NEWS | South Fork Nature Center

EAST Meets SOUTH

EAST Lab students visit South Fork

Students from the EAST Lab at South Side Bee Branch High School visited SFNC in February to investigate ideas for design projects. Docents Krissi Graham and Marc Hirrell along with Programs Director, Don Culwell met with the students as they hiked the trails and brainstormed about possible design projects at SFNC. Julie Nelson, EAST instructor at South Side has brought several classes out to SFNC in the past years. She has been a great supporter of our educational mission.

Check out these links If you would like to read more about the EAST Program in local schools:

EAST Initiative: A River Runs Through It

EAST Initiative: Hammock Garden

School Days

School visits encourage teachers to bring their students to South Fork

Usually, our events emphasize the importance of "outside the classroom" education. But we still love spending time in class! Members of the South Fork team visited Clinton & South Side schools in February & March, sharing some of the great opportunities for educational enrichment at the Nature Center.
 

Want us to come and visit your school? 
Want to schedule a field trip for your class or organization?

Contact Don Culwell, Programs Director at grf@artelco.com or 501.358.2095

FAMN Wind Cleanup

Special thanks to this awesome team!

March came in like a lion, and left trees across our trails! A huge thanks to the Foothills of AR Master Naturalists who helped us clear out the fallen trees during the first week of the month.

Paving the Way

Making headway on a regional trail system

Above: Clinton mayor Richard McCormac observes an example of single track bike systems in Bentonville, AR during a recent visit to one of the nation’s mountain biking capitals.

Small towns across America are using bike tourism to energize local economy. With its unique natural attractions, the Greers Ferry Lake area is on its way to becoming a major trail destination.

News from our Trail-Building Friends:

Mar. 22 | Tree Planting

If you missed last week's tree planting and are looking for a way to enjoy the beautiful spring weather, then join us THURSDAY, March 22, for a day (or just a couple of hours) of planting trees. The Nature Conservancy is looking for volunteers to help plant over 300 trees in the Greers Ferry Lake watershed along the South Fork of the Little Red River outside of Clinton. If you are interested please contact Bonnie Earleywine at bearleywine@tnc.org or 501-351-9380 for more details. We hope to see you there!

Mar. 24 | The Boil at Bluffton

How about a day on the river with a crawfish boil and a cold brew?

Friends of Bluffton is happy to be partnering with Central Arkansas Trail Alliance, Group Foothills Trails Alliance, The Nature Conservancy of Arkansas, and the Arkansas Master Naturalists Foothills to blaze new trails at the Bluffton Preserve. After a solid morning of working on trail, we will meet back at the house for a good old fashioned crawfish boil and some frosty adult beverages from our friends at Lost Forty Brewing. Camping is available Friday evening. 
 

Apr. 5, 6pm | L'Attitude Bistro, Clinton

The Foothills Trail Alliance invites you to join their mission to build & maintain trail systems throughout our community.  We welcome anyone interested in the helping of trail development from trail building, maintenance, acquiring ride of ways for new trail, to ideas and everything in-between. 
 

Friends of Bluffton

The Bluffton Preserve off Watergate Road just north of Clinton is managed by the Nature Conservancy as a public canoe/kayak launch. With access to our region's beautiful waterways quickly becoming a high-profile attraction, this is a critical time for developing a maintenance program to ensure the area stays natural & pristine for visitors and surrounding landowners.
The Friends of Bluffton invite you to join the team! Contact Jason Hayes with Float VBC to find out how you can help. 501-745-6500 or cltchamber@artelco.com.
 

Spring in Slow Motion

From award-winning filmmaker Jens Noelte

Year of the Bird

Tips on a bird-friendly backyard

In a series of articles celebrating the International Year of the Bird, here's a great page from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on using native plants to beautify your landscape while enhancing the habitat for your feathered friends.