White River Designated as National Blueway
by January 9, 2013 3:28 pm 104 views
The White River and its 17.8 million-acre watershed were designated today by the U.S. Department of the Interior as a National Blueway, only the second waterway in the United States to receive the designation.
Officials from state and federal agencies, local communities and businesses, and nonprofit organizations made the announcement at the Peabody Hotel in Little Rock, according to a press release.
No new regulations are created as a result of the designation, but a National Blueway will receive priority consideration for technical and financial assistance to accomplish stakeholder goals for natural resource conservation, outdoor recreation, environmental education and sustainable economic development.
Established in 2012 by the Department of the Interior, the National Blueways System places national emphasis on the value of an approach to river conservation that considers all the activities and uses within the watershed and the effectiveness of local partner collaboration for project planning and delivery.
National Blueways are chosen because they are nationally significant and highly valued for their recreational, economic, cultural and ecological assets, according to the release.
“The White River has great diversity from top to bottom,” said Richard Davies, director of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. “Its blue waters in the Ozarks attract trout anglers and enhance other outdoor recreational activities. And along its entire length, agriculture is a crucial part of the economic picture.”
Flowing 722 miles from its headwaters in Arkansas’ Boston Mountains, the White River runs north into Missouri before coursing south through the Delta and into the Mississippi River in southeast Arkansas.
Within the White River Watershed, natural areas that provide outdoor recreation opportunities, help improve water quality and provide wildlife habitat include 23 Corps of Engineers parks, three river parks managed by the National Park Service, three national wildlife refuges, two national forests, and more than 100 state-owned parks, wildlife management areas or conservation sites in Arkansas and Missouri. The watershed also encompasses thousands of acres conserved voluntarily by landowners through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wetlands Reserve Program, which is funded by the U.S. Farm Bill.
The first watershed to receive the Natural Blueway recognition was the Connecticut River.