BUFFALO FLOAT 2000 IS FAST APPROACHING

Better hurry if you want to participate!

The June 13-17 Ozark Society Summer Buffalo River Float 2000 is, as usual, filling up fast! The party will depart from Tyler Bend at noon on June 13, according to Trip Leader Bill Steward.
"We plan to have lunch at Tyler Bend, the start down the river," Steward said. "The trip will end on Saturday afternoon, June 17, at Buffalo City on the White River.
The float trip from Tyler Bend to Buffalo City is about 60 miles. The group will paddle about 8 miles on Tuesday and Saturday, and from 12 to 15 miles daily on the other days. Steward reminds that there will be a Johnboat to carry community gear for each 16-20 person cooking unit; however you should leave room in your canoe for one community ice chest.

Each person will be responsible for his or her own canoe and camping gear, and everyone is expected to help with the cooking, camp chores, and operation of the john boat. If you need to rent a canoe, you can do so from our outfitter. The floating party is limited to 60 people, and no pets (please!) The trip fee for Ozark Society members will be $125 for adults and $100 for children under l8. The trip fee includes your food, the shuttle from Tyler Bend to Buffalo City, johnboat expense, ice, T-shirt, bandanna, etc.

For non-members, the Ozark Society membership fee for the trip is $15, the same as for a contributing membership. If you can only do part of the trip, you are welcome to paddle along and camp with us, we just can't feed you! And for that matter, you can paddle the whole trip with us and do your own cooking, shuttle, etc.

You can secure a spot on the trip ( Bill's already signing them up!) by sending Bill Steward a check for $50 after Jan. 1, 2000 and the balance by May 1. The check should be made out to the Ozark Society and mailed to Steward at PO Box 15188, Little Rock, AR 72231.
For more information, Steward's E-Mail address is Steward810@aol.com
His fax number is 501-372-5569; home phone number is 501-835-3390; work, 501-375-0224.
One thing is guaranteed -- it will be a trip you will remember for a lifetime!

CONSERVATION OBSERVATIONS
By Paul Means, Conservation Chairman

There appears to be one of those science fiction time warps that has frozen environmental issues in our region. On the first day of 2000 decisions were expected on a number of key issues. As of today, there is still no action.

One of the most critical environmental issues is the water supply reservoir proposed on Bear Creek, a major tributary of the Buffalo National River.

The U. S.. Army Corps of Engineers seemed poised to issue a permit for this project art the first of the year. On Jan. 11, and again on Jan. 22, the Ozark Society sent a letter to the Corps on this project.  The first letter pointed out that there are several large Corps lakes in the region that could serve as a water supply for Searcy County. The second letter contained more information on Greers Ferry Lake. It also pointed out that a water line had already been from Greers Ferry Lake to Clinton, and it could be extended to Marshall for less cost than building a reservoir on Bear Creek.

The Ozark Society continues to advocate that there are viable alternatives to the proposed Bear Creek Reservoir with less environmental impact. Perhaps the lack of a decision indicates that the Corps is thinking about our comments.

On the Crooked Creek front, the Arkansas Legislative Committee on Agriculture held a hearing on the revised gravel mining regulations on Feb. 17. Unfortunately, the agenda was long and this regulation was at the end of the agenda. By the time it was ready for a vote, there was no longer a quorum. Thus action will be delayed until the Committee meets again in April. Meanwhile, an every agency regulation is in effect  until May 31. The Department of Environmental Quality is moving ahead with two permit applications for in-stream mining on Crooked Creek. The Ozark Society filed formal comments opposing these two permits. While in-stream mining can be conducted in some eco-systems without major environmental impacts, that is not the case on Crooked Creek.

Other issues continue to percolate.

These range from the revival of the Bell Foley Dam on the Strawberry River to navigational channelization on the White River to the Grand Prairie Irrigation Project. All of these controversial issues involve federal money -- moving the real debate to the halls of Congress. Despite all our wrangling over these issues, nature continues to thrive.  Black bears were extremely rare in our region at the time the Ozark Society undertook to save the Buffalo River. Now black bears have multiplied to the extent that a project has begun to restock the Felsenthal Wildlife Refuge in south Arkansas with black bear. Bear will be captured in the White River Refuge and stocked in Felsenthal, which is along the Ouachita River at the Arkansas-Louisiana border.

Good things continue to happen as a result of our nation's effort to protect the environment.

CURRENTS
By Stewart Noland

The Ozark Society has submitted comment letters to several resource and regulatory agencies concerning both the proposed Bear Creek Dam and in-stream gravel mining permits on Crooked Creek.

The letters have opposed the issuance of permits required to move these projects forward, and in both instances have suggested alternative actions to satisfy the same resource needs.

The Ozark Society board, at its winter meeting, adopted the following Society position concerning the completion of the Trans-Ozark Trail (TOT) portion between Gilbert and Lake Norfork: "The Ozark Society supports the trail project (from Fort Smith, AR to St. Louis, MO) but not a specific route."
As a result of diligent field work on the part of numerous individuals, including several Ozark Society members, the Society has endorsed a portion of the TOT that is proposed south and east of the federally designated Leatherwood Wilderness and Lower Buffalo Wilderness areas.

We are waiting on an opportunity analysis to be conducted jointly by Ozark-St. Francis National Forest and Buffalo National River personnel, addressing this trail issue, before we take further action. Stay tuned.

Now is the time to sign up for Bill Steward's Buffalo River canoe trip in June. What you'll get is five beautiful days among friends on Mid-America's most scenic, free-flowing river. They don't call the Buffalo the Queen of Ozark float streams for nothing!

If you have been on one of these Buffalo River trips you know what to expect. If you haven't, then now is the time to sign up for a great outdoor experience. This is a wonderful opportunity for families, extended families, and friends to spend quality time together.  The only prerequisite is Ozark Society membership.

The same goes for the Colorado trip planned for late July in the beautiful Collegiate Peaks area along the Arkansas River in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.  Check out the details elsewhere in this issue.

I look forward to our annual Spring Meeting at Tyler Bend the weekend  of April 29-30, hosted by the Buffalo River Chapter based in Searcy County.  Chapter Co-chairs Laura and David Timby of Leslie have put together an interesting and educational program for Saturday, followed by floats and hikes on Sunday. In the meantime, get outside and enjoy as much of the Arkansas outdoors as you can find time for. You deserve it!


NATIONAL TRAILS DAY TO BE CELEBRATED JUNE 3

National Trails Day 2000 will be observed on June 3, and the American Hiking Society is looking for a few good young trail stewards for that day -- about a half a million, to be exact.

That's how many new trail volunteers the Society says will be needed over the next decade to take care of America's trails and greenways.

To invite today's youth to take on the roles of trail stewards of the New Millennium, the American Hiking Society is turning to the trail clubs, agencies and businesses that each June host more than a thousand National Trails Day events.

Now in its eighth year, National Trails Day is an annual nationwide day of public events, all locally planned and organized, scheduled this year for June 3. It is recognized as America's largest celebration of the outdoors. For 2000, National Trails day is ringing in the new century by celebrating Millennium Trails, an initiative spearheaded by the U. S. Department of Transportation and others to urge trail conservationists to reach for the future. For American Hiking Society, imaging the future means inviting today's young people to become leaders.

In celebrating Millennium Trails by reaching out to today's youth, American Hiking is taking the country one step closer to reaching the vision of Trails for All Americans. Published in l990 with the support of the National Park Service and other trail managing agencies, Trails for All Americans proposes the creation of a nationwide network of trails and greenways. It has been endorsed by most national, regional and local trail organizations. The first National Trails Day was introduced in l993 to bring attention to the idea. "National Trails Day 2000 is a wonderful venue to engage you people in the future," said AHS President David Lillard. "By inviting school groups, church youth groups, scout troops, and youth volunteer organizations to help plan NTD events, organizers have the opportunity to excite young people about the potential of America's trails."

For more information about National Trails Day, visit www.americanhiking.org , or call (301)565-6704. Dial extension 206 for event information, or 209 for sponsorship information.


PLAN NOW FOR COLORADO 2000!

The only change in plans for the July 23-29 Colorado High Adventure Outing for this year from what we covered in the Winter issue of Pack & Paddle is a different campsite location.

Trip Leader Catherine Hill of Mangham, LA reports that the Mt. Princeton Campground that was headquarters for past outings has been closed for needed repairs. We will camp at the nearby Cascade Campground, which is about l mile away from the Mt. Princeton on the Nathrop Road, and is at a slightly higher elevation, Hill says. Otherwise, the format for this year's "Rocky Mountain High" will be essentially the same as our other outings to the popular Collegiate Peaks area of the San Isabel National Forest near Salida and Buena Vista, Colorado.

Here's what you need to know:

The cost per trip participant for persons who plan to camp is $105, which includes the campground cost and food. The cost per trip participant for those who make alternate lodging arrangements is $80
and includes food only. You must be an OS member to participate. Ozark Society annual dues of at least $15 must be included in your trip fee if you are not already a member.

You can confirm a spot now by sending a check for your trip fee ( and $15 OS dues, if applicable) made out to the Ozark Society.

Mail to:
Financial Chairman Bob Ritchie, 1509 Old Forge Dr., Little Rock, AR 72227.

Participants should plan to arrive at the Cascade Campground by late afternoon on July 23. The Campground is located west of Nathrop, Colorado on County Road 162. The first group meal will be dinner on

July 23 at the Cascade campground. All meals between dinner on July 23 and breakfast on July 29 will be provided as part of the trip. Trip participants that are planning to camp will stay at the Cascade Campground, where arrangements have been made to reserve campsites.  If you prefer to stay in a motel, please make reservations at the nearby Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Lodge, 15870 County Road 162, Nathrop, Colorado 81236. The telephone number is (719)-395-2361.

Meals at the Cascade Campground community kitchen will be prepared for all trip participants, regardless of whether you are camping or staying in the lodge.

Multiple activities will be planned each day, including rafting, canoeing, and kayaking on the nearby Arkansas River, mountain biking, horseback riding, fishing, hiking, and day trips to nearby points of interest.

It's a great opportunity to enjoy the Colorado High Country without having to mortgage the double-wide with the redwood deck.


SPRING MEET: HISTORY AND "HARMONY" AT TYLER BEND

The spring 2000 Ozark Society spring meeting will be held the weekend of April 29-30 at Tyler Bend, on the magnificent Ozark waterway that gave birth to the Ozark Society as an organization -- the Buffalo National River.

Our hosts will be the Buffalo River Chapter. Co-chairpersons, Laura and David Timby of Leslie, working with Meetings Chairman Joe Meyer of Rogers, have organized a program featuring area history, hiking,
"Geo-float" canoeing, and entertainment by one of the best folk groups in the world -- our old friends of "Harmony."

Here's what you need to know NOW to do your planning:
HEADQUARTERS: On Saturday, April 29, our headquarters will be the Tyler Bend Pavilion, with registration ($5 per family) beginning around 9 a.m.

TENT CAMPING: Site No. 1 of the Group Campground has been reserved for the Ozark Society beginning Friday, April 28. The fee is $2 per person, per night, with a limit of 25 people in the group campsite.
REC-VEES: Individual RV sites with hook-ups are available at Tyler Bend. Call the Tyler Bend Ranger Station for all camping information and fees. The telephone number is l-870-439-2502.
LODGING: Sleeping under a roof is available at the following nearby locations:
Buffalo Bo's, at Silver Hill (Silver Hill is the community on U. S. Hwy. 65 near the access road west to Tyler Bend, just before you reach the Buffalo River Bridge -- (1-870-448-2015).
Buffalo River Outfitters, log cabins, at Silver Hill, (1-870-439-2244.)
Anna's House, at Gilbert on the Buffalo River, a bed & breakfast, operated by Ozark Society members Wendel and Liz Norton of Snowball (1-800-448-5725).
Restoration Homestead (renovated log cabins) at Snowball, operated by Ozark Society members Richard & Brenda Hempel (1-870-448-5043).
Buffalo Camping & Canoeing, Gilbert, operated by Ben and Cynthia
Freuhauf (1-870-439-2888).
Motels and restaurants also are available at Marshall on U. S. Hwy. 65.
PROGRAM: Registration will begin at 9 a.m. in the pavilion, followed by the general membership meeting at 10 a.m. David Mott, NPS hydrologist, will give us an update on the controversial Bear Creek Dam issue
confronting the park service.
The board meeting will follow.
From noon until 1 p.m., we are on our own for lunch.
We will reconvene at l p.m. for a presentation by Kathy Downs of the NCRC Woodland Learning Center.
At 2 p.m., NPS Historian Susie Rogers will explore the rich and varied history of Tyler Bend, a strategic location on the Buffalo River.
From 3 to 6 p.m. hard-core Dutch Oven Competitors will "slap leather" and pot lids in an eyeball-to-eyeball shootout to determine who can turn out the best eats. Hopefully, both the winning and losing entries will
be consumed forthwith at the Ozark Society Potluck Supper that will begin at 6 p.m.
We will conclude our Saturday festivities with Ozark folk music sung and played as only the group Harmony can do it -- beginning at 7 p. m. and continuing until they manage to escape. Harmony has some new records
and tapes out, and is rapidly gaining fame on the national music scene.
GEO-FLOAT TRIP: On Sunday, at 10 a.m., we will assemble our watercraft on the Tyler Bend gravel bar with geologist John David ("Earthquake") McFarland for a "Geo-float" to Gilbert. McFarland, who actually understands the complex history of how the Ozark Mountains were formed, will attempt to explain some of it to those of us who wonder what all those little "squiggly things" are that we find embedded in the river rocks.
On a more serious note, McFarland is also an authority on earthquakes.  He is one of the team of experts keeping a close watch on the New Madrid earthquake area of northeast Arkansas that last kicked up its heels in l811 -- an upheaval that created the St. Francis "Sunken Lands" and Reelfoot Lake -- and may do so again, at any moment.
So, plan to gather at the bend on April 29-30.


THE UNEASY CHAIR
By John Heuston, Communications Chairman

Lets dwell on some good news for a change -- instead of fretting over the all too familiar stories of gutless public bureaucrats and lawmakers pandering shamelessly to Big Business, Big Agriculture, Big Timber, and
the excesses of our out-of-control gravel-mining river rapers. There's nothing new to report there. In February, I received a letter from Karen Rollet-Crocker, a landscape architect at Fayetteville, informing us that she is gathering "... information and ideas for a project to develop Dr. (Neil) Compton's home and its surrounding natural site of 6.13 acres in Bentonville as a public resource and memorial. "Neil Compton made a substantial contribution to this community and to the citizens of the State of Arkansas through his many activities, including his medical practice, his membership in the Ozark Society and the Bentonville Rotary Club, and his leadership in the effort to save the Buffalo River for posterity.
"We are asking help of the many people who knew Dr. Compton as well as those who might benefit from enjoyment of the quiet beauty of the property. We would like to ask your assistance in filling out this questionnaire. Please feel free to add additional names of organizations and individuals we should contact. "People like most of you. Stories? You bet I've got some -- and I know you do too. Several canoe loads of them. Here's your chance to recall all those "personal memories and stories" of Dr. Compton and his family, especially as they relate to his home in Bentonville, and pass them on to posterity. Those so moved should contact Ms. Crocker at Karen Rollet-Crocker, Landscape Architect, 951 Pembroke Road, Fayetteville, AR 72701. The telephone number is (501) 442-9360.
Ms. Crocker and her associate, Carl Totemeir, are gathering memories of Dr. Neil Compton, Laurene Putman Compton and Mrs. Edna Swift Putnam, as it relates to their activities, contributions, and lives in that marvelous city called Bentonville.
They also want ideas about the appropriate use of the property and house, to help plan for the future. "The proposed mission is to preserve the site with its natural stream, spring, open field, and wooded area; to explain Neil's contributions to society; to relate the site to the history of Bentonville; and to create a quiet retreat for recreational and educational use."
Maybe I should relate to them Neil's account of how he once had to run local utility tree-trimmers off his property when they ignored his verbal warnings about even daring to think about "trimming" his magnificent ancient spreading white oaks!
Neil had a theory about trees.
He said the early chroniclers of the Ozarks, such as Friedrich Gerstacker, wrote about how "open" and comparatively treeless the Bentonville area was in the early settlement days. Neil believed that the land was open because the Buffalo kept nipping the trees in the bud, or trampling the saplings down as they grazed. Once the Buffalo were killed off, the forest was free to grow and expand, Neil said. It makes sense to me. Neil was a trained botanist, I'm not.  I haven't run Neil's tree theory by any of my friends who are professional wildlife manager, but, heck, they will be the first to tell you that the art of managing wildlife is done by "trial and error."
Attempting to "manage" wild critters is an inexact science, at best. lastly, we are happy to report that Ken & Sandy Miller have retreated from the Eastern Mountains back to the Bayou Country. I suppose it has something to do with that Louisiana gumbo -- it gets in your blood!
They are appropriately at home at 807 Audubon Place, Shreveport, LA 71105; telephone (318) 861-8174. Their E-mail is: kmiller816@aol.com . Welcome home friends!

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