Ryan Boswell, Stephen Ironside and Stephen Coger tour WPWP on May 2, 2010,

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This honeysuckle is a variant of the common Japanese honeysuckle but is less invasive and does less damage to plants it climbs, but not something to plant intentionally

What bug is this on a milkweed at WPWP on April 27, 2010?

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Geese on a rainy morning on Pinnacle Foods Inc. wet prairie west of WPWP

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE view of rainy morning on Pinnacle Foods' wet prairie April 24, 2010.

Photo below shows where water from east (yellow), west and north join to form Soup Branch and flow along south edge of WPWP to South Duncan Avenue and then to the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River. The turbid water flows off a four-year-old truck-parking lot on Pinnacle Foods Inc.'s east side. The problem seems to a pile of limestone gravel that erodes each time rain falls.

Birdsfoot violet at WPWP: Viola pedata

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of tiny purple/blue wildflower

Birdsfoot Violet Latin: Viola Pedata

 on World Peace Wetland Prairie on April 20, 2010.

KNWA captures essence of Earth Day at World Peace Wetland Prairie

Please double-click link to view video from KNWA Web site: KNWA covers earth day at World Peace Wetland Prairie This year's celebration of Earth Day at World Peace Wetland Prairie wasn't much different from past years. But it did offer more activities that got young people involved with the land. KNWA's report captured the spirit of the event well. Of course, weeding, mulching and planting are not equally essential parts of saving the earth or stopping climate change, but they get the headline that allows people to hear the message and maybe dig deeper online and in libraries to learn the importance of reducing misuse of the earth's resources. And touching soil is something youngsters love inherently if they are encouraged or allowed to touch it. The earlier a child gets involved in caring for creation, the more likely the child is to become an adult who recognizes the importance of wise stewardship of the earth. Thanks to KNWA for covering the event. Weeding has to be done carefully because many valuable native plants are considered "weeds" by traditional gardeners. In fact, many of the most important native plants are referred to as weeds, such as milkweed, the widely celebrated family of plants on whose vegetation the monarch butterfly's caterpillars totally depend for sustenance. Mulching is used in tradtional gardens where only selected plants are chosen to survive. The mulch supresses the rest, native and invasive, without discriminating. Without mulch there are surprises every growing season as new plants pop up. The nature gardener has to selectively remove the nonnative invaders but welcome and nurture the natives that appear for the first time. Planting actually should be rare in a nature garden. Such places as WPWP are chosen for protection because of the native base of seeds and roots in the healthly, rich, organic soil.

Please click on image to ENLARGE for closer view of sample photos from WPWP.

PLEASE double-click the image to ENLARGE view and ENLARGE further with your computer's tools to read small type. For more about World Peace Wetland Prairie please see www.flickr.com/photos/7295307@N02/collections/ www.flickr.com/photos/7295307@N02/collections/   

PLEASE double-click the image to ENLARGE view and ENLARGE further with your computer's tools to read small type.

MANY REASONS TO PROTECT LAND SUCH AS WORLD PEACE WETLAND AND PINNACLE PRAIRIE FOREVER:

World Peace Wetland Prairie is the riparian zone of a small stream that historically was fed by seep springs and rainwater from three directions when the first westward immigrants settled Fayetteville, Arkansas. World Peace Wetland Prairie has the deepest layer of dark, rich soil in its subwatershed because leaves and other vegetative matter accumulated as the flowing water slowed and soaked into the absorbent soil and enriched that soil. Pinnacle Foods Inc.'s mounded wet prairie to the west is the main source of clean water flowing to World Peace Wetland Prairie at this time. Before the railroad was built, water flowed off Rochier Hill to the northwest and from the prairie and savannah to the north of WPWP that has been replaced by fill dirt and paving for apartments. Water from the east and north slopes of the high land where Pinnacle Foods Inc. now sits flowed to WPWP along with all the water from the high ground near 15th Street, which moved north to WPWP before flowing east to the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River. Such remnants of prairie help keep the water where it falls and recharge the groundwater. Like the many similar remnants of such prairie in our diverse geographical area, WPWP and Pinnacle Prairie are the surface manifestation of a significant bedrock fault. Such sunken wetland is a characteristic feature that appears above geological faults worldwide. The Karst map of Washington County Arkansas shows the WPWP watershed in red, meaning that it is a critical groundwater recharge area. Preserving such depressional wetland in our city is the least expensive way to reduce downstream flooding and siltation of our water supply. Hundreds of native plants grow. Many birds and other wildlife prosper on healthy wetland vegetation. And prairie vegetation sequesters carbon dioxide and cleans the ground water.

KNWA covers Earth Day at World Peace Wetland Prairie

KNWA covers Earth Day at WPWP

Mullins Creek clean up on Earth Day, from 2 to 4 p.m., Thursday, April 22, 2010

Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at S. Garland AvenueMullins Creek is the name of the tributary of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River that originates at Cleveland Street on the east side of Razorback Road and drains much of the western portion of the University of Arkansas campus. It merges with College Branch, which originates on Markham Hill west of Razorback Road. The two emerge from twin rectangular culverts on the south edge of Leroy Pond Drive just southwest of Bud Walton Arena. When the combined streams pass under Martin King Drive near the stop light at S. Garland and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, they are joined by water flowing from Razorback Road and MLK (formerly 6th St.) and water coming off the north side of Rochier Hill and Indian Trail plus water from south side of the Fayetteville High School campus to form the Town Branch before it flows through a tunnel under the railroad and then through the Town Branch Neighborhood. The worst litter is found downstream, with much of it coming from the strip mall and its fastfood restaurants on the south side of MLK. Cleanup information below interactive aerial map.


View Larger Map

You will be able to park in Lot 56, which is immediately south of The Gardens on Razorback Road, after 1PM on Earth Day, without a parking permit, and without fear of being ticketed.  Thanks to UA Transit and Parking for helping us with this bit of logistics.

Nick

From: Nicholas Ray Brown
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 1:37 PM
To: Nick Brown
Subject: Mullins Creek clean up

To all –

                UA will hold its annual clean up of Mullins Creek on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22 from 2:00 until 4:00 PM.  We’ll meet at the main pavilion in The Gardens on Razorback Road at 2:00 PM.  We’ll provide latex and leather gloves, trash bags, and free foodafter the cleanup.  We’ll organize teams that will start at Leroy Pond Rd (across the street from Bud Walton Arena) and will go as far downstream toward 15^th Street as we can.   If some of you come willing and able to wade, we’ll be able to do a complete job.  We’ll have a safety officer on hand to remind you of how to stay safe.

Tyson Foods and Chartwells have combined to provide hot dogs and chicken sandwiches for our volunteers.  Big thanks to these two companies for being good neighbors to UA and to Mullins Creek.

The stream cleanup is an opportunity to walk the walk of environmental stewardship.  Hope you can join us!

Respectfully,

Nick Brown

Nicholas R. Brown PhD

Director for campus sustainability

479.575.3591 ofc

479.879.0555 cell

Wetland management and restoration training available through Rutgers University extension service

www.cpe.rutgers.edu/programs/wetlands.html

Channel 5 covers Earth Day at WPWP on April 18, 2010

 WPWP on  Channel 5 TV KFSM