Nelms Goes to the Birds
by February 18, 2002 12:00 am 72 views
Don Nelms of Fayetteville is the first board chairman for state chapter of the National Audubon Society.
Nelms, who sold his Nelms Auto Park in Fayetteville to Steve Landers last year, was elected on Jan. 19 to head Arkansas Audubon. Nelms’ sons David and Dennis run Adventure Subaru in Fayetteville.
As chairman, Nelms will lead Arkansas Audubon’s effort to build its first nature center, which is to be located on 3,100 acres of land in Little Rock. Nelms said the fund raising and construction could take five years.
The center would be used to help identify important bird areas and “restore fragile habitats including wetlands and prairies for birds and other wildlife species,” Ken Smith, state director of Arkansas Audubon, said in a press release.
“I’m not really a birdwatcher as such,” Nelms said. “But I’ve always been interested in the environment … I have land out in the country. I take care of it and preserve it.”
Nelms may not be a birdwatcher, but he didn’t have much choice this winter. Around Christmas, Nelms bought a heated birdbath from Wild Bird Center in Fayetteville.
“I don’t know how the birds know who has a heated birdbath, but they all came,” he said. “I bet I had 150 birds in my backyard when it got cold the other day. … It’s safe to say that Nelms has gone to the birds.”