Editor,
How should Lake Leatherwood City Park be managed to best suit the needs of the residents of Eureka Springs? Twenty-three years have passed since a Eureka Springs Parks and Recreation Commission asked this question of a representative cross-section of Eureka residents.
In 1995, the commission asked the University of Arkansas Research and Evaluation Management to find the answer by surveying Eureka residents and evaluating various aspects of the Park. The final report, “Lake Leatherwood Park Needs Assessment,” is in the Eureka Library. It’s well worth reading. Meanwhile, here are the major findings:
“Based upon the survey, preservation of the land is a top priority. Respondents of the questionnaire considered quietness, seclusion, and the beauty of the natural environment to be important aspects of recreation activities associated with the Lake Leatherwood property. Hiking trails and nature preservation were both within the top five survey results. Strong environmental ethics seem to be important to the Eureka Springs residents. They want the lake property to remain as natural as possible.”
Am I saying that these findings would hold true today? No. My point is that until the commission asks the University or a similarly independent entity to conduct a new study, the 1995 study offers the only credible insight anyone has into the collective will of Eureka residents with respect to Lake Leatherwood Park. It’s important to remember that the Eureka Springs Parks and Recreation Commission was created for one reason – to serve the community of Eureka Springs by managing Lake Leatherwood City Park according to the needs of all Eureka citizens.
In 2013, Bill Featherstone, longstanding Chair of the Parks Commission, apparently felt the same way about Leatherwood Park as the residents surveyed in 1995, when he said, “That’s what Leatherwood is – a peaceful place, 1620 acres of blissful nature preserve.” Then only four years later, he voted “Yes” in the commission’s covert approval of the contract to construct a network of downhill mountain biking trails covering more than 200 acres in one of the most ecologically vulnerable areas of Leatherwood Park. Now that’s what I call a radical change!
Pat Costner