Happy New Year from World Peace Wetland Prairie flowers

PLEASE CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE.

Lauren Hawkins of the Town Branch Neighborhood Association plants an American pitcher plant donated by Ned Downie on World Peace Wetland Prairie on Dec. 30, 2007.

Town Branch neighbors to meet at 10 a.m. January 12, 2008

Another interactive Internet site for Town Branch neighborhood information and discussion is available at

Town Branch Neighborhood on I-neighbors

Its calendar of events for January features the upcoming meeting of the neighborhood with residents of Ward I in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with the two Ward I members of the City Council to see the latest set of plans for the stalled Aspen Ridge Development site between 12th and 6th streets west of S. Hill Avenue and S. Duncan Avenue.

Representatives of the developers are expected to attend the 10 a.m. January 12th meeting at the S. Hill Avenue Church of Christ. The proposal includes an increase in the amount of land dedicated as a city park and an increase in housing density on portions of the 30-acre site. The major change of the Aspen Ridge plans approved in 2005 is that the buildings will include smaller apartments for student rental.
For additional information, please telephone 444-6072 and visit the following sites online:

Dec. 30 Aspen Ridge story in NWA TIMES

Summitt & Aspen Ridge development area

Aspen Ridge set of photos

UPDATE on Aspen Ridge Park dedication

Set of photos of Pinnacle Prairie

Nov. 17, 2007, story in NWA Times on aspen ridge sale

aubunique blogspot


Hank Broyles in the Times


Town Branch watershed set of photos

wetland


World Peace Wetland Prairie blog spot

His eye is on the sparrow — Christmas bird on World Peace Wetland Prairie

PLEASE CLICK on Sparrow to enlarge.

Part of Aspen Ridge site and Rochier Hill proposed construction sites aerial view from west

PLEASE CLICK ON AERIAL PHOTO TO ENLARGE. For more aerial photos and maps of this area, please visit

Summitt & Aspen Ridge development area

www.flickr.com/photos/7295307@N02/2125838978/in/set-72157600030494870/

A proposed development in south Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Rochier Hill south of Sixth Street and the UA and Fayetteville High School. The hilltop and hillside projects (a church on the NE part and a housing development on the rest) would replace a nursing home torn down in the past two years, a great many magnificent hillside trees bulldozed in the past two years, many trees currently standing and a grassy native-soil prairie over much of the plain atop the hill. It would include construction on a steep part of the hill almost to the railroad that runs northeast/southwest along bottom of the hill and along the western border of the unfinished Aspen Ridge site. Stormwater runoff would be directed to two arms of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the River. The western arm of the Town Branch would catch water from the western and southwestern parts of the development, while water from the east and southeast sides would flow to the main Town Branch through the Aspen Ridge site. That is the part of the Town Branch that flows from the UA athletic facilities and much of the main campus and Markham Hill under the railroad near Sixth Street and between Hill and Duncan avenues and under 11th Street and then betweem Ellis and Van Buren avenues to a bridge on 15th Street.
The project would not only decrease the tree canopy of the area significantly but would also further threaten the integrity of the railroad. Vegetation was removed from the downhill side of the RR right of way and has caused major erosion. The Summit project would do the same on the uphill side. In coming decades, that railroad right of way will become increasingly important and ought to be widened and reinforced rather than compromised.

Please click on photo to ENLARGE

Canada geese love Pinnacle Prairie west of World Peace Wetland Prairie

PLEASE CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

Fayetteville's Council of Neighborhoods passses two resolutions

Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods Passes Two Resolutions of Support

On December 6, 2007, the Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods passed two resolutions by unanimous vote. These resolutions do not necessarily represent the views of all members within each neighborhood, but only of the 17 neighborhood representatives in attendance.

The first resolution states that the Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods supports the initiative of the University Heights Neighborhood Association, which is working to develop a City traffic calming ordinance establishing more consistency in the placement of stop signs throughout residential areas.

The second resolution states the Council’s unanimous support for the City of Fayetteville's Neighborhood Coordinator position and to keep Julie McQuade in that position. The discussion was centered on the fact that FCON is a valuable resource for the community and acts as one of the only forums where citizen can voice their concerns.

PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

Click on the following link for an
UPDATE on Aspen Ridge Park dedication

Old topographical map by US Geological survey of Town Branch neighborhood

Please click on map to enlarge

There is a bit of misinformation on the segment of the CAST system that describes the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River.

Historically, the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River is the stream that leaves the UA campus under Sixth Street with water draining much of the UA campus and the Fayetteville High School campus.

If you look at older USGS maps you will see the word Town on the portion of the stream running southeast between S. Ellis Ave. and S. Van Buren Ave.

At the time the stream was named, the UA campus was the extreme western edge of the "town" of Fayetteville. And there has been less dredging and filling of that portion, except at its confluence with a branch from the west, which is properly called the west arm of the Town Branch or even Wal-Mart Branch or I-540 Branch or Farmington Branch.

College Branch was the name given to the portion draining Markham Hill by city mappers in the 1990s and Mullins Creek was the name given since 2000 by the UA to the central part that runs from the ridge at Cleveland Street and under the the athletic facilities. Neither of these names should be applied to the part that flows under Sixth Street and the railroad and then through the Town Branch neighborhood.

The College Branch and the Mullins Creek join where they flow each from its on giant culvert from beneath Leroy Pond Street or Drive and through the old grounds of Carlson Terrace. That is where the combined flow should actually regain its historical name of Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River.

The Town Branch flows all the way to the West Fork. It is joined by the combined flow of the Cato Springs Branch and the west arm of the Town Branch near the Salvation Army Store south of 15th Street and west of School Avenue. From aerial photos one may recognize that the formerly meandering streams have been modified in recent decades. A lot of dredging was done on the west arm and the lower parts of the Cato Springs Branch. The straightening and widening makes the combined flow of those appear larger than that from the original Town Branch from the north.

But the mapmakers used the name Town Branch only for the parts of the stream that actually drained the town of Fayetteville. Names such as Tanglewood Branch and Spout Spring Branch now identify two tributaries that flow from the east of the UA to the Town Branch.

Another significant point is that the word "creek" is not properly added after the word "branch." The word "branch" is simply the name of a small stream that contributes to a larger stream, which in turn may be itself called a "creek" or "fork" or "bayou" or "river."

Wildlife federation seeks support for energy bill TODAY

PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE BIRD sitting on tree-protection fence on Aspen Ridge construction site near World Peace Wetland Prairie, a nature park in the Town Branch neighborhood of south Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Nov. 23, 2007.

The National Wildlife Federation reported on Dec. 5, 2007:

With global warming threatening 30-40 percent of wildlife species, Congress MUST pass an energy bill in 2007 to lay the groundwork for strong global warming legislation in 2008 and beyond.

Let your representative know: "Americans need an Energy Bill with..."

Protections for wildlife and public lands from oil and gas development.
A Renewable Electricity Standard of at least 15 percent by 2020.
A fuel economy standard of at least 35 mpg by 2020.
We believe a bill with these three things can pass in the House and Senate, making a terrific down payment on an upcoming global warming bill!

Speak up today and help get the energy bill to the finish line:
http://online.nwf.org/finishline

Thanks so much! Stay tuned to hear how the vote goes.


Kristin Johnson
Grassroots Mobilization Coordinator
National Wildlife Federation
alerts@nwf.org

Inspiring Americans to protect wildlife for our children's future.

Forward this email to a friend or family member. If you were forwarded this message, sign up to receive wildlife news and updates from the National Wildlife Federation.

We look forward to receiving your feedback. For general comments or membership questions, please email info@nwf.org or call us at 1-800-822-9919. Send mail to: National Wildlife Federation, 11100 Wildlife Center Dr., Reston VA, 20190

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© 2007 National Wildlife Federation. All rights reserved. Read more about NWF and your privacy.

How rapidly affordable houses fall off the market

Please click on photos to enlarge.


The top photo is from May 2007. The lower two are from Nov. 2007. The shell or skeletal photo is from late summer.

House at 1135 Ellis falls down after months of preparation

Please click on photo to enlarge

Neighbors thought new owner was preparing to renovate the house. Parts were carefully removed and frequent fires lasted into the night as the removed wood, etc., and some of the vegetation removed from the riparian zone of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River burned under the supervision of a man who could not speak English and obviously didn't have any idea there were rules about outdoor burning in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

I wonder what kind of permit the owner got for this creative way of eliminating a nice little affordable home from the neighborhood?

Arkansas public service commission approves coal-fired generating plant

Click on

Texarkana coal-fired plant approved by Arkansas PSC
to read the order of the PSC granting permission to build the coal-fired plant.

Saga of Aspen Ridge continues

Click on
aspen ridge sale
to read story in Saturday Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.
The clearing for the walking bridge across the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River linking phases 1 and 2 of the Aspen Ridge development site admittedly is wider than it should have been to start with, but will Fayetteville city officials allow even more trees to be removed from the riparian zone to create a bridge adequate for automobile traffic?

Listen, view presidential candidates talk about global warming 4:10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007

Candidates speak

Butterfly brightens World Peace Wetland Prairie in the Town Branch watershed on Nov. 12, 2007

PLEASE CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE

American basketflower on World Peace Wetland Prairie

Please click on photo of American basketflower to enlarge.

Centaurea americana is one of hundreds of native flowers that bloom on World Peace Wetland Prairie and a few other small, relatively natural areas in the Town Branch Neighborhood of Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Town Branch Neighborhood in south Fayetteville, Arkansas

Please click on 1965 aerial photo for pre-development view of the Town Branch Neighborhood

Historic south Fayetteville's Town Branch Neighborhood is bordered by the University of Arkansas and Fayetteville High School at Sixth Street on the north side, South School Avenue on the east side, Fifteenth Street on the south side and Razorback Road on the west side.

The Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River flows southeastward through the neighborhood, draining most of the south and west side of the University of Arkansas campus.

To learn more of the area's history, please see
Aubrey Shepherd's Website

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7295307@N02/

Fickr.com


aubunique blogspot


Aubrey's View