LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Recently, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has been flying over Arkansas lakes— and not just to take in a pretty view.
Nimrod Lake sits in Perry and Yell counties and is currently partially drained, just as it is every four years. Recently, Game and Fish Commission teams have flown over the lake.
AGFC has done this twice this summer— once in late June, and once in early July. As they perform their flyovers, they have also been dropping millet seeds onto the mud down below.
"We had to make two applications on there to get it where we feel like it's done a better job that way," said Jason Jackson, the AGFC Wetlands Program Coordinator.
The hope is that after the seeds are dropped onto the newly uncovered areas of the lake, the plants that grow will benefit the wildlife who call it home.
Mark Green with the Nimrod/Blue Mountain Project explained how the fish feed on the millet, and Jackson added that ducks on the surface of the pond also get valuable nutrients from these plants.
The system also helps the lake itself.
"It'll clean up water quality in the lake and everything," Green said. "With all the vegetation that filters through, the water quality will improve and everything."
The commission did the same thing over 600 acres of Millwood Lake in Southwest Arkansas on Wednesday. While officials do like the system, there aren't any more drops planned for this year.
"It takes a lot to plan and get that lined up," Jackson said. "We've got to get out in front, let the public know, make sure it's right for fishery at that particular moment."
Green explained that Nimrod Lake refilling depends on rainfall and other conditions, but he hopes this can happen by October so that the final product of the drop can be seen.