Potential Natural Vegetation (PNV) mapping: PROVIDES DETAILED MAPS TO GUIDE RESTORATION OF A HIGHLY ALTERED LANDSCAPE, THE MAPS REFLECT THE EXISTING HYDROLOGIC ENVIRONMENT, PARTICULARLY THE EFFECTS OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE FLOOD CONTROL EFFORT, THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES PROJECT, THESE RESTORATION TEMPLATES CAN BE USED IN A GIS ENVIRONMENT TO INVESTIGATE A WIDE RANGE OF SCENARIOS, INCLUDING LANDSCAPE-SCALE PLANNING AS WELL AS HIGHLY SITE-SPECIFIC RESTORATION DESIGN, THE HYDROGEOMORPHIC (HGM) CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM IS INCORPORATED IN THE PROCESS SO THAT THE MAPS REFLECT ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION AS WELL AS TRADITIONAL COMMUNITY COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE. The HGM approach was used in the creation of this data.Section 404 of the Clean Water Act directs the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to administer a regulatory program for permitting the discharge of dredged or fill material in “waters of the United States.” As part of the permit review process, the impact of discharging dredged or fill material on wetland functions must be assessed. In 1996, a National Action Plan to implement the Hydrogeomorphic Approach for developing Regional Guidebooks to assess wetland functions was published. The Hydrogeomorphic Approach is a collection of concepts and methods for developing functional indices and subsequently using them to assess the capacity of a wetland to perform functions relative to similar wetlands in a region. This report, one of a series of Regional Guidebooks that will be published in accordance with the National Action Plan, applies the Hydrogeomorphic Approach to wetland and riparian forests in the Arkansas Valley Region of Arkansas in a planning and ecosystem restoration context.