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Crooked Creek conservation center dedicated |
 YELLVILLE
- A coalition of private foundations, corporations, the Arkansas Game
and Fish Commission, and Arkansans celebrated the opening of the Fred
Berry Conservation Education Center on Crooked Creek with special guest
Fred Berry June 17.About 200 people heard Berry, whose family supplied about $1.75 million for the project, dedicate the facility and unveil a rock monument with a plaque listing those who helped make the center a reality. “Somebody asked me if this was the culmination of a dream,” Berry told the crowd at the center’s pavilion. “The answer has to be no. It is the beginning of a dream.” Berry’s donations to the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation and The Nature Conservancy made the center and its 421 acres possible. The land includes 2.75 miles of frontage along Crooked Creek, nationally known as an excellent smallmouth bass fishery, and Kelley’s Slab, a well-used access point. The creek flows around the property in a horseshoe shape, which makes canoeing trips for visitors easy to manage. The center includes a classroom that is used for conservation, habitat and wildlife programs for students, especially those in fourth through sixth grades. The property just west of Yellville off U.S. Highway 412 has been converted to a watchable wildlife area with trails and observation points across the former dairy farm. Work on the stream bank has helped restore it to its natural state. The education facility is one of a series developed by AGFC and its partners. For more information about the Fred Berry Conservation Education Center and others across the state, see www.agfc.com. |
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