SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Officials with Arkansas Game and Fish (AGFC) say the commission is focusing on 19 conservation areas, including War Eagle Creek.
"Arkansas Game and Fish Commission does projects like this where we restore string banks and remove individual barriers here and there, but we've never done anything of this scale and we couldn't have done anything of this scale without this funding," Eric Brinkman, assistant chief of fisheries, said.
On March 20, President Biden's America the Beautiful initiative awarded a $4 million grant to the War Eagle Creek Watershed Initiative.
AGFC says the grant will allow them to restore the creek, a major water supply in Northwest Arkansas in record time.
"It would have taken us a decade or more to gather the funding and to do this over time, so we're able to do this at a much faster time slot," Brinkman said.
U.S. Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland visited the Ozark Highlands Nature Center in Springdale to announce the donation.
"Through these incredible efforts, this coalition of partners will help provide a water source for the 550,000 residents in Northwest Arkansas, many of whom live in historically disadvantaged and underserved communities," Haaland said. "Additionally, the funding will provide community services like educational training and the production of informative data."
The restoration plan is focused on a few areas. The focus is to remove sediment in the water, protect fish and wildlife living in and around the water, allow safer recreational use of the creek, and prevent the loss of land owned near the banks.
Brinkman says the commission will have all four barriers removed within 18 months.
Haaland said they have already launched a proposal for the next round of funding. If approved, there could be another $119 million in grants for this project.
"These investments will continue to be transformational for communities across America, just like the one here in Fayetteville," Haaland said. "Nature is our greatest ally in the fight against climate change."
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