Events - Month View

Here's your chance to to work off some of the Thanksgiving overload, and there will be suitable job opportunities for everyone.

We suggest long pants/shirts, leather gloves, and safety glasses since we will be working in areas with vines, limbs, and thorny brush that always tend to find bare skin. Don’t forget to bring water! We will meet at the CAMN storage room that is in the red building directly behind the big building.

We are building a new natural-surface trail around the outside of the SJCA property. Much of it is already done, but we need to do some clearing on the old railroad bed on the northernmost end of the property. Work will mostly include lopping, chain sawing, pole sawing, swamping, leaf blowing, and some litter removal. With a decent-sized crew we should complete this project in one day.

Record time as Trail Building/Maintenance. Sponsor is St. Joseph's Center

Gardening and greenhouse work at Ozark Folk Center State Park

Gardening & greenhouse work

SJCA ‘Whacky‘ Wednesdays (for weed-whacking, weed-picking, watering, grounds/garden spruce-ups)

Record activity according to how you spend most of your time, sponsor St. Joseph‘s.

Chores needed to be done: clearing small trees away from a large tree and putting up the Barn Owl box you donated to us; replacing broken landscape timber around the garden beds, cleaning trail signs, and putting up trail markers. We probably won’t get it all done on Friday so there may be other days for folks to get volunteer hours in soon.

Dan Scheiman, Ph.D.

501.244.2229
Record activity according to the work that you do. Sponsor is Audubon Arkansas

Gardening and greenhouse work at Ozark Folk Center State Park

Gardening & greenhouse work

Join us via Zoom for a look at climate change, presented by Stephen K. Boss, PhD,
Department of Geosciences, University of Arkansas.

3 hours NiT Training

Receive training in Project Learning Tree’s award-winning Early Childhood curriculum. Environmental Experiences for Early Childhood targets educators of kids ages 3-6.

Each participant will receive an activity guide along with an accompanying music CD containing over 130 hands-on, interdisciplinary experiences for young learners. Activities meet the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) criteria for curriculum and the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework.

Join us for this fun, hands-on and interactive workshop to learn how to implement these activities into your own classrooms, afterschool programs, and camps.

Participants must stay for the full 3-hours to receive the activity guide and professional development credit.

Cost: $10 payable at the workshop.
Register by emailing rbeadel@arkforests.org with the name and date of the workshop along with your name, email address and phone number.

Qualifies for 3 hours of CE. Sponsor is the Arkansas Forestry Commission.

We will meet at Whittington Park at 10:00 a.m. for coffee/hot chocolate, fellowship, and a one mile walk on the path that circles Whittington Park. The path is level and smooth. There is no elevation change for this easy walk/hike. Whittington Park is rich in its diversity of trees. We will re-introduce the self-guided tree identification study we used at the beginning of the pandemic. Park on the south side between the jug fountain and the entrance to West Mtn Drive where the road widens.

Plant identification can be challenging, especially during the cold winter months when many species have gone dormant. Luckily, even during this bleak time of year, plants still provide us with plenty of clues that we can use to identify what species a tree, shrub, or woody vine belongs to. Eric Fuselier will teach us about these clues, and how, even during the wintertime, botany can still be a fun way to spend time outdoors.

$10 fee and registration required. Use this link. https://www.amilia.com/store/en/peel-compton/shop/activities/3400434

The GWFM team will be conducting a prescribed burn in the south section of the meadow on December 6 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. to encourage the growth of forbs. Lunch will be provided. Details to follow by email. Calvin Wakefield, AGFC Private Lands Biologist, will act as burn boss and will teach an AGFC Learn to Burn 2 class on conducting prescribed fires. AS WEATHER IS A FACTOR, KEEP IN MIND THAT THE DECEMBER 6 DATE IS SOMEWHAT TENTATIVE. Alternate date to to uncooperative weather will be December 10. Updates will be sent as necessary.

Ozark Highlands Trail (OHT) needs clearing before a 105-mile footrace (yes, men & women run 105 miles on that stony trail). Happily, we need to clear only 4 miles.

Blower operators especially needed.

Rendezvous at Brush Creek trailhead located on AR Highway 341 (Push Mountain Road) 14½ miles south of Sheid Bridge, on the left side of the highway.

Here's another chance to to work off some of the Thanksgiving overload, and prepare for the Christmas overload! There will be suitable job opportunities for everyone.

We suggest long pants/shirts, leather gloves, and safety glasses since we will be working in areas with vines, limbs, and thorny brush that always tend to find bare skin. Don’t forget to bring water! We will meet at the CAMN storage room that is in the red building directly behind the big building.

We have flagged the route for a new trail through about a 12-acre forested unit that SJCA recently acquired across the street from the main building. The intent is for SJCA to turn it into a nature trail in the future. For this workday there will be a lot of focus on clean-up of years/loads of litter as well as limbing up the proposed trail corridor, blowing off the tread, and generally preparing the route for creating a usable trail. This project may take more than one day, but we will have to see how much progress we can make in one day.

Record time as Trail Building/Maintenance. Sponsor is St. Joseph's Center

SJCA ‘Whacky‘ Wednesdays (for weed-whacking, weed-picking, watering, grounds/garden spruce-ups)

Record activity according to how you spend most of your time, sponsor St. Joseph‘s.

About the Event
Growing Up WILD Exploring Nature with Children ages 3-7 is an education curriculum which helps educators and caregivers engage children in activities that encourage outdoor exploration.

Approved for 6 hours CE, sponsor AGFC.

Participants will receive a 27 lesson curriculum guide at no cost. Workshop is also no charge. Participants will also receive a free, "Wishing I Was Fishing" picture book.

Come and explore nature with us as this fun filled, hands-on workshop.

Participants are encouraged to bring a sack lunch, snacks, and drinks.

Door prizes!

Norfork Trail, Tracy Ferry Park, northernmost section 5 of 5, annual trail maintenance. This is the northernmost section of the five segments. This stretch is 2.6 miles, steep in places and more challenging than the other four sections. No restroom facilities. Record your hours sponsor US Army Corps of Engineers. Bring work gloves, loppers, clippers, or use our power tools. The 13-mile linear Norfork Trail is comprised of five moderately challenging sections, separated by six trailheads.

Directions. Tracy Park trailhead, located near Lake Norfork, from Mountain Home Bypass, drive 4.1 miles south on Highway 5. Turn left on AR 341 (Tracy Ferry Road) and drive 1.8 mile on AR 341 to a fork. Take right fork Tracy Ferry Road 1.1 mile to the trailhead crossing. (The left fork is AR 341 to CR 1028 trailhead located on Fish & Fiddle Road). GPS N36 17'55", W92 16'17".

We may send a few volunteers to the next trailhead, depending on group size and turnout. CR 1028 trailhead, located by Lake Norfork. From Mountain Home Bypass, drive 4.1 miles south on Highway 5. Turn left on AR 341 (Tracy Ferry Road) and drive 2.8 miles on AR 341 (name will change to Rocky Ridge Road). Turn right on Fish and Fiddle Road (CR 1028) and drive 1.1 mile to trailhead. Do not turn left into the resort, take right fork between houses and past dead end sign, park on left side of road. There is additional parking down the hill next to the trailhead gate, but this road is steep and rutted. N36 18'44", W92 16' 05".

Reed will be hosting a Fourche Creek trash-boom cleanout
Bring your own water craft (canoe, kayak, jon boat).
Bring your own drinking water and snacks, if needed.

Record your hours as litter pick up and the sponsor is Stream Team!
Bring your own litter grabbers and Stream Team mesh bags if you have them..
Large 45 gallon trash bags will be provided.

For you landlubbers, there will be plenty of litter to pick up along the shoreline, up on
top of the bank in the riparian if you don‘t want to get on the water. We can shuttle you
across to the north side to work that, too. Lots of blackberries, greenbrier, etc. Wear thick,
protective clothing and tall boots. Ticks and mosquitoes are out, and so are our favorite
legless reptiles; no alligators that I know of.

About the Event
Take a walk on the WILD side! Project WILD is an education program rooted in nature that helps educators bring the outdoor to their students.

K - 12th grade curriculum

No cost for the workshop or materials.

Each participant will receive two curriculum guides filled with hundreds of lessons.

Approved for 6 hours CE, sponsor AGFC.

Participants are encouraged to bring a sack lunch, snack, and drinks.

About the Location
Fred Berry Nature Center on Crooked Creek

Big Maumelle Pavilion

Gardening and greenhouse work at Ozark Folk Center State Park

Gardening & greenhouse work

SJCA ‘Whacky‘ Wednesdays (for weed-whacking, weed-picking, watering, grounds/garden spruce-ups)

Record activity according to how you spend most of your time, sponsor St. Joseph‘s.

clear Big Bluff trail, in Bull Shoals White River State Park. Moderate challenge, one hill 272' elevation, 1.7 mile loop. Record your hours sponsor BSWR State Park. Bring work gloves, loppers, clippers, or use our power tools. Modern restrooms are located nearby in the campground area.

Directions. Big Bluff Trail is located on the Baxter County side of the river and lake, near the bottom of Bull Shoals Dam. From the town of Lakeview, drive west on Highway 178, and turn left (down the hill) on Powerhouse Road. Drive down the hill 1 mile to the fork. Do not drive into the campground area. Instead, take the right fork and continue on Powerhouse Road, ½ mile to a small parking lot on the left side of the road. The trailhead begins at the parking lot.

For more information, call Roy Stovall 8...736-0505.

We will meet at Desoto Park (junction of Park Avenue and Stonebridge Rd) at 9:00 a.m. and shuttle to the Pullman Trailhead of the Northwoods Tail. The hike back to Desoto Park is a moderately difficult hike of 2.2 miles with an elevation change of 140 ft. The first segment of the hike along the Pullman Trailhead will take us north (and up!) for 0.65 miles to the intersection with the Sunset Trail. We will follow the Sunset Trail east through some beautiful old growth forest to Stonebridge Rd. There the trail follows along the road and passes by the old Ricks Estate. If you haven’t seen it, Ricks Pond and the Old Mill are a beautiful reminder of our city’s history. You will need to bring water and a snack/lunch. The hike will take approximately 3 hours.
PUBLIC WELCOME
REGISTRATION REQUIRED

Keep Little Rock Beautiful has been approved by ArDOT to adopt a 1-mile section of S Arch Street that is adjacent to Interstate Park located at 3900 S Arch Street in Little Rock.

They will be meeting at 9 am on August 21st by the large Pavilion on the left-hand side just inside the park to perform our first cleanup. They would like to partner with other local groups to help make a difference in this area that will be seeing a huge increase in visitors due to the upcoming Southwest Trail and the new launch ramp that will soon be constructed to enable watercraft to access Fourche Creek much easier than now.

Wear sturdy shoes, socks, and long pants. BYOB.... bring your own bottle... with water of course! They will have fresh water for refills.
If you have your own litter grabber, please bring it. If not, they will have a supply of KLRB grabbers. ArDOT is supposed to provide their safety vests and heavy-duty trash bags.

Please contact Norm Berner via email if you can join us on August 21st. normdb@hotmail.com

Plan ahead for future ArDOT AAH Program events - months throughout each year on the 3rd Saturday

August
October
December
February
April
June

Record time as litter pick up, sponsor Keep Little Rock Beautiful.