GENTRY — SWEPCO has added a new covered viewing pavilion along the Eagle Watch Nature Trail that will also serve as a blind for photographers and bird watchers at Eagle Watch. This pavilion is located on the north side of the finger of SWEPCO Lake and is closer to the parking area than the original pavilion, making for easier access.
The 16x32 pavilion will be open, except for a wall facing south towards the lake. The wall will have 2-foot wide openings for viewing and photography. One end is equipped with a bench for sitting and viewing. A plexiglass wall is being added to serve as a windbreak to protect viewers from the north wind. It has been built with a handicap ramp.
Swamp milkweed (important host and nectar plant for monarch butterflies), along with other native wildflowers, will be seeded in the cleared area on the south side of the new pavilion.
A culvert and extra gravel has been added to improve the parking area along Arkansas Highway 12 just west of Gentry.
Other immediate future plans are to replace the handrails at the original pavilion for added safety, to cover the walking trail with new bottom ash and to replace the poles on the edge of the trail that need to be replaced to hold the bottom ash in place.
Tree identification signs along the trail are also going to be replaced with new ones.
Eagle Watch Nature Trail is owned and maintained by SWEPCO's Flint Creek Power Plant. Terry Stanfill, a local wildlife photographer and retired SWEPCO chemist, manages the nature area for SWEPCO. Stanfill is well known locally for his wildlife photography and his efforts to preserve wildlife habitat.
The half-mile Eagle Watch Nature Trail now leads to two pavilions along the lake in an area that is a favorite for the eagles and other wildlife. The trail and original pavilion were built in 1999 on 65 acres of Flint Creek Power Plant property by plant employees and Gentry Boy Scout Troop 34. Over the years, volunteers from local 4-H, FFA, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, schools and other groups have contributed time, skills and enthusiasm to the Eagle Watch Nature Trail.
Approximately 700 acres of the plant's 1,600-plus acres are designated as wildlife habitat. Habitat enhancement projects include nesting boxes for numerous bird species, bat boxes, a butterfly garden and planting of native grasses, wildflowers, trees and food plots.
The power plant has an active outdoor education program for local school children and popular Earth Day events. SWEPCO's Eagle Watch and Nature Trail provides year-round public access to the diverse habitat and wildlife at the power plant site near Gentry.
Although wintering bald eagles are the main attraction, more than 144 bird species have been seen and identified at the site. Mammals seen at the site include fox, deer and beaver. Reptiles and amphibians include various species of lizards, turtles, snakes, toads and frogs.
SWEPCO has worked on its wildlife habitat projects with the Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and area universities and has been recognized by a large number of wildlife and nature organizations for the Eagle Watch Nature Trail.
General News on 12/21/2016