Pack & Paddle

This is the tenth episode of my trips to visit as many of the fifty US States' highest points. In chapter nine we looked at the trip I took in August of 2019 to Utah and the Dakotas. This time it's one long day in the spring of 2017 in the central Appalachians. I started the day in Harrisonburg, Virginia. I had spent the night here on my way to a meeting in Harrisburg, Pa. My goal was to get all three states in one day and make it by nightfall to Harrisburg. At 6am I jumped in the car and started up US 33 to my first stop, Spruce Knob, West Virginia. West Virginia Located about 70 miles west of Harrisonburg, Spruce Knob is 4,863 feet above sea level. A state park and access road make the peak very accessible. This was, however, the first day of Spring and no one had told that to the high elevation snow that was still on the last mile or so of the approach road. You park your car in a nearby lot and walk the last quarter mile to a pavilion that sits on the high point. Highest peak is [...]

Frank Sutterfield: By Laura Timby, Buffalo River Chapter Chair For many years Frank and Alma Lee Sutterfield were members of the Buffalo River Chapter of the Ozark Society. I met them through their son Terry, also a member of the BRC, who worked as a physician in Marshall. It was always a pleasure to be around the Sutterfields, whether at chapter meetings or outings. Having spent a large part of their lives in Stone and Searcy County they had so many interesting stories to tell. I remember one memorable chapter outing when Terry and Frank led our group into the Clifty Canyon Special Interest Area. It was an incredibly remote and pristine area and I'm pretty sure we never would have found it without their help. We all had a wonderful time and it was made even more special to be with folks who had a personal tie to the area. Frank was a true naturalist and loved these hills he called home. His respect for nature, his true love and appreciation of the Ozark Highlands, and his enduring spirit of conservation stand as an inspiration to all of us. May you rest in peace Frank, together once again with [...]

The Ozark Society Foundation has several new projects in planning stages. Trees Book The creation of a new field guide, “Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of Arkansas,” is underway. The book will be a 400-page color compendium of state flora, scheduled to be available later this year. Photo in consideration for cover of new Arkansas Trees book. The work leading up to “Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of Arkansas” started in 2012 by then-OSF Board Chair Kim Smith. The project initially focused on revising a previously published OSF book, a field guide to state trees, shrubs, and vines authored by Carl Hunter. Because Hunter’s original photos were unavailable and more contemporary materials were accessible, OSF chose to create a new field guide. Until recently, project progress was delayed by organizational transition, professional relocation, and the death of individuals. At this time, the book co-authors, Jennifer Ogle and Theo Witsell, are completing the final content. OSF has submitted proposals to several funders to support the graphic designer and printer work, public programs, and book promotion. Literary Award Planning is underway to establish an annual award for excellence in writing on ecology, natural resources, and other themes that align with the OS [...]

Many hikers in the Ozarks are puzzled to see extensive thickets of a kind of shrub with big oblong and vibrantly green leaves that look like they could be found along some tropical jungle trail. This is the pawpaw, a small fruiting tree that was once a useful food resource for Ozark and Appalachian settlers as related by Andrew Moore in his book Pawpaw. I concur with Moore’s observation that pawpaw fruit are not very common in our forests today and wonder how pawpaw could have been a significant part of rural folks’ diet in years gone by. But there are some back-to-the-land types who manage to forage for pawpaw fruit to sell at local farmers markets in Ohio and West Virginia. Part of the story may relate to differences in forest conditions or land use, and how those conditions affect pawpaw pollination. The tree blooms in early April with nickel-sized maroon flowers that attract flies rather than bees. The flower bears a fetid odor that would attract flies while the color resembles that of decaying flesh. Because extensive thickets of pawpaw develop by underground runners, they are essentially giant clones. Pawpaw flowers do not self-pollenate very well and pollen [...]

Editor’s Note: Duane Woltjen (former Highlands Chapter President) and his wife Judy sent me this information and I thought it was a wonderful profile of Joe Clark, a founding Ozark Society Member. It is a compilation of 2 articles that they sent and a biography by Lynn Nabb, Joe’s granddaughter. Thanks to Woltjens and Lynn! C. Shearman Joe Marsh Clark was born in 1903 in Salem, MO. He received his BS and MS from the University of Missouri in Geology and worked for several oil companies of the course of his career. In 1929 he married Maxine Bradford who had a degree in Nursing from University of Missouri and also an MS degree in Botany from the University of Tulsa. In 1961 they received an offer from Arkansas Western Gas and moved to Fayetteville AR. That’s where they became involved in the early efforts to protect the Buffalo River from the series of dams that the Army Corps of Engineers proposed for the river. In May 1962 the Ozark Society was formed and Joe became the editor of the Ozark Society Bulletin in Spring 1967. The Bulletin featured conservation and education articles as well as showcasing Ozark photography and historical [...]

Last week there was a surprise announcement that the Pollution Control & Ecology Commission had a minute order on the agenda to pass changes in Reg 5 at the May 27 meeting. Meaning that after 10 months of delay, there was likely to be a resolution one way or another for our efforts to make permanent the current temporary moratorium on medium and large hog CAFO’s in the Buffalo River Watershed. The temporary moratorium was for 5 years and is scheduled to expire this year. Without a permanent moratorium the entire C&H kind of affair could start over again next year. The battle lines have been between those who think that clean water, as exemplified by the Buffalo National River, should be preserved verses the “right to farm” position postured by the Farm Bureau. The possibility of coexistence has been greatly politicalized by the C&H controversy, which, along with the corona virus problem, led to several delayed votes. But PC&EC meetings are public meetings and DEQ accommodated that by broadcasting on Arkansas Public Television and by allowing no more than 15 members of the public into the hearing room at any one time – the rest were to sit in [...]