Should trails for mountain biking be built in Gentry's Flint Creek Nature Area? Some would say yes because it will draw more people to the little park and bring more people into Gentry. I would rather keep the little park the natural area it was intended to be — a place where visitors can enjoy a little remnant of the beauty along Flint Creek, a place where trees and wildflowers grow, a place where birds and other forest animals live and a place where visitors can learn about and enjoy the beauties of a spring-fed pond and creek in the Ozark woodlands.
I have nothing against cycling and don't even mind if cycling trails are built in wooded areas — even in steep and rocky terrain for those willing to risk life and limb to ride there — but it has bothered me to see cycling trails built at Siloam Springs City Lake because I've treasured the lake as a beautiful and quiet place to watch and sometimes photograph nature, and I fear that cycling up and down the hills could change all that.
I'd heard rumors of similar trails being planned in the little Flint Creek Nature Area in Gentry and, when I asked, found they were true. I was, to say the least, disappointed.
While some rough-cut trails closer to the creek could open up a little more of the park to those who wish to walk on dirt trails closer to the creek, the little park is just not big enough to accommodate everything and having cyclists practicing their rough-riding skills in the little park and possibly even through the creek is certainly not conducive to preserving a little piece of nature where people can quietly fish or learn about the native plants and animals in this part of the Ozark region. Even though I once had a mountain bike and rode it many miles when I lived in northwest Kansas, I just can't see how adding dirt trails a few feet away from the new paved trails in the Flint Creek park would be a desirable improvement since cyclists can already ride the wide paved trails, and unpaved dirt trails that close to the creek would only contribute to erosion and muddying the clear waters.
As I recall, the very dream of turning the city-owned property into a nature area was so that children could learn to fish and area residents could enjoy nature along the creek. It was proposed that the area could be a learning center for children and adults to use to watch birds and wildlife and learn about native trees and plants. I recall being told by Bev Saunders, then director of the Gentry Chamber of Commerce, not to call it a park but a nature area because of the grant application used to obtain the money to turn the city-owned property into what it is today.
Back in March of 2012, after already pursuing this dream for more than a year, the city received a grant from the Arkansas Department of Rural Services through its Wildlife Recreation Facilities Grant program in the amount of $80,340 to build walking trails and dredge out and create fishing ponds in the nature area. The city property was to be for "public use as a recreational and nature observation area," a 2012 Eagle Observer article stated.
According to that same article in the March 28, 2012, issue, American Electric Power/Southwestern Electric Power Company offered labor and materials to help build parking and access trails to the ponds, with the estimated value of these items being $4,845. Illinois River Watershed Partnership offered to supply and plant native tree species on the property to enhance development of the area into an outdoor nature and learning center. Local 4-H clubs also offered to assist with the development and maintenance of the area. And others, too, contributed toward the cost of making the park what it is today.
Mountain biking trails through the park were not a part of the original plan. I doubt that trails along and possibly through the creek would fit together with the riparian zones encouraged near creeks and rivers by organizations like the Illinois River Watershed Partnership. I doubt they fit together with the original grant application to make the area a place where kids could fish and young and old could observe and learn about nature. The trails certainly are not conducive to preserving the plants and wildflowers there -- including the Miami Mist (or purple scorpion weed) which is rare in the region. In fact, I would go so far as to say building mountain bike trails through the little area is not being honest and keeping our word about the reason and purpose for building the little nature park.
I suppose what I fear most is that the beautiful little place which is now enjoyed by so many will no longer be the beautiful place it was intended to be, and those who go to the park now to fish or to view, enjoy and photograph nature there will no longer have that quiet place to fish or the nature to see and enjoy.
My suggestion? If mountain biking and a place to do that is so important to so many, let's add it to the list of other park needs and, if a more suitable place and money become available, lets build a course for the mountain bikers where it won't destroy the nature area we promised to create and preserve.
Randy Moll is managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 05/03/2017