It’s that time of year again…  Our resident Bald Eagles, Isaac & Rebekah, have two healthy chicks, and you get to name them!

I would have usually announced this about a month ago, but I thought we lost one of the chicks…  actually, I was pretty sure we had…  and in case we lost both of them…  well, you see why I was going to wait…  kind of hard to have a “name the eagle chicks” contest when there were no chicks…

Anyway, I was taking photos with my husband’s camera and big lens, and lo and behold…  as I went through the photos, 4 of them clearly showed TWO chicks!  Both big and healthy.  As large as they are, and as close as they are in size, they are definitely two females.  So…

As we do every year, it’s time to let YOU name them!  Winner gets 1 free night of lodging in one of our smaller units, or one free full day boat & motor rental, including gas; whichever you wish.

So email me, Facebook me, Tweet me, call, write…  whatever your favorite method of communication is…  and NAME THE EAGLE GIRLS OF 2012!

2 Female Eagle Chicks, 2012, White River @ His Place Resort

Well, the 2012 Bassmaster Elite Series Trokar Quest was held here on Bull Shoals Lake from April 19-22…  and WOW!  What a tournament!  Youngster Brandon Palaniuk walked away $100,000 richer at the end of the 4 days with a 78 lb., 6 ounce stringer.

Many of you fish both the rivers and the lakes while you’re here, so you probably already know the nearly limitless fishing opportunities that exist in the Twin Lakes area.

Pros are referring to all the 16-inch bass as being from the 2008 “super spawn” that came when the lake was in flood stage throughout the spring. The “little bitty ones” were spawned last year, when the lake was even higher than it was in the spring of 2008.

The website at http://www.bassmaster.com had excellent coverage of the entire 4-day event, but I wanted to share some of the comments made, and some of the specific blogs/articles posted below.

• …“I’m blown away. I really am,” said Jeff Kriet. “I had no idea. Honest to goodness, it’s absolutely amazing. Unbelievable.”…

• …Britt Myers, a 37-year-old B.A.S.S. veteran from Lake Wylie, S.C., was similarly impressed.  “I probably had the best fishing day of my life,” Myers said of his 20-4 day, which put him in fourth place with a total of 35-3. “I might have caught more than a hundred. I don’t know.  “When I heard we were going to Bull Shoals, ‘I was like Bull Shoals?’ “You look at previous tournaments and it took like 14 pounds a day to win it. Then I come out here and catch them like I did today. It’s insane. I would rate this lake up with Pickwick.”…

• …Greg Hackney, a 38-year-old B.A.S.S. veteran from Gonzales, La., who has qualified for 10 consecutive Bassmaster Classics, was similarly impressed.  “You can pull up on a ledge at Kentucky Lake and catch them like that, but not just on the bank, like you can here,” said Hackney, who finished just an ounce out of the cut with a two-day total of 27-1. “And they were keepers.  I don’t know that I’ve ever fished a place where you could just wind down the bank and catch keepers like this place.” …

• …”We go to a lot of places,” said Kevin VanDam, who has won four Bassmaster Classic titles and seven Toyota Tundra Angler of the Year crowns. “But the number of smallmouth, largemouth and spots here, it’s unbelievable. This lake is on fire right now. It’s really special.”…

If you want to read some of the short, informative articles about the tournament, here are some of my favorites:

No One Saw This Coming

Bull Shoals Full Of Bass

Defining Palaniuk

Notes & Quotes From Day 2

Bull Shoals – A Lesson Learned

Fishing’s been really good the last couple of days…  I’ll let the photos do the talkin’…

Enjoy!

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I just can’t believe it…  well, actually – I can…  I told you all last year about the proposed Federal Budget Cuts that threatened to shut down our nation’s cold-water mitigation hatcheries (read: where all the trout come from…)

I put a web page on our main website talking about the effects, and asked you all to get involved…  and I also told you that until permanent funding has been provided for, that we would be right back where we started every year…  and here we are, folks…

Leon Alexander from the Friends of the Norfork Hatchery Group gives the details in the following announcement…

<begin announcement>

Breaking News!!  The Presidents 2013 Budget was released on February 13 and according to a USFWS Bureau Highlights document, the mitigation hatcheries, including Norfork National Fish Hatchery and Greer’s Ferry National Fish Hatchery were not included for funding.  The following is an excerpt from page BH-61 of that document.

“Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Conservation – The budget request includes a total $131.6 million for the Fisheries and Aquatic Resource program, a decrease of $3.7 million from the 2012 level.   ……………… These increases are offset by reductions in other program activities, including a $3.2 million program reduction to costs associated with the production of fish for the purpose of mitigating the effects of Federal water development projects.  The FWS will continue to work to recover costs from responsible agencies in order to focus its base funding on native fish recovery and restoration.”

 For the second consecutive year, the USFWS has eliminated funding from their proposed budget for the nine mitigation hatcheries which includes the Norfork NFH and Greer’s Ferry NFH in spite of the successful efforts by Congress to reinstate the funding into the 2012 Budget.  These AR Hatcheries have an economic impact of $100 for every $1 of operating costs.

Attached are copies of letters to each of the congressional representatives from Arkansas urging them to see that this budget situation is corrected. Not only do we need the funding re-instated; we need to get the situation fixed so we don’t have to go through this process each and every year as we have done for so many years. Please feel free to alter the letters to suit your own thoughts. We do need to get our letter writing campaign underway as soon as possible.

Copies of these letters will be available at the upcoming Sowbug Roundup in Mountain Home. You can sign a letter there and it will be mailed for you. Impact is the goal and the more letters we send in, the greater that impact.

<end announcement>

Below are the form letters (in MS Word format) that you can utilize to make your feelings known.  We need YOU to let them know that we are not going to take this sitting down!

Form Letter Crawford -2-14-12
Form Letter to Boozeman -2-14-12
Form Letter to Griffin-2-14-12
Form Letter to Pryor-2-14-12
Form Letter to Ross -2-14-12
Form Letter to Womack -2-14-12

Additionally, we added a page to the main website last year that has a lot more detail on this whole issue if you’d like to read up on this subject; click HERE.

Once again, we thank you for your help, and will continue to keep you informed about what’s going on with the River!

The Friends of the White & North Fork Rivers are hosting a special event that I thought you might be interested in, should you be in the area on March 6th.

Check out the announcement from their president, Jane Darr, below:

Friends of the Rivers schedules Urban Streams Program

Friends hosts speaker, Steve Filipek,
Assistant Chief of Fisheries,
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
Tuesday, March 6, 2012 – 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
ASUMH Campus, McMullen Lecture Hall, Dryer Hall

Steve Filipek, Assistant Chief of Fisheries for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will talk about ways to preserve the natural flow and design of urban streams while saving small towns and cities thousands of dollars.  The event is scheduled for Tuesday, March 6 at 5:00 p.m. with program to start at 5:30 in McMullen Lecture Hall in the Dryer Hall on the ASUMH campus.  All interested citizens are invited.  For information call Friends of the North Fork and White Rivers at (870) 430-5777 or visit www.friendsoftherivers.org.

The Goal of the event is to initiate a fresh conversation with key citizens in our watershed on the role of the urban stream in non-point source pollution, storm water runoff and development issues. Steve’s power point will provide numerous visuals of creative (and not so creative) choices made in Arkansas.  He will highlight the work of various partner organizations and touch on some of the funding opportunities available.

Thank you, Jane Darr.

<end announcement>

Every 3 years, ADEQ (Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality) must review its water quality standards and make revisions if necessary.  During this process, they get input from a wide range of interests, including the general public.

Our good friends with the group “Friends of the North Fork & White Rivers” are passing the word for these upcoming meetings, and I am passing the info along to you.  Please consider checking our their organization and joining; they do a lot of good here, folks! Here is the info from their latest e-blast…

<begin Friends article>

Public Listening Sessions for Triennial Review
Revisions to the Water Quality Standards in Arkansas (Regulation No.2)

Citizens care about water quality for a variety of uses – for drinking water, recreation, agriculture and more. Those perspectives should be considered when reviewing the Water Quality Standards. ADEQ must review its water quality standards (Regulation No.2) every three years.  During this process, ADEQ may make revisions, if necessary. The Department wants to hear from a wide range of interests and concerns, reflecting all the ways that water is used in Arkansas.

In short, the listening sessions provide an opportunity to all stakeholders (including citizens) to express their viewpoints and  have them considered in any revisions to the water quality standards.

Click here for a complete copy of the regulation.

Feb. 9 ADEQ, Commission Room, 5301 Northshore Dr., North Little Rock 2:00 p.m.
Feb. 15 Clarion Inn, 1255 S. Shiloh, Fayetteville 6:00 p.m.
Feb. 16 University of Arkansas Community College, 2005 White Drive, Batesville 6:00 p.m.
Feb. 21 Eugene Woods Civic Center, 212 W. Polk, West Memphis 6:00 p.m.
Feb. 23 Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission, 2215 W. Hillsboro, El Dorado 6:00 p.m.

Impaired Waterbodies
In mid January, The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality announced that the Draft 2012 Impaired Waterbodies List (commonly called the 303(d) list was available for review.

The 303(d) list is developed by ADEQ every two years under provisions of Section 303d of the Federal Clean Water Act. ADEQ assesses water quality monitoring data from numerous locations around the state and utilizes a comprehensive assessment methodology to determine which waters are not meeting their designated uses as listed in the Arkansas Water Quality Standards

ADEQ will hold a public hearing to receive comments on the Agency’s proposed 2012 Impaired Waterbodies List (303(d) List).

The public Hearing will be held at 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, February 7, 2012, Commission Room,
ADEQ headquarters building;
5301 Northshore Drive
North Little Rock, AR

Public Comment Period Ends: Friday, February 17, 2012

Both oral and written comments will be accepted at the public hearing, but written statements are preferred in the interest of accuracy.

Click this link for complete information on, “What Is The 2012 Impaired Waterbodies List (303(d))?”, How To Provide Input, How To Obtain More Information, and Maps By County For Impaired Waterbodies

<end article>

I came across another great article from the folks at Ozarks Water Watch in their most recent newsletter…

NW Arkansas Land Trust: The Beginning and the Vision

by Guest Contributor, Nicole Hardiman, NW Arkansas Land Trust Executive Director

In 2003, the Northwest Arkansas Land Trust (NWALT) was established by a group of local community leaders who were interested in addressing conservation needs within the Northwest Arkansas region.  The idea among the group was to apply the “land trust” concept locally, which previously has been a highly successful conservation tool across the nation. Because Northwest Arkansas experienced intense urban development over the past 20 years, the founding Board of Directors identified a need to preserve the region’s quality of life, existing green space, and natural resources.

Fast forward to 2011 and NWALT is established and gaining momentum, even during what has been tough economic times for conservation-focused non-profits. As of 2010, the all-volunteer Board acquired conservation easements on 93.5 acres within the Beaver Lake watershed, a few acres of which were part of a stream bank restoration project in partnership with Beaver Water District and the Watershed Conservation Resource Center.

Beaver Lake (one of NWALT’s target watersheds)

In the Illinois River watershed, the 120-acre Wilson Springs Conservation Area was recently donated to NWALT, making the organization part of the planning team for the on-going wetland prairie restoration project.  This project was spearheaded by Audubon Arkansas through funding provided by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Most recently, NWALT appointed its first-ever Executive Director, Dr. Nicole Hardiman. Nicole previously worked to establish the newly formed Beaver Watershed Alliance, a watershed protection organization focused on maintaining water quality in the Beaver Lake/Upper White River watershed. Nicole received her Ph.D. in Biology at the University of Cincinnati and has worked in water resource and quality issues over the last three years. Nicole is a Northwest Arkansas native, a fourth-generation University of Arkansas graduate, and spent many, many weekends swimming in Beaver Lake as a child.

Land conservation, in the form of conservation easements, land donations, and bargain sales, has been shown in recent studies to be a cost-effective and necessary tool for natural resource protection.  The Beaver Lake Watershed Protection Strategy (WPS) and the Illinois River Watershed Partnership’s draft management plan currently recommend forest and pasture conservation paired with streamside management zones as methods to protect against streambank erosion and to provide pollutant and/or nutrient filtration opportunities.  NWALT hopes to work within the Northwest Arkansas community to advance awareness of the relationship among water quality, economic development, and land conservation, as well as educating landowners on available conservation options.

West Fork Streambank Restoration

(photo courtesy of Watershed Conservation Resource Center)

By allowing land owners to take advantage of tax incentives for conservation easements and donations while still maintaining the desired use for their land, NWALT’s ultimate goal is to maintain Northwest Arkansas’s beauty, natural resources, rural culture, and quality of life. The NWALT Board recognizes the difficult decisions landowners face in regard to their land and the future use of their land and strives to maintain relationships with landowners that are built on integrity, honesty, and transparency.

A “deer pasture” on one of NWALT’s conservation easements in Rogers, AR

In the coming year, NWALT plans to develop the organization through diverse fund-raising and community outreach strategies, which are the first, necessary building blocks for any successful land trust. With support from the NWA community, NWALT will work towards effective implementation of Northwest Arkansas’s regional natural resource protection strategies.

Although you may not be able to attend, I thought I’d share with you the announcement of the upcoming AGFC meeting later this month.  AGFC has, over the years, implemented what they refer to as their Trout Management Plans for each of the different tailwaters they manage.  Each gets revisited every few years.  The studies that happen in between determine what action(s), if any, they will take during that time. 

We will report to you any significant outcomes from this meeting, but if you are in the area, please plan to attend!

Jeff Williams (our AGFC Trout Biologist) email below…

<begin Jeff’s email>

All,

We are planning to hold an informational meeting for Bull Shoals and Norfork Tailwaters on February 6^th from 6 -7:30 pm in the McMullin Lecture Hall on the campus of ASU-Mountain Home.  This meeting will provide us (AGFC) to update the public on current monitoring efforts (population samples, creel survey, etc.) of some of the management strategies implemented in 2007-2008 when we developed the management plan.  We will also discuss plans for upcoming projects.  The first half of the meeting will be a presentation of our monitoring data and the second half will be an opportunity for attendees to ask questions.

I think this will be a very informative meeting and I encourage everyone to attend.  We will be advertising this through the normal media outlets, but feel free to pass this e-mail on to anyone that may be interested in attending.  Thank you.

Jeff

Jeff Williams

Trout Program Coordinator

E: j_williams@agfc.state.ar.us

<end Jeff’s email>

Please consider joining this wonderful organization to ensure the future of our watershed…

Copy from January Ozarks Water Watch Newsletter below:

How’s the Water?

Ozarks Water Watch is happy to present our fourth annual Status of the Watershed report designed to answer the question, “How is the water?” in the Upper White River basin. The rivers, lakes and streams in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas establish a foundation for the region’s economic prosperity and attractive lifestyle. If these waters become polluted or spoiled by unconstrained growth and development, they will diminish the vibrant economy, discourage visitors and tourism, and compromise the enjoyment so many in the region now find in these natural assets.

Historically our status reports have been based only on scientific studies of water conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and science faculty from the University of Arkansas and Missouri State University. This water quality data is definitely the gold standard. But as we all realize, conducting monitoring at that level is expensive and limits the number of sites that can be monitored.

Ozarks Water Watch is embarking on a new project that will combine other sources of water quality monitoring along with USGS data. This will include a program to build on and expand the highly successful volunteer-based Stream Team effort in both Missouri and Arkansas. Properly trained volunteers can provide reliable and valuable water quality data over a large number of sample sites providing for a higher resolution picture of how our lakes, streams and rivers are doing at any given place and time. This year’s 8 page report already includes additional data sources and Ozarks Water Watch will expand and refine our monitoring efforts to continue to bring you the best possible information on our basin’s water quality.

The above graph summarizes three years of biological monitoring by the University of Arkansas within the Upper White River Basin. (For complete information, you can access the 8 page status report online: HERE.) The 14,000 square mile basin reaches across 19 counties in Arkansas and Missouri and is home to a million people. According to USGS data, nutrient pollution is the biggest water quality problem facing the region. Nutrient pollution comes from many sources and drives the growth of the algae that can choke our streams and lakes. Urban and suburban areas contribute polluted runoff from streets, sidewalks, buildings, overfertilized lawns and bad development practices. Runoff from agriculture in rural areas carries nutrients and sediment to streams and lakes. While wastewater treatment methods have improved, many systems have yet to be upgraded and continue to discharge high nutrient effluent into our waters.

Another concern of the general public is if our waters are safe for their “intended recreational uses” such as swimming, boating and fishing. In almost every instance, the test results for the Ozarks streams in this report are safe for whole body contact (swimming). It should be noted that E coli test results from any given day are no indication of what the E coli levels are now as they can vary greatly from day to day. The waters listed in the “RED” zone in the above chart are impaired by nutrients which can be harmful to aquatic life and our fisheries and serve as an indication of where we may want to prioritize our water quality efforts.

The 8 page Status of the Watershed Report is available now online and in print. The print version is available at our offices in Kimberling City and will be distributed at many water quality events and conferences across the Upper White River Basin. The online version in .pdf format can be found here: 2011 Status of the Watershed Report.

Click here for the 19 page UPPER WHITE RIVER BASIN MONITORING ANALYSIS which contains the exact test site locations and background testing information on which our Status Report is based.

The water quality problems of the region start and end with us. We created the issues by working and living in the watershed. The roads we drive on, the farms where our food is grown and even the homes we live in contribute to water pollution. By taking ownership of the problem we can begin to fix it.

<end article>

Well, the budget for the Corps of Engineers is a little tight this year…  The following was sent to me by the Arkansas Hospitality Association.  These things have a history of coming out of the gate sounding more harsh than the eventual reality, but I thought it was an interesting read, so I thought I’d share it with you…

See letter from Jill Theil below:

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Tight budgets are requiring the Little Rock District of the Army Corps of Engineers to propose changes at several of its parks, including closing some less efficient facilities.

A series of public workshops to discuss these proposals and solicit public input is being scheduled for February at Piedmont, Mo., and at Mountain Home, Heber Springs, Russellville and Ozark, Ark. The workshop times, dates and locations will be announced when they are finalized.

Among tough choices being considered are changing recreation operations at 29 parks, including closing 13 campgrounds, four partial campgrounds, four day use areas, one partial day use area, and 10 boat ramps. Also under consideration is making the recreation season shorter at many additional parks.

Other likely park adjustments include reducing the frequency of trash pick-up, cleaning and mowing, as well as reduced maintenance response time and fewer temporary park rangers, law enforcement agreements and contract park attendants.

The proposed changes will reduce costs by an estimated $1.9 million annually ($921,000 for operation and maintenance expenses and $989,000 for labor).

Little Rock District operates 178 public parks and access areas. Making adjustments to the 8 percent of its park facilities that are less efficient will allow the district to place more emphasis on the remaining 92 percent.

Besides its recreation program, Little Rock District proposes to minimize the number of requests it accepts for new and changes to existing private boat docks, as well as the number of permits for mowing on government land and permits for meandering paths across public lands to the water’s edge. Also, the district will reduce inspections of these types of permitted shoreline activities and possibly cancel boundary maintenance activities.

Regarding other business lines, periodic lock and dam maintenance, dredging, and funding of the hydropower employee training program are also affected. It is anticipated most maintenance at power plants will be performed by agreements utilizing customer funding. All the choices have consequences.

As long as a maintenance backlog exists, so does the possibility of unanticipated breakdowns, which can cause a cascading effect on the district’s operation and maintenance program. However, focusing the district’s limited dollars on priority items helps reduce the risk.

National leaders are struggling to control spending in the wake of recession, while at the same time they had to react to a series of severe floods and disasters in 2011.

Little Rock District was not immune. Spring flood damage to district parks and navigation infrastructure totaled $33.5 million. Operations and maintenance funding has been reduced $17 million, and the maintenance backlog on the district’s top 15 needs is $68 million and growing. These factors are causing the district to limit the levels of service it can offer.

During the past several months, Little Rock District performed a thorough and deliberate review of operation and maintenance programs across all business lines so the district can focus available funds on the highest priority work. The district developed a three-tier ‘triage’ like system to help categorize and prioritize tasks because the district did not receive enough money to complete all “normal” day to day tasks.

The categories are must do, should do, and nice to do. The district will first address “must do” items before beginning “should do” items. The district does not anticipate having enough resources to accomplish any items in the “nice to do” category.

This is consistent with the Corps’ national recreation strategy to have a program that is sustainable and adaptable to fiscal challenges and responsive to user needs. And it will enable Little Rock District to provide the best levels of service within the available budget.

(see attachment for more information)  Rec Park Adjustments 18 Jan 12

Jill Thiel
Membership Services & Special Events
Arkansas Hospitality Association
501-376-2323
501-376-6517(fax)
jill@arhospitality.org