Old letter to U.S. Corps of Engineers' Little Rock offices briefly describes reasons the Town Branch watershed should have been protected

Please click on title above to view original page on old Web site in 2003. The photo made from a farm house yard early in the 20th Century showed the landscape as it appeared 60 or maybe 75 years after the early settlers had clearned the land immediately south of what is now known as Martin Luther Boulevard and before second-growth timber had made the area a beautiful forest that was not removed until 2005.


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PROTECT TOWN BRANCH WATERSHED



Timothy Scott
Environmental Specialist
Planning, Environmental and Regulatory Division
U.S. Corps of Engineers
P.O. Box 867
Little Rock, Arkansas 72203-0867

Dear Mr. Scott:

Members of the Town Branch Neighborhood Association respectfully request that a careful study of the Town Branch Basin in south Fayetteville, Arkansas, be undertaken before any permits are issued for projects that involve alteration of wetland areas along and near tributaries of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River.

We wish particularly to see a complete study of the historical, environmental, archeological, hydrological and sociological values of the area along and west of S. Hill Avenue, S. Duncan Ave., Ellis Avenue and Van Buren Ave. from Sixth to 15th with attention to the potential impact of upstream wetland alteration on floodwater levels and water quality downstream.

Of most immediate concern is the 2-acre parcel of wetland listed as Project 18017 by the Corps of Engineers' Little Rock District and submitted for permit approval by EB Landworks of Fayetteville and James Mathias. The acreage is a remnant of moist-soil mounded prairie that currently naturally stores and cleanses water that falls on it and provides habitat for many species of birds, small mammals and such subterranean species as burrowing crayfish. Existing development adjacent to and near the project land includes relatively little pavement, allowing the original underground water courses to function. This development, however, could radically change that process. Further development to the north could have an even more detrimental effect.

The Town Branch Basin deserves protection because of its special qualities for human beings and the natural wildlife corridor it represents.