Land Clearing in Pocahontas, AR

Hill Ground and River Bottom in Randolph County

The Black River is the dividing line between two kinds of land here. Northwest of it the ground rolls up into the Ozark foothills, and cattle and timber hold most of that country. Southeast of it the land flattens into Delta farm ground planted in rice, soybeans and corn. Pocahontas sits right where the two meet.

The upland soil is thin and rocky. One USDA soil series mapped in these hills, the Arkana series, was first described in Randolph County. It runs 20 to 45 inches deep to limestone or dolomite rock, on slopes from 3 to 40 percent. The USDA write up says most of that ground is forested with upland oaks and eastern red cedar.

That changes how a hill lot gets cleared. Rock sits close to the surface, so the mulcher head runs a little higher than it would on flat ground. Runoff on those slopes is rated very high, and bare dirt washes once the cover is gone. A mulch layer left on top holds the soil while grass comes back.

What Grows Back on Land Around Pocahontas?

Cedar is the big one on the hill side. Eastern red cedar seeds into pasture and old fields and owns them in a few seasons. Oak and sweetgum sprout back on cleared upland. Down in the bottom you get willow and cottonwood along the ditches and the river edge.

Fence rows go first. A line of posts you can see one year is a wall of privet, honeysuckle and cedar the next. Pasture edges creep in from the timber a few feet every year. Ditch banks on the Delta side fill with briars and willow sprouts.

Cattle ground in the Randolph County uplands takes the worst of it. Once cedar is in a field, a mower will not fix it. The drum mulcher grinds cedar down where it stands and leaves the chips on the ground. That is the same setup we use for fence line and pasture clearing on farms and hunting land.

The Black River Bottom and the Flood Ground

Pocahontas has taken two hard floods this century. The Black River crested at 28.5 feet in April 2011. It set a new record near 29 feet on May 2, 2017. Levees on the Black River failed in several spots. Water went across the east side of town and out into the farmland.

Flood ground comes back different. Drift and limbs pile up against fence lines and tree lines. Willow and cottonwood seed into the wet spots fast. Fields that went under often come back in brush before they come back in grass.

If you are buying or building in the bottom, look at the flood map before anything gets cleared. The county offices in Pocahontas are on West Broadway, and they can point you to the right person. High water leaves work behind on the ground too. That part is storm cleanup: downed trees and limbs cut up, grappled and hauled off on the dump trailer.

Coming Over to Pocahontas from Monette

From Monette we run AR-18 to Jonesboro, US-49 to Paragould, then US-412 west and US-67 north into Pocahontas. US-67 and US-62 both come through town. AR-90, AR-115, AR-166, AR-251 and AR-304 carry the rest of the county. We load the skid steer and the dump trailer in Monette and come over for the job.

The work spreads out well past the city limits. Maynard, Biggers, Reyno, O'Kean and Ravenden Springs are all in Randolph County. So are country places like Birdell, Dalton, Attica and Warm Springs. Black River Technical College sits on Highway 304 east of town. Davidsonville Historic State Park is south of Pocahontas, where the Spring and Eleven Point rivers come into the Black.

Long driveways are normal on this ground. A gravel drive off a county road in the hills washes at the low spots. Runoff on those slopes moves fast. Out in the bottom the trouble is soft ground and ruts instead. We grade, spread gravel and shape a crown so water runs off the drive rather than down it.

House sites out on acreage are steady work around here. We clear the brush and small trees and rough grade the spot with the skid steer. Debris goes out on the dump trailer. Then the builder can get trucks in.