Today is the final day for residents to submit public comments for a revised master plan for Bull Shoals Lake.
The 1975 master plan that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been using is "outdated," and a new one needs to be drafted, according to the Corps' Little Rock District website, swl.usace.army.mil.
Bull Shoals Lake is on the White River about 10 miles west of Mountain Home, and 26 percent of the lake is in Missouri.
Bull Shoals Lake had 6.2 million visitors in 1975. The number is expected to reach 27.6 million by 2020, said Lori Driver, a spokesman for the Corps' Little Rock Division.
With growth over the past four decades, some government land around the lake may need to be rezoned, or "reclassified," said Dana Coburn, acting deputy chief of operations for the Corps' Little Rock District.
Many of the high-density recreation areas around the lake have never been developed, Coburn said. Residents who live nearby may want that land to be used for other purposes, she said.
"The land classifications are the heart of the master plan," said Coburn. "They apply only to the federal property. But that's the meat."
Changing the classification of the land can allow for shoreline changes later, when a new shoreline management plan is drafted.
A master plan is "the guidance document that describes how the resources of the lake will be managed in the future and provides the vision for how the lake should look in the future," according to a news release from the Corps. It's an 18-month process that will cost about $700,000, Coburn said.
Five "scoping workshops" were held in communities around Bull Shoals Lake in late August. Representatives from the Corps provided information and accepted comments. More than 776 lake users and adjacent landowners attended the workshops, according to the news release.
A lot has changed since the 1970s, Driver said. Back then, most campers slept in tents. Now, many people camp in air-conditioned recreational vehicles.
"The style of camping also affects how we look at our master plans," she said.
Five classifications
Five different land classifications are currently used around Bull Shoals Lake: low-density recreation, high-density recreation, environmentally sensitive area, wildlife management area and project operations.
A new classification that could be considered for the lake area is called vegetative management. It refers to areas where, for example, timber management could take place or where land could be used as a buffer zone to help protect a lake that serves as a drinking water source.
Water classifications haven't been used before on Bull Shoals Lake, but they could be implemented in the new master plan, Driver said.
The Corps' water surface classifications include:
• Restricted -- Areas that could restrict boats near water-intake structures or other structures around the lake.
• Designated No-Wake -- Areas that could be designated near Corps swim beaches or public use areas.
• Fish and Wildlife Sanctuary -- Areas that could be considered "sanctuary" for fish and wildlife species.
• Open Recreation -- The rest of the lake.
After all public comments have been collected, a report will be made available to the public by the end of November, Driver said. A preliminary master plan will be drafted by March, and focus-group meetings will be held with stakeholders, partners, concessionaires and local interest groups.
Then a master plan and environmental assessment will be drafted, and another round of public meetings will be held in the summer of 2015. A final master plan and environmental assessment are expected to be approved by the fall of 2015.
More information about the Bull Shoals master plan revision project is available at go.usa.gov/ynYk.
Comments can be emailed to [email protected] or faxed to (501) 324-5605.
They can also be mailed to Dana Coburn, chief, Environmental Branch, Planning and Environmental, USACE, Little Rock District, P.O. Box 867, Little Rock, Ark. 72203.
Mailed comments must be postmarked no later than today.
All public comments will be included in the master plan scoping report.
Metro on 09/30/2014