Summer 2026

By David Peterson, Ozark Society Past President In 2000, when Johnny Morris, owner of Bass Pro, bought Dog Patch, the defunct eyesore along highway 7, in Newton County, there were visions of 600 construction jobs, 170 park employees, $1.4 million in sales tax revenue, and $324 thousand in annual property taxes.  Plus, a hotel with comfortable rooms, golf courses, a waterfall of course, trout pond, exotic animals, caverns, and nature trails, and a good restaurant. Entrance to Nature Park property today It hasn’t happened. But recent action suggests maybe the real construction is about to begin - a pipeline to the once problematic Marble Falls wastewater plant and continuing gnawing into a hillside looking for a waterfall.  And then an Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) permit to expand the plant capacity from the current 10,000 gallons per day (G/D), to 15,000 this year, and then in a phase III to 30,000 G/D. When I called Bass Pro to confirm a completion date, the nice lady said “not imminent, not in my lifetime.”  She is 70. The main problem with Mill Creek water quality is high levels of E. coli which limits water contact for humans in both Mill [...]

By Fred Paillet, OS Education Chair The Ozark chinquapin, a member of the chestnut (Castanea) family, is a sometimes-forgotten feature of our local folklore.  I have been personally interested in the tree through my New England botanical background in the study of the American chestnut.  The loss of that tree after 1904 to an introduced fungal disease was a huge economic loss in terms of timber for construction, bark tannins for the leather industry and abundant nuts for human and livestock consumption.  The Ozarks had its own local variety of chestnut in the form of a chinquapin that has long been of questionable classification.  It was often confused with a shrubby version (Allegheny chinquapin) growing throughout the southeast.  Field work by my students and other researchers now has DNA analyses and other data to show that the tree is indeed its own distinct species.  But questions have remained about whether this was a real forest tree of substantial size or something of less stature than the oaks, hickories and pines with which it was associated. My work with local graduate students addressed the stature issue by surveying the fallen remains of local chinquapin trees we showed were killed by [...]

By Janet Nye, Pulaski Chapter The Ozark Society has frequently worked with other conservation organizations to meet goals and gain from other’s expertise.  This has meant that many times we have worked with professionals in fields or organizations that have also overlapped. In 1953 Doug James came to the University of Arkansas to teach biology, ornithology and many other natural science subjects.  He was there for more than 60 years.  While there he helped found the Arkansas Audubon Society (1955). Dr. James was doing research for Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) on different bird populations. His contact with AGFC was Harold Alexander, their rivers specialist, who was adamant about protecting rivers from dams (remember, this is the 1960’s). It was through Harold Alexander that Doug James met Neil Compton. Dr. Compton discussed the idea of the Ozark Society with Dr. James and asked him to find a place to meet.  The first meeting of the Ozark Society was May 25, 1962 at Waterman Hall in the School of Law on the University of Arkansas campus, which Dr. James arranged. Dr. James was instrumental in teaching about birds, doing research and leading the Arkansas Audubon Society.  He received many, many [...]

By Brian Thompson, Ozark Society President Our eighteenth Sassafras Hiking Award winner is Evan Walden, a farmer and preacher who lives close to the King’s River.  Evan is a reserved fellow who is easily recognizable as he is usually sporting bib-overalls. Both Evan and his wife’s families go back several generations in this little corner of Arkansas.   I asked Evan how he became interested in the Sassafras Hiking Award: “When I started, I didn’t even know about the award.  The truth is, hill people like us look at hiking trails as something for rich folks.”  But Evan is an avid reader, and the story of Grandma Gatewood’s Appalachian Trail adventures, captured his interest.  He got to talking with a work buddy by the name of Jacob Williams.   Together, they scrounged up some gear and set about doing the entirety of the Ozark Highland’s trail.  “I was still smoking back then and I didn’t think I’d make it up Dockery Gap.” Evan and Jacob did the Highland’s in large sections.  Lots of adventures, including sleeping on a shelf in the rafters of the Ozone pavilion during a terrible thunderstorm.  Jacob’s girlfriend had been supporting them with resupply.  Now; as [...]

By Ross Noland, Executive Director, Buffalo River Foundation On April 8, 2026, the Buffalo River Foundation (“BRF”) closed its months-long campaign to purchase 120 acres on Little Panther Creek near Buffalo Point and the Indian Rock House.  The project protects 2/3 of a mile of riparian area on Little Panther Creek and acres of mature, undeveloped oak-hickory forest.  The property is visible from the Indian Rock House Trail, thus conserving the recreational experience on a popular trail within the National River Boundary.  The Indian Rock House is a massive bluff shelter with a natural skylight in the overhanging rock, an exposed underground stream, and 9,000 years of human history. BRF targeted the property several years ago after learning the same family from whom BRF purchased the Boxley 40 (the first 40 private acres on Whiteley Creek when leaving NPS lands hiking towards the Penitentiary) owned it.  In this process, BRF also made contact with the owner of 80 acres between the Little Panther Creek property and the Indian Rock House bluff shelter.  BRF completed a conservation easement on the adjoining 80-acre property in late 2025, meaning the recently purchased Little Panther Creek property adjoins both NPS land, for ¾ [...]