Header photo above: PJSP Seven Hollows Trail
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Digital Newsletter (7/9/23) | Lecture Series (3/11/23)
What's New (7/18/23) | Events List (3/11/23) | Links
Items previously shown below may have been moved to the Newsletter pages
Central Arkansas Safety Action Plan
Metroplan, the metropolitan planning organization for Central Arkansas (Faulkner County, Lonoke County, Pulaski County, and Saline County) is developing a Safety Action Plan. This Plan will identify and prioritize roadway safety improvements for all road users in Central Arkansas, including pedestrians, cyclists, public transportation users, motorists, and more. The goal of the Safety Action Plan is to improve roadway safety by significantly reducing or eliminating roadway fatalities and serious injuries through implementation focused on all road users. For more info or to complete a survey to provide input to the plan, click HERE.
Champion Trees in Springdale
11/19/23 - Su - Two trees, a hackberry and a catalpa, in Springdale have been designated as champion trees, i.e., the largest of their type in Arkansas. For more info, check page 5B of today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Sierra Club Central Arkansas Group Meetings
1/16/24 - Tu - Please Join us on at 6:30 pm for our January Arkansas Sierra Club, Central Arkansas Group meeting. Program:
We meet at the John Gould Fletcher Library, 823 N. Buchanan St., Little Rock, AR 72205. Future meetings are announced via e-mail messages from Chair George Wise. If you do not receive the messages, please contact George at bgcdwise@swbell.net If announced in e-mail message, meetings may also be available via ZOOM!
For additional information on past or future CAG meetings, click HERE.
Future Tuesday CAG meetings (at 6:30 pm):
1/16/24; 2/20/24; 3/19/24; 4/16/24; 5/21/24; 6/18/24; 7/16/24
No meeting in August or December. Late 2024 meetings: 9/17/24; 10/15/24; 11/19/24
Pinnacle Mountain State Park News
11/28/23 - Tu - The new Visitors Center had their grand opening this morning with short speeches by park officials and Governor Sanders. The driveway to the new Visitors Center is around 1/4 mile north of the West Summit Trail parking lot. There is now a short extension of the Base Trail (south of the #3 marker) that connects to the Visitors Center with a new bike trail accessible nearby. The November issue of amp magazine (armoneyandpolitics.com) pages 24 & 25 describes architectural considerations that went into design of the building.
When visiting the visitors center, ask for a copy of the new trail guide. It appears that hiking trails have doubled in mileage in the last half-dozen years. I've heard a hiker describe the new (1 mile) Owl Pass Trail (between the boat launch ramp and the Arboretum) as a favorite. (It is almost flat and fairly smooth.) Most of the other new trails are in the eastern part of the park. ...At this time (December), part of both summit trails are covered by leaves.
Blue Mountain Hiking Trails
6/7/23 - One of the newest hiking/biking areas in Central Arkansas is the Blue Mountain area, west of the Maumelle Pinnacles and Rattlesnake Ridge. The parking area is slightly less than 5 miles west of Chenal on Hwy 10, just after passing a long white fence. The main trail for hiking is similar to the Base Trail at Pinnacle but without all the rocks. For a description of the area, check pages 36-37 of the June issue of Arkansas Times. ...or click HERE for a news story/video. [ unofficial trail map (vertical red line at left of map is Hwy 10 just west of Lake Maumelle) ]
Flatside Wilderness Area Expansion?
6/18/23 - Su - Congressman Hill has introduced legislation to expand the Flatside Wilderness by 2200 acres. For more info, check page 1B of today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
National Park Entry Requirement
6/5/23 - Some parks within the National Park System (including Rocky Mountain and Death Valley) no longer accept cash and require a debit or credit card for entry. A primary reason: There are no nearby banks to deposit cash and employees must spend too much driving to a distant bank. For more info, click HERE [msn.com web site].
Solar Eclipse
4/8/2024 - Total solar eclipse in Arkansas - Save the date. For a related news article, check page 2B of the Sunday 7/10 issue of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
NEWS
This year, the west coast has recently received a lot of rain and snow. For links to a selection of Web Cams in California, click HERE.
News Articles in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that our viewers may have missed that may be of interest – Refer to the indicated source for more information.
Environment:
1/29/23 pg 1H - Flatside Wilderness Area Expansion in Congress
Technology:
2/13/23 pg 1G - Asia to use half of all electricity by 2025
[...shift to renewables...] ...report warned that demand and supply are becoming increasingly weather dependent...
Note: Past news and outings reports have been moved to the Newsletters page.
What's New on the Web site:
Items mentioned above (on Home Page) may or may not be included in the What's New Section.
Date at left (below) may either be date material was added to web site or date of event. Items removed from Home Page may be on the Newsletter pages
POSTED IN Q1/Q2 ( JAN-JUN ) 2023
- 7/18/23 - Astronomy web page updated
- 7/15/23 - Older Home pg info moved to News-2022 / News-2021 pages
- 3/19/23 - History Tours schedule updated
- 3/19/23 - UCA Planetarium Public Shows- schedule updated (also 7/18/23)
- 3/11/23 - Distinguished lecture series listing updated
- 3/6/23 - Tick season has arrived (Home page)
- 2/12/23 - More Large-Scale Pig Farms (Home page)
- 1/14/23 - January CAG meeting announcement added to web site
- 1/1/23 - New Year's Day
For information on web site changes in prior months, go to the About Us > What's New page.
The following are images that have been considered as possible future web site header photos.
Below left: Waterfall in Devils Canyon, Ozark NF - - - - - Below right: 100+-year old Springfield Bridge, the oldest bridge of this type in Arkansas. The bridge was recently extensively repaired and moved to near the west end of Beaverfork Lake.
<img src="/sites/default/files/sc
Special Topic: Texas Coal Plants An Issue, Sierra Club Says
By Doug Thompson - NW News - December 30, 2014
Two coal-fired power plants in Texas stand as the most immediate threat to air quality in Northwest Arkansas, said the director of the Sierra Club in Arkansas.
The plants are among seven at issue in a Jan. 15 public hearing in Oklahoma City. The federal Environmental Protection Agency called the hearing after rejecting parts of Texas' plan to gradually reduce the amount of haze-causing sulfur dioxide from the plants.
Glen Hooks, this state's Sierra Club director, said his group will argue at the hearing the sulfur dioxide contributes to haze as far north as Benton and Washington counties and over the federally protected headwaters of the Buffalo National River. ... MORE [TOP]
Campfire Events Calendar
Outing - Sierra Club Policies
- Activities identified as Sierra Club outings are led by a certified Outings Leader. All participants on such outings are required to sign a Sierra Club Liability Waiver form. If you would like to read the Liability Waiver before you choose to participate on an outing, please go to http://content.sierraclub.org/outings/local-outdoors/resources, then click on Sign-in Sheet & Liability Waiver or contact the Outings Department at (415) 977-5528 for a printed version.
- Carpools transportation is at the sole risk of the participants, both driver and passengers, even if they are leaders or staff of the outings or activity.
- CST 2087766-40. Registration as a seller of travel does not constitute approval by the State of California.
To see a brief description of all events in a printable format, click on Print View below.
In Print View, for a map or directions, (if available) click on Map or Directions at the right.
In Map View, click on a flag (circle), then on the individual event for more info.
In List View, click on Activity (title / link) for detailed info. (Recommended!)
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| Leader | All or part of leader name to search for: |
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