Beaver Lake master plan up for review, public comment

ROGERS -- Zones are being redrawn on Beaver Lake as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers updates the lake's master plan.

The last update was in 1976, 10 years after the 1966 completion of the Beaver Lake project and before computers. Beaver Lake drawings are being digitized as part of the new plan, said Sean Harper, Beaver Lake operations project manager.

Web watch

Submit comments on the Beaver Lake Master Plan Revision by April 3 http://www.swl.usac… ">online or by mail at: Army Corps of Engineers, Little Rock District, ATTN: Dana Coburn, P.O. Box 867, Little Rock, Ark., 72203.

"We kind of have a clean slate in terms of looking at the project of Beaver Lake," he said.

Descriptions of zones around the lake have changed since 1976, and new categories have been added. Those changes, plus missing information on some of the old maps make the new master plan a major overhaul.

A Corps website shows 1976 map classifications overlaid on the modern shoreline. Docks and mowing permits should be in the yellow low-density areas on the online map, said Dana Coburn, planning and environmental chief for the Corps Little Rock district. Some areas of shore are missing any kind of label. Many docks now are in environmentally sensitive areas, formerly known as natural areas.

Those areas will have to be rezoned as part of the master plan, Harper said. There are 1,687 private docks and 670 community docks on Beaver Lake, creating 4,873 private slips, Harper said.

"If they have a dock on the lake right now, they're not going to lose it," Coburn said.

The master plan will answer broad questions about what the lake should look like in 20 years, Coburn said. She oversaw the Table Rock and Bull Shoals master plan revisions. Water quality, safety and recreation were top priorities for Table Rock and Bull Shoals was water quality, environmental concerns and recreation, she said.

Focus groups were called in to review draft plans that were presented in a second round of workshops before the final plan was approved, and the same process will be used at Beaver Lake.

Most people are familiar with the shoreline management plan, which outlines where docks or development can go, Coburn said. That plan is based on the master plan and will be reviewed after the master plan is finished in early 2016.

New shoreline permits are on hold until the completion of the master plan, but the Corps needs to know plans for future development so areas can be zoned appropriately.

When the plan was revised in 1975 and 1976, there was a focus on the need for more recreational areas. Land was set aside for Alpine, Bear Creek Island, Blackburn Creek, Pine Top and Slate Gap recreation areas, but never developed. Those areas could be reclassified under the new master plan or developed through partnerships, Harper said.

Corps offices are taking public input for the plan through April 3. Other agencies such as Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife will have input on topics like preserving bald eagle habitat, Harper said.

The land around the lake is zoned 28 percent for high-density recreational activity, 26 percent for low-density recreational activity, 33 percent as environmentally sensitive and 6 percent as wildlife management areas leased to Arkansas Game and Fish. The dam site and operations area takes up less than 1 percent, and the remainder is unclassified.

It is too early to say what the new percentages will be, Harper said. The Corps must add vegetative management land. This could include glade management with partner agencies and may be in wildlife management areas, he said. Coburn said that there are grassland areas around the lake where invasive cedar trees need to be thinned.

The planning process is about incorporating more than one point of view and sometimes that means introducing competing points of view, Coburn said.

"This resource does not just belong to you, it belongs to everybody," she said.

Recent workshops in Fayetteville, Rogers and Eureka Springs solicited a lot of comments, Harper said. He asked people to write down comments so they will be on record.

It is important that people who are happy with the way things are let the Corps know, said Laurie Driver, public affairs specialist.

"People think 'I'm happy. I don't need to voice my opinion,'" Driver said. "Folks who want change can be very vocal."

During the Rogers workshop, Rodney Parker, district archaeologist, heard comments about the historical importance of the Monte Ne area. There is an ongoing study about the site, Parker said, but the future of the structure is not directly addressed by the master plan.

Eventually there could be a historical marker or partnership of some kind at the site, but for now a lack of funding has led to a lack of preservation.

"We're looking at ways to ensure the story of Monte Ne and Coin Harvey we have is preserved," he said.

William Hope "Coin" Harvey founded the resort of Monte Ne around 1901, but by 1920, the resort was closed, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. Buildings remaining from the resort are often underwater.

There is a need for a buffer zone around the lake, but the lake should still be readily accessible, said Steven and Jenny Setzer, after attending the Rogers workshop.

Many landowners mow up to the edge of the lake, maintaining what is natural area like a golf course, said Jenny Setzer.

"For those using the lake it's the same lawn you can see anywhere," she said.

Steven Setzer said he would like to see more access for kayakers at the War Eagle mouth. More public access would prevent people from trying to carve into the buffer around the lake and reduce potential erosion, he said.

Balance in access and conservation is key, the couple said.

Balance is the Corps' goal, Harper said.

"We're trying to look at what's best for the lake, and to make it a healthy, happy lake and keep it sustainable for the future," Driver said.

Amye Buckley can be reached by email at [email protected] and on Twitter @NWAAmye.

NW News on 03/23/2015

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