MCAAP are reviewed to protect critical habitat.
MCAAP intensively controls invasive species on installation resulting in the removal of over 5,300 feral hogs and thousands of Eastern Red Cedar.
MCAAP conducts natural resources tours and presentations to schools, civic groups, and professional organizations.
Both MCAAP’s Environmental Management System (EMS) and Natural Resources Office have undergone evaluations, testing, and measurements, periodically over the years and have consistently found to be compliant. MCAAP’s well-defined EMS framework provides a systematic approach to achieve success. Protecting the environment and conserving MCAAP's natural resources is the focus of effort.
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