North Central Arkansas Master Naturalists 2009 - The Year in Review

Eighteen individuals, linked by love for the natural world, jumped at the opportunity to receive the required 40 hours of local training to become Master Naturalists.

Some of us knew about the Central Arkansas program, but were daunted by distance. AMN state President Anne Massey had presented the Master Naturalist program to State Park superintendents as a way of spreading the program to other areas of the state. Tracy King, Superintendent Bull Shoals-White River State Park, asked park interpreter Julie Lovett to initiate and coordinate creation of a local AMN chapter. Massey and Lovett scheduled more than 40 hours of training opportunities on Saturdays starting at the end of January, 2009 and finishing with graduation at the end of April 2009. Training included entomology, interpretation, meteorology, karst geology, herpetology, ecoregions, mammals, birding, archaeology, trails, botany and riparian conservation.

Before the training was complete a Trail Patrol was established to begin clearing the miles of park trails littered with debris from the February, ’09 ice storm. Patrol members found that the camaraderie experienced in the classroom extended onto the trails and what could have been work became pleasure found in friendships and accomplishments. Put it simply … it was fun.

When our newly established chapter completed their training, members had to tackle the hard stuff. They elected chapter officers (Yes, there was a small amount of arm twisting.). Then the officers wrote the chapter policies. North Central Arkansas Master Naturalist, NCAMN, was up and running.

Once initial training and organization were successfully accomplished, NCAMN found many avenues to accomplish our mission (to provide education, outreach and service for the beneficial management of natural resources) including:

Trail Patrol’s clearing and maintaining trails for Bull Shoals White River State Park and the Corps of Engineers

Establishing the NCAMN Stream Team and monitoring the water quality of Moccasin Creek in Marion County, reporting data quarterly to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

Assisting with interpretive programs for the thousands of school children that visit the park annually

Planting over 70 trees in the park to replace those damaged by disease or storm

Assisting the Flippin Boy Scouts in establishing the bird viewing area at the park Visitor Center

Helping bring a chainsaw training program to the park for park personnel and naturalists chainsaw handling certification

Participating in the AMN Work Day at Lake Dardanelle State Park as well as MLK Volunteer Fair at the Baxter County Library

Planning over 50 hours of training for the 2010 class of  Master Naturalists in the North Central area and continuing to organize advanced education activities for current Master Naturalists

Providing over 1200 hours of volunteer labor and assistance to Bull-Shoals White River State Park, the Army Corps of Engineers and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, among other entities, to educate our members, school children and adults and to care for the natural world.

With our incoming Naturalists in Training (NITs), the class of 2010, our membership has nearly tripled going from 15 to nearly 45, a testament to the desire and willingness of the community to help keep nature in the Natural State.

All in all our appreciation for the natural world and for our new Master Naturalist friends is an indescribably wondrous outcome of the program.Like a stone thrown in a pond our ripples continue to grow and spread.