Dwayne Woltjen at the semi-annual meeting of the Ozark Trail Council of Missouri (OTC-MO) held October 23, 1999 at Meramec State Park Visitors center near Sullivan, MO. The following information is from Dan McKeel's raw non-fact checked meeting notes.
WHO IS DWAYNE WOLTJEN?
Dwayne is a long time member of the two leading organizations that affect trails in Arkansas, the Ozark Highlands Trail Association and the Ozark Society, Highlands Chapter. He currently represents the Arkansas Ozark Trail interests as liason at OTC-MO meetings. He has been instrumental in forging an extension of the Ozark Highlands Trail eastward through the Lower Buffalo and Leatherwood Wilderness areas and the Sylamore National Forests.
WHAT ARE THE KEY ISSUES?
The shared vision of both Missouri and Arkansas Ozark Trail proponents is one "long" (~700-750 mile) trail system stretching from St. Louis in Missouri at the northeastern end to Lake Fort Smith State Park in Arkansas at the southwestern end. And while major amounts of this trail system have been completed and are in daily use (see TRAIL FACTS), getting the remaining portions planned, funded, and constructed has been a difficult, slow process.
Core issues appear to be (a) the exact trail route, (b) trail construction manpower, budgeting and funding issues at the agency level, and (c) contentious differences of opinions among agencies and trail organizations on the best and proper use of federal wilderness areas as defined in the 1964 Wilderness Act.
At least 3 specific trail extension routes across the disputed forest and wilderness territories have been painstakingly researched by a college student (unpublished thesis field research), Ken Smith, and Dwayne Woltjen with help from Tim Ernst. Routes have been walked foot by foot with exacting documentation how to overcome difficult areas. Alternate routes that meet management plan specifications have been laid out along the southern boundary of the Buffalo River and along the southeastern perimeter of the areas (to minimize wilderness intervention).
It would appear, therefore, that the real issue is a political/budgetary one rather than not being able to define a feasible trail route. The original Lower Buffalo and Leatherwood plans either specifically included a through trail, or did not specifically state that such a trail should not be allowed. Only that the impact on the wilderness of extra people should be assessed, an accomplishable goal.
Wilderness areas in Missouri and Arkansas have thousands of miles of trails already. An example would be the Cow Creek--Cook Hollow hiking/riding trail of the Lower Buffalo Wilderness unit. This trail is featured in a brochure distributed to us this August (1999) at Buffalo River National Park Headquarters in Harrison, AR. Many of the existing wilderness trails are old logging roads. Some wilderness through trails (Hurricane Wilderness portion of OHT, for example), existed before the area was designated as an official wilderness area. However, some are *new trails* including ones constructed by USFS in Arkansas (but apparently not by NPS in AR), and by USFS and *possibly* NPS (<==check this fact carefully!!!) in MO.
WHO ARE THE OTHER PLAYERS?
Here is the contact information for several of the key players in this saga:
- Ozark Highlands Association
- Organized by Tim Ernst in 1981, has logged more than 300,000 volunteer hours building and maintaining the 165 mile Arkansas Ozark Highlands Trail.
- Ozark Society of Arkansas
- Key group that accomplished making the Buffalo our first national river in 1973. Membership includes Tim Ernst, Dwayne Woltjen, Ken Smith (?-check!) who support the OHT extension, and Kurt Wasson, Bill Steward, and Jim Allen who oppose the extension. The latter group resists "any through trails in wilderness areas" according to Dwayne Woltjens 10/22/99
- American Hiking Society
- Strongly endorses the Ozark Trail extension in Arkansas
- Sierra Club of Arkansas
- Their board opposes "through trails" in federal wilderness areas. May be about to go on record as opposing the Ozark Trail extension through the southern portion of the Lower Buffalo Wilderness area. Write to: Tom McKinney...
- U.S. Forest Service of Arkansas
- Administers Ozark-St. Francis National Forest, passageway for OHT extension. Write to: Charles Richmond, Supervisor... Russellville, AR. Gary Knudsen, and Dick Bowie from the same office are also engaged in this project.
- National Park Service
- Administers the Buffalo National River and Park. Has not yet joined in the initial "Opportunity Analysis" phase of trail extension planning. Sam Lyles was mentioned as another player with NPS. Write to: Jack Lenahan, Superintendent...Harrison, AR.
- U.S. Congressman Asa Hutchinson
- U.S. Congressman and long-time strong supporter of the OHT and its extension. Write to: ...
TRANS-OZARK TRAIL FACTS
The following list highlights some basic facts about the Ozark Highlands and Buffalo River Trails in Arkansas and the Ozark Trail in Missouri...
- OZT-MO has 307.5 miles of completed trail
- OHT in Arkansas is officially165 miles long (Lake Fort Smith to Woolum)
- Another 15 mile portion exists from Woolum to Hwy 65 (part of Buffalo National Trail). Separate trails for horses and hikers on opposite sides of the river.
- Thus, as of 10/23/99, approximately 165 + 15 + 307.5 = 487.5 miles total Trans-Ozark trail has been completed and is hikable. A pretty fair start!
- OHT is primarily (exclusively?) a hiking trail
- A private organization, the OHT Association, has been instrumental in developing and maintaining OHT in Arkansas. No comparable citizen's interest group with interest in the entire Trans-Ozark Trail currently exists in Missouri.
- Buffalo River Trail main portion is 37 miles long from Boxley to Pruitt, AR
- BRT is partly dual use hiking and equestrian (no ARVs or mountain bikes)
- Ozark Trail in Missouri is a joint effort of MO-DNR, MO-MDC, NPS, USFS, and ACE (Lake Wappapello, Norfork Lake areas) with oversight by Ozark Trail Council
WHAT CAN TRAIL SUPPORTERS DO ABOUT THIS ISSUE?
Here are our top ten ideas...
- The Ozark Trail Council at its latest meeting agreed to draft a letter supporing the USFS's position to conduct an Opportunity Analysis of the proposed Ozark Trail extension in Arkansas. The letter will encourage the National Park Service headquartered in Harrison, Arkansas to participate.
- Tour the Leatherwood and Sylamore areas with Dwayne Woltjen and the Ozark Society on Nov 6-7 and/or Nov 20-21. Call by Thursday of the designated weekends. Meet him at Norfork Lake dam at the quarry site parking lot. See the Ozark Society website for details
- Greentime TV in St. Louis, a bi-weekly show co-produced by Louise McKeel, will air show #82 about the Ozark Trail, and Dan McKeel will discuss the Ozark Trail extension as one of the key issues concerning the realization of the Trans-Ozark continous long trail vision. Niki Aberle of the Conservation Federation of Missouri will explain the role of Trail Teams in maintaining trails. Bruce Linders of Hostelling International will talk about the Missouri OZT, its maintenance, and the annual OZT hike his organization sponsors each October
- Use the media. Highlight this issue on local radio, TV programs and in newsletters
- Express your views in writing to the agencies involved in decision making about the trail extension, in particular write the National Park Service and the Ozark and Sierra Societies in Arkansas
- Testify in the "public opinion solicited" phase of the Opportunity Analysis to be conducted by the USFS and, hopefully soon and concomitantly, by the NPS, Buffalo River National Park section
- Write to your state and federal legislators. Remember! U.S. President Bill Clinton is from Arkansas and the then President and Senator Wiliam Fulbright of Arkansas were instrumental in establishing the Buffalo as a National River, therby saving it from being dammed by the Army Corps of Engineers
- Discuss this issue with your friends, neighbors and co-workers.Invite them to go on an Ozark Trail hike with you and learn first hand why the extension merits their enthusiastic support
- Inform yourself about the history of the struggle to save the Buffalo River and why people in Newton County and the Cozahome region still harbor intense ill feelings towards federal agencies they feel "stole" their property in the 1970s
- Consider joining Dwayne Woltjen for a hike along the entire Trans-Ozark trail system route in the spring of 2000. BLAZE THE TRAIL! MAKE HISTORY!