Saturday, September 5, 2009
Boom box on a truck ready to provide sound to the whole Town Branch neighborhood and the Fayetteville National Cemetery on Saturday, September 5, 2009
Please click on image to go to the Flickr site and ENLARGE view of radio station's moving boom box ready to liven up another "party hearty" event at the Hill Place student apartment swimming pool. Truck is parked on a portion of the city's Tsa-La-Gi Trail that parallels Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and the Trail of Tears. Some neighbors of the site were the ones crying during a similar party a couple of Saturdays earlier.
Friday, September 4, 2009
When Gannett bought the Arkansas Gazette in 1986, John Robert Starr, Managing Editor of the Arkansas Democrat, had much to say
Please click on image of column to go to Flickr site and use tool above photo of column to ENLARGE for reading.
For more comment on the newspaper war in Little Rock, please use the following link:
http://libinfo.uark.edu/SpecialCollections/pryorcenter/projects/ArkansasGazette/AShepherd.pdf
For more comment on the newspaper war in Little Rock, please use the following link:
http://libinfo.uark.edu/SpecialCollections/pryorcenter/projects/ArkansasGazette/AShepherd.pdf
Thursday, September 3, 2009
More seed and goop spraying on the unnatural "topsoil" spread along the new trail through Pinnacle Foods Inc. wet prairie
Please click on images to go to Flickr and enlarge photos to see detail of pictures of the landscaping workers spraying seed and sticky green material along the Pinnacle Prairie trail. These landscapers apparently have no idea about selection of soil or the importance of protecting such prairie land from invasive species or replacing the natural soil. Butr they do what they are told by someone who can speak their language. Maybe there is a problem with the city's manual for landscaping and the lack of training of city planners, trail administrators and such in dealing with the natural prairie land in Fayetteville, Arkansas?
Bad news for fans of excellence in reporting; end of competition could mean no chance of thorough coverage of news
UPDATED: Democrat-Gazette, Stephens Media Plan Joint Venture in Northwest Arkansas
By Lance Turner - 9/3/2009 11:05:54 AM
After suffering "significant financial losses during the current economic recession," the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and Stephens Media plan a joint venture in northwest Arkansas, the news organizations announced Thursday.
The joint venture would move forward if Stephens can't find a buyer for its flagship newspaper, The Morning News. But Democrat-Gazette Publisher Walter Hussman says he doesn't believe a buyer will be found.
"If someone comes along and buys it, then we’ll continue to compete with The Morning News and this merger won’t be consummated," Hussman, CEO of Wehco Media Inc., which owns the Democrat-Gazette, said in his newspaper's coverage of the deal. "We suspect that won’t happen."
Both companies have asked the U.S. Department of Justice to evaluate the deal. The Justice Department had requested that Stephens put The Morning News up for sale, the companies said.
In absence of a sale, the two firms plan to establish a joint venture, called NorthwestArkansas Newspapers LLC, according to a news release available on Stephens' ArkansasNews.com. The organization will be "equally owned by the parties."
"The parties will contribute the assets of their Northwest Arkansas daily newspapers
(Benton County Daily Record, the Morning News, Rogers and Springdale, the Northwest Arkansas Times, and the Northwest Edition of the Democrat-Gazette) and weekly newspapers, real property, plants, and equipment to the new LLC. Stephens Media will be responsible for editorial control of the local newspapers in northwest Arkansas. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Inc. will control advertising, business, production and circulation functions of the new LLC, and will be in charge of the editorial functions of the Northwest Arkansas Edition of the Democrat-Gazette."
Jeff Jeffus, publisher for the Democrat-Gazette's northwest Arkansas operations, will be president of the new LLC, the companies said.
In announcing the deal to employees in northwest Arkansas on Thursday, Hussman said
newspaper jobs would be cut.
If the deal goes through, it would end more than 20 years of competition in the region between two of the state's biggest media companies and wealthiest Arkansans, Hussman and financier Warren Stephens, who owns Stephens Media.
In northwest Arkansas, the Democrat-Gazette owns the Northwest Arkansas Times and the Benton County Daily Record. It also publishes a zoned edition of the Democrat-Gazette for 12 counties in the region.
Stephens Media owns The Morning News and several other newspapers in the region. It also owns several papers in central Arkansas, including the Times of North Little Rock, the Cabot Star-Herald, Carlisle Independent, Lonoke Democrat and Sherwood Voice and the Jacksonville Patriot.
ArkansasBusiness.com will update this story.
Please click on image to go to Flickr site and use magnifying tool above photo to see men spraying mix of cellulose fiber and either tall fescue seed (nonnative species of grass that many people are trying to dig out of local prairies) or annual rye, which is supposed to disappear after we get seed from the surrounding stands of prairie natives planted there.
Pinnacle Prairie grass and flowers
Please click on image to go to Flickr site and ENLARGE to view detail.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
What do we save when we save wetland prairie in addition to native plants, birds and mammals and reptiles? Beneficial and benign insects come to mind.
And we save money on watershed restoration and purification of water for human use.
Dragonfly eating butterfly or moth on Pinnacle wet prairie in south Fayetteville, Arkansas, on September 2, 2009. Please click on image to go to Flickr site and view enlargements by using magnifying tool above photo.
Dragonfly eating butterfly or moth on Pinnacle wet prairie in south Fayetteville, Arkansas, on September 2, 2009. Please click on image to go to Flickr site and view enlargements by using magnifying tool above photo.
Watershed workshop announcement from Matthew Epps of the Watershed Erosion Prediction Project
“WEPP Model Workshop for
Watershed Assessment and Planning Applications”
November 17 - 19, 2009, Fayetteville, Arkansas
Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution is the Nation's largest source of water quality problems with sediment being one of the most common pollutants, contributing to the impairment of many of our lakes and streams. Understanding erosion processes and sources of sediment associated with land-use practices is an important component of watershed assessment and aids in evaluating management practices to reduce sediment. The Water Erosion Prediction Project or WEPP model is a tool that can be used to predict soil erosion and sediment delivery to provide science-based information for watershed planning.
The WEPP hydrology and erosion model mathematically describes soil erosion and sediment delivery processes. For a single run, WEPP uses several decades of stochastically-generated daily weather to predict daily plant growth and decay, residue accumulation and decay and the soil water balance. For each day with precipitation WEPP predicts infiltration and runoff; and sediment detachment, transport, deposition and delivery along a hill slope and through a stream system. The WEPP model distributes soil loss spatially (at a given point on the hill or in the stream network) and temporally (on a daily, monthly, or annual basis).
Upon completing this course: 1) participants will have a better understanding of erosion processes; 2) they will be able to predict erosion from roads and disturbed hill slopes using online interfaces; 3) they will know how to modify files in WEPP Windows to analyze forests and farmland hillsides and to support GeoWEPP watershed analyses; 4) they will have completed two sets of GeoWEPP exercises, one for identifying critical areas of erosion within a watershed following a wildfire and one for setting up GeoWEPP to complete a Cumulative Watershed Effects analysis including forest and farmlands; and 5) they will gain experience in collecting road and hill slope data in the field and use it to run the WEPP model. A detailed course agenda is attached.
Key topics that will be covered include:
· Overview of science in the WEPP hydrology and erosion model using local climate, soil and topographic details.
· WEPP on-line training with web-based interfaces for forest and farm applications
o Best Management Practices for reducing sediment loss from roads
o Evaluating disturbed sites in forest, farm and urban areas
o Data collection in the field for roads and hillside sites
· Fundamental features of the WEPP Windows and GeoWEPP GIS interfaces as applied to disturbed hillsides and Cumulative Watershed Effects analyses
· Watershed management applications and hands-on sessions
· Case studies in which the WEPP is used to model sediment from forests and farm lands at a watershed scale and as a watershed management tool.
· Opportunities to network with other area watershed-management specialist.
Who should attend this training: This workshop is designed for professionals who work in the areas of natural resource management, water-quality protection, watershed management, and/or nonpoint source pollution. Specialists who will benefit from this training are likely to be employees of federal, state, county, and local agencies, watershed practitioners, scientists, engineers and consultants.
You do not have to be a modeler to attend this training. The current WEPP model is easy to learn and is user friendly. The principles and practices presented through this workshop are beneficial to professionals at all levels including managers.
Training approach, instructor, and presenters: The workshop will be taught through interactive lectures, hands-on modeling sessions, and case studies. The workshop will use data collected during a field session to make the WEPP model runs.
Dr. William John Elliot, P.E. is the main instructor for the training. He is a leading international expert on the WEPP model and its applications. Dr. Elliot assisted with the development of the WEPP model and has spent more than 20 years expanding and improving its capabilities. He has over 40 years experience in the area of soil erosion - process and prediction and has taught WEPP workshops throughout the United States, Uganda, and Brazil. Dr. Elliot is currently a research engineer for the Air Water and Aquatic Environments Science Program, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station in Moscow, Idaho.
Other experts will share their experience in utilizing the WEPP model for watershed assessment and planning. Course presenters include: Ethan Inlander, The Nature Conservancy; Alan Clingenpeel, USDA, Forest Service, Ouachita National Forest; and Matthew Van Eps, P.E. & Sandi J. Formica, Watershed Conservation Resource Center.
Host and partners: The Mid-South Watershed Training Program was developed by the Watershed Conservation Resource Center (WCRC) through a US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) grant to provide watershed management training and technical tools needed by environmental professionals, watershed coordinators, conservation districts, and other watershed stakeholders to conserve, restore, and protect our natural resources. Through this program, the WCRC has partnered with the US EPA, USDA Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy to design, organize, and conduct the workshop.
Agenda and Travel Information: The course schedule, content, and speakers can be found in the agenda. Also detailed travel information including location, lodging directions, and parking can be found at the WCRC website, watershedconservation.org.
Registration: Space is limited, so please register early. To register, complete the attached registration form. If you have questions concerning registration, please contact Lori Linn at llinn@watershedconservation.org or at (479) 444-1916. The course tuition is $550 and includes course materials, three continental breakfasts, two lunches, one dinner, and break refreshments.
Watershed Assessment and Planning Applications”
November 17 - 19, 2009, Fayetteville, Arkansas
Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution is the Nation's largest source of water quality problems with sediment being one of the most common pollutants, contributing to the impairment of many of our lakes and streams. Understanding erosion processes and sources of sediment associated with land-use practices is an important component of watershed assessment and aids in evaluating management practices to reduce sediment. The Water Erosion Prediction Project or WEPP model is a tool that can be used to predict soil erosion and sediment delivery to provide science-based information for watershed planning.
The WEPP hydrology and erosion model mathematically describes soil erosion and sediment delivery processes. For a single run, WEPP uses several decades of stochastically-generated daily weather to predict daily plant growth and decay, residue accumulation and decay and the soil water balance. For each day with precipitation WEPP predicts infiltration and runoff; and sediment detachment, transport, deposition and delivery along a hill slope and through a stream system. The WEPP model distributes soil loss spatially (at a given point on the hill or in the stream network) and temporally (on a daily, monthly, or annual basis).
Upon completing this course: 1) participants will have a better understanding of erosion processes; 2) they will be able to predict erosion from roads and disturbed hill slopes using online interfaces; 3) they will know how to modify files in WEPP Windows to analyze forests and farmland hillsides and to support GeoWEPP watershed analyses; 4) they will have completed two sets of GeoWEPP exercises, one for identifying critical areas of erosion within a watershed following a wildfire and one for setting up GeoWEPP to complete a Cumulative Watershed Effects analysis including forest and farmlands; and 5) they will gain experience in collecting road and hill slope data in the field and use it to run the WEPP model. A detailed course agenda is attached.
Key topics that will be covered include:
· Overview of science in the WEPP hydrology and erosion model using local climate, soil and topographic details.
· WEPP on-line training with web-based interfaces for forest and farm applications
o Best Management Practices for reducing sediment loss from roads
o Evaluating disturbed sites in forest, farm and urban areas
o Data collection in the field for roads and hillside sites
· Fundamental features of the WEPP Windows and GeoWEPP GIS interfaces as applied to disturbed hillsides and Cumulative Watershed Effects analyses
· Watershed management applications and hands-on sessions
· Case studies in which the WEPP is used to model sediment from forests and farm lands at a watershed scale and as a watershed management tool.
· Opportunities to network with other area watershed-management specialist.
Who should attend this training: This workshop is designed for professionals who work in the areas of natural resource management, water-quality protection, watershed management, and/or nonpoint source pollution. Specialists who will benefit from this training are likely to be employees of federal, state, county, and local agencies, watershed practitioners, scientists, engineers and consultants.
You do not have to be a modeler to attend this training. The current WEPP model is easy to learn and is user friendly. The principles and practices presented through this workshop are beneficial to professionals at all levels including managers.
Training approach, instructor, and presenters: The workshop will be taught through interactive lectures, hands-on modeling sessions, and case studies. The workshop will use data collected during a field session to make the WEPP model runs.
Dr. William John Elliot, P.E. is the main instructor for the training. He is a leading international expert on the WEPP model and its applications. Dr. Elliot assisted with the development of the WEPP model and has spent more than 20 years expanding and improving its capabilities. He has over 40 years experience in the area of soil erosion - process and prediction and has taught WEPP workshops throughout the United States, Uganda, and Brazil. Dr. Elliot is currently a research engineer for the Air Water and Aquatic Environments Science Program, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station in Moscow, Idaho.
Other experts will share their experience in utilizing the WEPP model for watershed assessment and planning. Course presenters include: Ethan Inlander, The Nature Conservancy; Alan Clingenpeel, USDA, Forest Service, Ouachita National Forest; and Matthew Van Eps, P.E. & Sandi J. Formica, Watershed Conservation Resource Center.
Host and partners: The Mid-South Watershed Training Program was developed by the Watershed Conservation Resource Center (WCRC) through a US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) grant to provide watershed management training and technical tools needed by environmental professionals, watershed coordinators, conservation districts, and other watershed stakeholders to conserve, restore, and protect our natural resources. Through this program, the WCRC has partnered with the US EPA, USDA Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy to design, organize, and conduct the workshop.
Agenda and Travel Information: The course schedule, content, and speakers can be found in the agenda. Also detailed travel information including location, lodging directions, and parking can be found at the WCRC website, watershedconservation.org.
Registration: Space is limited, so please register early. To register, complete the attached registration form. If you have questions concerning registration, please contact Lori Linn at llinn@watershedconservation.org or at (479) 444-1916. The course tuition is $550 and includes course materials, three continental breakfasts, two lunches, one dinner, and break refreshments.
Light rain eroding yesterday's newly spread tan dirt from surface of Pinnacle Prairie trail and dirtying water of tributary of the Town Branch
Please click on image to go to Flickr site and use tool above images to ENLARGE view of silt-laden water flowing unchecked in the Beaver Lake watershed.
Why does trail administrator persist in allowing landscapers to damage both the landscape and the water supply?
Why does trail administrator persist in allowing landscapers to damage both the landscape and the water supply?
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Stuck truck epitomizes the process of building the new trail through Pinnacle Prairie
Please click on images to go to Flickr photo site and use tool above each to enlarge for better view of truck stuck in soft fill dirt on Pinnacle Foods Inc.'s wet prairie, almost in the Soup Branch of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River (a tributary of Northwest Arkansas' main public water source, Beaver Lake). The workers were adding so-called topsoil to the mass of clay, gravel, assorted debris and red dirt already used to fill the land along the trail for the second time. The first layer of unnatural soil added to the edges of the 12-foot-wide trail paved to outmoded city standards washed away days after being applied during heavy rain a few weeks ago. Much of it may be found in the Town Branch, probably seen most easily by looking down from any Town Branch Bridge to the southeast or in the three box culverts under 15th Street about three blocks east of U.S. 71 B (aka South School Avenue.) The work is being done as a condition of approval by subcontractors trying to finish the already occupied Hill Place student apartments.
Despite advice to the contrary and repeated publication of photos of the careless trail work that has cost the riparian zones of city streams thousands of trees in recent years, put concrete and black top and red dirt and unnatural soil such as is shown here in the overflow area and flood plains, this latest example of lack of understanding of the watershed concerns is simply a continuation of the poorly conceived policies of the past eight years.
I failed to attend tonight's Fayetteville City Council meeting and tuned into Government Channel too late to hear discussion of the latest update of the trail plan. I fear it was passed without mention of such problems and no new requirements to protect the watershed or the very precious wildlife corridor along the streams. I hope I am wrong.
If we get rain this week and the new dirt washes away, will the city trail administrator tell the contractors to add a few more tons of silt to the site so that the state HIghway Department will have another many dump-truck loads to dredge out of the stream between HIl Place and Beaver Lake as AHTD workers did a few months ago?
Once again, the Hill Place/Aspen Ridge debacle proves the the Town Branch Neighborhood is the "poster child" of ill-begotten development.
Despite advice to the contrary and repeated publication of photos of the careless trail work that has cost the riparian zones of city streams thousands of trees in recent years, put concrete and black top and red dirt and unnatural soil such as is shown here in the overflow area and flood plains, this latest example of lack of understanding of the watershed concerns is simply a continuation of the poorly conceived policies of the past eight years.
I failed to attend tonight's Fayetteville City Council meeting and tuned into Government Channel too late to hear discussion of the latest update of the trail plan. I fear it was passed without mention of such problems and no new requirements to protect the watershed or the very precious wildlife corridor along the streams. I hope I am wrong.
If we get rain this week and the new dirt washes away, will the city trail administrator tell the contractors to add a few more tons of silt to the site so that the state HIghway Department will have another many dump-truck loads to dredge out of the stream between HIl Place and Beaver Lake as AHTD workers did a few months ago?
Once again, the Hill Place/Aspen Ridge debacle proves the the Town Branch Neighborhood is the "poster child" of ill-begotten development.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
