Lowest wetland portion of Hill Place (former Aspen Ridge) property being dredged and filled for parking lot in former overflow area of Town Branch

Please click on images to ENLARGE photos of dredging and filling of Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River west of South Hill Avenue and north of 11th Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on February 26, 2009. Rich, absorbent soil being hauled away to make space for truckloads of non-absorbent, non-organic red dirt to provide parking spaces for Hill Place student apartments.

Don't let the contractors take all your brushpiles; the birds won't forgive you

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of mockingbird on brushpile at World Peace Wetland Prairie on February 25, 2009,


The more buds you spot on the ends of small limbs the more likely these limbs are the ones to keep on your property if you want plenty of song birds to be in your neighborhood when spring comes. You might also try to convince your neighbors to preserve some similar brushpiles on their property. And urging neighbors to preserve ice-damaged trees on their property also will help.
Many won't understand. But every property owner who keeps a brush pile or resists pressure to cut down a damaged tree can make a difference in the reproductive success of song birds in the coming spring.

Read my beak, Bella Vista: Don't oil my eggs, don't shoot my goslings

Please click on image of face of Canada goose to Enlarge and read her bill.

Mud Creek Cleanup set for Saturday, February 21, 2009

Please click on image to Enlarge view of Illinois River. Mud Creek is an urban tributary of Clear Creek, which is a tributary of the Illinois River.


IRWP Mud Creek Clean up Sat. Feb. 21‏
From: Contact IRWP (contact@irwp.org)
Sent: Thu 2/12/09 12:54 PM

Join the IRWP on Saturday, Feb. 21, from 9 am till 12 noon to learn more about water quality, trees and conservation management from the Arkansas Forestry Commission and help us clean up Mud Creek and enjoy our natural resources!
Meet at the Mud Creek Trail entrance on Front Street just east of College Avenue, south of Joyce Blvd and north of Panera Bread Co. in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Plastic trash bags and gloves will be provided by the Fayetteville Parks and Recreation Dept.
For details, please email or call 479-238-4671

Ice storm aggravates desperate situation

Fayetteville, Arkansas, officials have talked about the Green Valley of Northwest Arkansas for eight years while approving construction projects that continuously reduced Fayetteville's status as a center of environmental conservation.
At the end of January 2009 an ice storm damaged the city's trees and understory vegetation to such a degree that parts of the city may look like some long-ago view of the time when pioneers were denuding the area of vegetation for construction of the first buildings in the city and for firewood.