Safari says it will close portion of park

Safety concerns for visitors, animals cited as reason

GENTRY - Wild Wilderness Drive-through Safari will soon close one of four parts of its drive-through animal park in connection with the construction of a high-voltage transmission line which will cross a portion of the Safari land.

On Thursday, a sign was posted at the entrance to Safari 4 - atract of about 100 acres in the 400-acre animal park - which said: “Safari 4 will be closed due to condemnation by American Electric Power Company.”

A second, smaller sign, suspended below the fi rst, said: “If you are as disappointed as we are, call 614-716-3800” - the phone number of AEP president, Nick Atkins, according to Safari manager, Leon Wilmoth.

The tract of land which makes up Safari 4 has been in the Wilmoth family for about 50 years and used by the Safari for more than10 years, according to Wilmoth.

Midway across Safari 4 - which was still teaming with exotic animals on Thursday - running from west to east, are a new gravel drive and stakes to mark off the location of the high voltage power lines.

“Since the signs first went upand the news spread on Facebook, people have been calling and asking if the Safari was closing,” Wilmoth said, adding that he just received a call from Florida.

And, no, the Safari is not clos-ing, Wilmoth stressed, only Safari 4, the portion of land over which the transmission lines will cross.

Wilmoth said they are closing Safari 4 and moving the animals during construction but will not reopen that portion of the drive-through after construction is complete because of safety concerns for both people and the animals. He said the land might be suitable for grazing cattle but would not be usable for keeping expensive exotic animals or for having Safari visitors driving through it.

In addition to concerns about possible effects of the high voltage lines, Wilmoth said the easement would give power company workers access to the land at any time and U.S. Department of Agriculture rules which govern the Safari require a Safari representative to accompany anyone out of their vehicle on land which contains exotic animals.

“A person has to be close enough to intervene,” Wilmoth said, “to keep a person from hurting an animal or an animal from hurting a person. That is why you see all these people around in Safari vests,” he added.

The Safari, owned by Freda Wilmoth, 80, and managed by her children, is yet involved in condemnation proceedings withAmerican Electric Power Company and its subsidiary, Southwest Electric Power Company, with a case to be heard in Benton County Circuit Court, according to Peter Main, spokesman for SWEPCO.

Wilmoth said he is hoping for a settlement with SWEPCO which will allow the Safari to purchase additional property adjacent to Safari property so that it can be used to replace the land the Safari deems unusable for the drivethrough portion of the park. Wilmoth estimates it would take three years to purchase land and build roads and facilities on the land for the animals.

SWEPCO doesn’t agree regarding the negative impact on the Safari.

A statement released by SWEPCO says: “SWEPCOhas worked diligently to reach an agreement with the property owner to accommodate the ongoing operations of the Wild Wilderness Drive-through Safari. The Arkansas Public Service Commissionapproved route of the line does not allow us to move 300 yards north, but we have made adjustments in placement of the transmission structures to minimize the impact on the Safari 4 section. The easement sought by the company would allow for the construction of a line that would impact nine acres of the 100-acre parcel; and, as such, we do not believe the construction or the operation of the line would have a meaningful effect on the operation of the Safari. We will continue our efforts to resolve the issue as we work to complete this important project for a reliable transmission system in Northwest Arkansas.”

Main also pointed out that “the project is the Flint Creek to Shipe Road 345-kV line and related facilities, approved by the Arkansas Public Service Commission in docket 10-074-U. The project runs from Flint Creek Power Plant approximately 14 miles to the new Shipe Road Station west of Centerton.”

He added that this is a separate project fromthe project to extend the transmission line to Berryville and that the current line will be built regardless of the decision of the APSC on the proposed locations of the second project.

Main was hesitant to comment further due to the ongoing court case to resolve the issue.

Construction work on the new transmission line is already under way, and Wilmoth expected work could begin there as early as this week.

Wilmoth said the Safari attempted to get SWEPCO to move the lines 300 yards north and around the Safari instead of across it. He said he doesn’t think the APSC realizes what the transmission lines cross.

“You wouldn’t build transmission lines over Arvest Ball Park or over Crystal Bridges,” Wilmoth said, “so why would they cross over the Wild Wilderness Safari, which has more than a hundred thousand visitors each year ?”

News, Pages 1 on 08/21/2013