Editor,
Deep gratitude to Scott Miskiel for his caring stewardship of the Eureka Springs parks. When he was the city gardener he took the initiative to plant many native plants in the spring gardens around town, and now as the director he has fulfilled a commitment he made to me last year to have signage in place that helps educate the public about conservation of wildflowers.
Some days when I walked the trails at Black Bass last year every single bloom had been picked and then often discarded on the ground. It was so distressing to me that I didn’t set foot on Parks property for a year.
Since Sam Dudley placed the signs, I have seen a 90% improvement in the destruction of the native plants. I was also happy to see the beautiful cedar bridges that Sam designed. When I complimented him, he seemed both pleased and surprised.
Scott also helped me to rescue a rare fern from Magnetic Spring before the wall was rebuilt; he came on a Sunday giving some of his rare free time to save the Southern Maidenhair fern. We will be able to replace this fern because the stonemason who is rebuilding the wall has invented a way to make a pocket for the fern.
He also told me that he is making a gift to all of us of the beautiful stone stairway. Stacy Mahurin takes pride as a master craftsman and felt the concrete steps that fit into the city budget would spoil the beauty of the work.
I hope you will join me in personally thanking our devoted public stewards for their hard work and remember that Scott inherited decades of neglected infrastructure as well as damaged trust from previous directors. Thank you, Scott, Sam, Stacy and all the other hardworking members of our Parks Department.
Glenda Moore