World Peace
Wetland Prairie Plans Earth Day Event and Groundbreaking Ceremony
The Town
Branch Neighborhood Association, Arkansas Audubon, Omni Center
for Peace, Justice and Ecology and other sponsors invite the
public to an Earth Day Celebration and groundbreaking ceremony
at the World Peace Wetland Prairie on April 22, 2006. Nathan
Cash, Senior District Executive of the Boy Scouts of America,
along with Scoutmaster Bill Layne and his family visited the
site at 1121 S. Duncan Ave. north of 15th Street in south Fayetteville
on Sunday, March 26, 2006. This meeting was in preparation for
the Earth Day event planned for area Boy Scouts at the World
Peace Wetland Prairie. "Judging by boy scout, Cleb Layne's
enthusiasm, I believe many scouts would enjoy a day or part
of a day on the small parcel of land now protected as a natural
area by the city of Fayetteville," stated Aubrey Shepherd,
with the Town Branch Neighborhood Association.
The day's
activities include restoration of the wetland area (primarily
removing invasive species) and beginning the creation of a park-like
entry area complete with a butterfly garden and trees representing
other parts of the world. Sponsors want to invite area Boy Scouts
to come out on April 22, to volunteer time on this environmental
project. "Everyone is welcome to participate in the simple
but important hands-on effort to enhance the land's value as
wildlife habitat," mentioned Shepherd. "One of our
primary goals, from the beginning, was to protect this small
remnant of wetland prairie in a sea of development and provide
teachers, scoutmasters and parents a place to explain and demonstrate
the importance of such places even in the middle of growing
cities."
For more
information, please contact Aubrey Shepherd by email at Aubrey_at_aubunique.com
or call (479) 444-0121. Please visit, www.aubunique.com
to learn more about the World Peace Wetland Prairie.
WEBCAST
PARTICIPANTS DISCUSS DEVELOPMENT'S EFFECT ON WATERSHEDS
BY ADAM WALLWORTH Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on
Thursday, June 23, 2005
One challenge
of the rapid development of Northwest Arkansas is mitigating
the effects on watersheds.
As more
and more land is covered with concrete and roof tops, the flow
of stormwater changes and the amount of pollutants entering
waterways increases, said Katie Teague, county extension agent
with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.
Teague discussed
the challenges after an Environmental Protection Agency Watershed
Academy Webcast titled "Eight Tools for Watershed Protection
for Developing Areas." Sponsored by the extension service,
the seminar was hosted by the city of Fayetteville.
Attending
the seminar were about 25 people, including residents and officials
from Washington and Benton counties, the USGS, local watershed
groups and the Beaver Water District, Teague said.
Teague said
the session was part of the ongoing public education campaign,
required under Phase II of the National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System Stormwater Program. The education program
is being organized by the extension service for 12 cities, Washington
and Benton counties and the UA, she said.
The discussion
included some aspects of stormwater management that relate to
developers, but the session was looking at stormwater as more
of a community issue, Teague said. Individual homeowners can
affect the watershed by using too much fertilizer in their garden
or not properly disposing of automotive materials, such as oil,
she said.
As urban
areas grow more dense, there are greater amounts of pollutants
that wind up in the watershed, Teague said. There are many things
residents can do to held reduce their impact without costing
them any money, she said.
Teague said
residents can access a questionnaire at www.uaex.edu to determine
how they may be affecting the watershed. Residents can also
contact the Washington County extension office at (479) 444-1755
or the Benton County extension office at (479) 271-1060.
Just as
individual homeowners can affect the watershed, so do builders
of the single-family homes, which are currently not governed
by Fayetteville’s stormwater management ordinance, which
is planned to be amended by year’s end, said City Engineer
Ron Petrie.
Petrie said
one element of the proposed ordinance is to extend regulations
to individual home builders. Although the city was ahead of
the curve in terms of stormwater management when Phase 1 was
implemented, the current ordinance only regulates development
at the subdivision level, he said.
Under the
current ordinance, the city requires developers to use silt
fencing and other stormwater and erosion control tools and reseed
disturbed land, Petrie said, but the home builder can come in
and tear up the ground and not use such tools. The effect of
one house might not be as severe, but when there are dozens
of houses being built, that impact is magnified, he said.
The proposed
amendments have been presented to the City Council’s Ordinance
Review Committee, but the city lost its stormwater engineer
Petrie took over as City Engineer following that meeting.
Petrie said
the discussion of the amended ordinance will resume in the fall
and will be adopted by year’s end because the city cited
it as a goal for 2005 with the EPA, which can levy significant
fines for violations of the stormwater permits.
The stormwater
engineer position is one of three vacancies in the Engineering
Division, which makes it difficult to transfer responsibilities,
Petrie said. He said he has been advertising the opening for
a stormwater engineer for five months, but has had no applications.
The city
is also searching for a water and sewer engineer and a staff
engineer, Petrie said.
To access
the extension office questionnaire about household stormwater
impact, visit their website by clicking on this link at www.uaex.edu/washington/Urban_HomeASyst/Contents.asp.
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