Editor,
At the Oct. 17, 2017, meeting of the Parks Commission, Bill Featherstone, the commission’s chairman, said, “To not fully assess our inventory at Leatherwood and do any kind of construction or invasion of any space whether that be trail construction or anything else is irresponsible management. And we’re not going to be irresponsible managers.”
At this same meeting, commissioners James Weaver, Ruth Hager, Draxie Rogers, Ferguson Stewart, Christian Super, and Steven Foster approved a formal agreement that Parks has $50,000 available as matching funds for the construction of a system of downhill mountain biking trails in Leatherwood Park. At their Nov. 21 meeting, the commission approved a contract for this “gravity park,” as Mr. Featherstone referred to it.
Did the Parks Commission have an inventory of Leatherwood Park in hand at the time it agreed to commit $50,000? No. Did the commission have an inventory when it approved the contract to construct? No. Does the commission have an inventory now? No, but a “Rapid Ecological Assessment for Miner’s Rock area at Leatherwood” is expected any day now from Theo Witsell, botanist for the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission.
For his assessment, Witsell walked the one new trail in the area that had been flagged. In email exchanges with Foster and Huss, Witsell wrote, “… nearly an entire growing season… is really what is needed to get a complete picture of a site.” He also said, “About the only thing I would be able to do in your time window… is to make a brief site visit (a few days max) in late November, focusing on habitats and whatever plants are still identifiable (a minority of those present). This would be only a cursory review of the area, but would be better than nothing.”
During the commission’s Nov. 21 meeting, Huss pointed to impact assessment as a glaring need but also noted that the Walton Family Foundation pushed to start construction because they had a team ready and they wanted to keep Aaron Rogers (of Rock Solid Trail Contracting) working. I find it difficult to reconcile this portrayal of the foundation’s approach to Eureka Springs with its attention to community outreach and thorough planning in other small cities where it has funded trail projects.
For many residents, hikers, and bikers, it is important to note that, at the Nov. 21 meeting, Huss also said the downhill trails project means “a big section of the park is preserved for one user group. Downhill bikers are a user group that doesn’t mix with anyone else.”
Pat Costner