Photo Credit: Fayetteville Parks and Recreation
The Fayetteville-Springdale area around Lake Fayetteville Park in Arkansas is surrounded by tall grass prairie and oak savanna, first encountered by early travelers and settlers more than 2 centuries ago. The historic Butterfield Trail—a 2,800-mile mail route connecting St. Louis to San Francisco—runs through the park. Waterman Ormsby, a correspondent for the New York Herald, wrote about his experience on the trail in 1858: “Even among these hills you do not lose site of the prairie nature of the West; for just after leaving Fayetteville, you see a fine plain, surrounded by hills—in fact, a prairie in the mountains.”
In 1949, the city purchased the property to create a lake as a municipal water supply. Prior to obtaining the land, the area was converted to non-native pasture and used extensively for agricultural purposes. Today, the parks and recreation department has used it as a natural area with minimal maintenance. As a result, the prairie and savanna plant community was badly degraded by invasive species, including eastern red cedar, honeysuckle, tall fescue, and Sericea lespedeza. In addition, fire exclusion for an extensive period has led to brush encroachment and a dense thatch that has suppressed native plants.
Teaming Up
In 2009, the parks and recreation department began discussing the possibility of partnering with the Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association (FNHA) and the Environmental Study Center to restore the prairie. Both groups provided volunteers to help remove invasive-plant species on approximately 39 acres, and the city provided manpower and funding to create fire lines, conduct prescribed burns, apply herbicide as needed, and seed native plants.