Pack & Paddle

The Friends of Little Sugar Creek and the Sugar Creek Chapter in Bentonville, AR are advocating for the removal of the Lake Bella Vista dam and the restoration of a free- flowing stream through this area of north Bentonville. The lake is formed by a 100- year-old, man-made dam on Little Sugar Creek. Cooper Realty Investments conveyed the property containing the dam in 2000 to the Bentonville/Bella Vista Trailblazers Association by limited warranty deed. The Trailblazers conveyed the property to Bentonville in 2006 by special warranty deed. The city then included Lake Bella Vista in its park system. The dam was first damaged during flooding in 2008. It was topped again by flooding in 2011, 2013 and December of 2015. After the flooding in 2008, the city planned to rebuild and improve the dam. At that time the Friends of Little Sugar Creek organized to advocate for the dam removal and restoration of the creek. FOLSC, the Ozark Society, other naturalist groups and residents at large asked the city to remove the dam and restore Little Sugar Creek to a free- flowing stream. Supporters of the stream called the dam an eyesore, a hazard and a liability to the city. [...]

When we think of geologic wonders in the Ozarks, they are most often associated with karst features like springs and caverns, lofty crags along bluff lines, and the historic legacy of lead-zinc mining. However, geoscientists also marvel over the one truly extensive midwestern exposure of the ancient (we are talking billions of years) exposure of the underlying crystalline “basement” rocks one normally associates with the glacially scoured Canadian Shield. Compare the ages of these rocks that predate the existence of anything more complex than simple bacteria with the “mere” 300-million-year age of the rocks that line the Springfield Plateau. The extensive area of these ancient rocks comprise the St Francois Mountains of southeastern Missouri celebrated by exhibits you can see in several state parks. Two of these are of special interest for geologically minded visitors: Elephant Rocks and Johnson Shut-Ins. Nearby you can visit a Civil War battle site overlooked by the ancient rocks of Pilot Knob and the igneous rock glades surrounding the highest point in Missouri. Elephant Rocks State Park contains a pink granite dome that exhibits the classic form of exfoliation where convex layers of rock separate from the central core as the weight of overlying rock [...]

We had good weather and a good turnout for the Spring '21 Buffalo River Trail work session. Our goal for the week was construction of 1/4 mile of new trail to complete the 28-mile segment east of US-65 that was started in 2005. The work site was near Little Rocky Creek, north of Marshall and between Red Bluff and South Maumee roads. The fun began Friday March 26 with 4 of us setting flags to mark the exact route and then clearing a corridor - raking away all organic matter to expose the soil in a 3- foot-wide path and then digging out all vegetation and small rocks to create a walkable path. This continued Saturday and Sunday with about 10 people. One of the notable features of this route is "The Ditch" where the trail would have to drop steeply 15-20' to cross a small creek below a waterfall and then climb steeply up the other side. It was apparent all along that a lot of stone steps would have to be constructed here and I wondered if we would even be able to finish within the week. A few of our more-experienced trail builders looked at it from [...]

Living in Arkansas, we are blessed with an abundance of water which falls into different categories of water quality. We have not reviewed Extraordinary Resource Waters (ERWs) for several years, so hang on! ERW is a special use designation made by the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission (APC&E) to protect Arkansas’ most valuable water resources. About 16 % of Arkansas’ total stream miles have been designated as ERWs. The ERW designation gives the Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality the responsibility of providing extra protection to those waters. APC&E Regulation 2 defines ERWs as “This beneficial use is a combination of the chemical, physical and biological characteristics of a waterbody and its watershed which is characterized by scenic beauty, aesthetics, scientific values, broad scope recreation potential and intangible social values.” ERW designation provides extra stream protections: No significant physical alterations of in-stream habitat are allowed, including channelization of a significant portion of the stream bed or construction of a major impoundment. Bacteria concentrations must meet swimmable (primary contact) standards year-round. No commercial gravel mining is allowed below the ordinary high-water mark. All point-source (pipe) discharges must meet “advanced treatment” technology – a technically feasible, established treatment method already being met [...]

The recently established Ozark Society Foundation Endowment is a good opportunity for those of us who want to provide long term stable financial funding for conservation activities for the Ozark Society Foundation and the Ozark Society. The Endowment is managed by The Arkansas Community Foundation in Little Rock which manages over $400 million in assets for more than 2,000 funds. The Ozark Society Foundation Endowment establishes a pool of money which will pay yearly returns to the OSF for working capital while maintaining and increasing the initial investments for the long term. All contributions are fully tax deductible and there are additional special services that the Arkansas Community Foundation provides. The easiest way to contribute is ONLINE via credit or debit card. Go to www.arcf.org/give- online/?fund=Ozark+Society+Foundation+Endowment. Or you can send cash or a check in behalf of OSF Endowment to: Arkansas Community Foundation 5 Allied Drive, Suite 51110 Little Rock, AR, 72202 One special service Arkansas Community Foundation offers is assistance for Planned Giving, which can include stock, real estate, retirement and insurance distributions, crops/timber, or farmland. Chief Development Officer at ACF, Ashley Coldiron, at 501-372-1116, can handle the details for you. There may be tax benefits for giving through [...]