First-of-its-kind watershed map of White River’s West Fork recently completed
Posted on Tuesday, June 13, 2006
A map showing the West Fork of the White River watershed, complete with photos, history and other informational sections, has been completed by Audubon Arkansas — the first project of its kind, says Fran Free, Northwest education coordinator for the organization.
The map was a year in the making and Free did the bulk of the work, although Melissa Terry, former director of conservation for Audubon Arkansas, worked on the project in the beginning and helped procure the services of a graphic designer, Kim Johnson, Fayetteville. "She was very creative," Free said of Johnson’s work on the project.
Paying for the map printing were the Arkansas Forestry Commission and the Beaver Water District, while the forestry commission paid for Johnson’s services. The total cost was a little more than $4,000.
The project was completed two weeks ago and there are 2,500 maps being made available to 200 people who live along the river, Free said, as well as to every public school teacher in the watershed and key policymakers in the watershed.
Free did much of the research, and wrote and compiled the text for the map. The map features credits for photos and other information Free used.
One of the key definitions presented on the map is the definition of a watershed: an area of land that catches rain and snow and drains or seeps into a marsh, stream, river, lake or groundwater.
Free’s explanation of karst, the local terrain features responsible for the caves, sinkholes and underground rivers in the area, was ascertained from research using information from the American Geological Institute. She went through the institute’s publications and called people with the organization.
Text in the map explains how these terrains are vulnerable to environmental impacts, and how groundwater is easily polluted. Monitoring the groundwater quality of springs and wells, according to the text, "is a vital part of watershed management."
The idea to produce a watershed map came from a similar project in Austin, Texas, which was an ecolocation map, primarily designed for newcomers to that area.
The West Fork of the White River watershed map has a variety of target audiences, including landowners and farmers, policymakers, young people and teachers.
After all of those maps are distributed, maps will be available for the general public. Free said there probably will have to be another printing run to provide maps for more people. "We would like to do this for the entire Beaver Lake watershed," Free said, adding that Audubon could also produce similar maps for the Mississippi River and White River watersheds.
The Illinois River Watershed Partnership is also looking into doing something like this map, Free said.
The history section of the map features older photos of people enjoying the watershed and historical information about the area. "That was one of my favorite sections," said Free, who added she learned a lot of information from the historical research. Photos for this section were made available from Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale.
The map also features photos and explanations of native plant species in the watershed.
The map includes marked areas for streams and lakes, river or lake access, wildlife viewing, multi-use trails and points of interest. These marks, Free said, are to encourage people to get out and learn more about their watershed.
Along the edge of the map are "factoids," such "as an acre of wetland can store 1-1.5 million gallons of floodwater." "I’m hoping that little kids will put it up on their walls and look at it every day and get to know their watershed," Free said.
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