Fayetteville's Kessler Mountain will stay natural

FAYETTEVILLE -- Hundreds of acres at Kessler Mountain will be preserved forever.

The agreement became official Tuesday when the City Council voted 7-1 to approve the conservation easement with the Northwest Arkansas Land Trust, preserving 384 acres at Kessler Mountain in southwest Fayetteville.

The area west of the regional park is a treasure trove of flora and fauna, streams, trails, rock formations, native old-growth forest and a variety of Ozark tree species. The easement is an agreement between the landowner, which is the city, and the land trust to permanently limit the use of the land in order to preserve it.

In other words, no roads, utility poles or other common features of urban development can be built on the property.

Mayor Lioneld Jordan at Tuesday's meeting said generations will look back and be glad someone had the forethought to keep such a large, natural area of the city intact. Alderman John La Tour of Ward 4 was the sole vote against the agreement, saying he took issue with its perpetuity.

The city in 2014 acquired about 376 acres from the Cummings family, for whom Judge Cummings Road is named, using a matching grant from the Walton Family Foundation. The foundation agreed to contribute $1.5 million under the condition the land be preserved permanently and be open for public use, according to background information from the city.

Chambers Bank in 2010 donated 200 acres east of Cummings property to be used for the regional park. The grand opening is Saturday.

The Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association committed $300,000 toward the city's $1.5 million needed for its grant match. The association still needs to raise $125,000 to meet that goal, according to Jennifer Ogle, chairwoman.

Included in the association's $300,000 investment is $50,309 associated with the conservation easement. That money will pay the land trust for setup costs, its long-term stewardship fund and legal defense fund, said Terry Lane, executive director of the Northwest Arkansas Land Trust.

Part of getting the easement in place was developing the Kessler Mountain trails plan, which the City Council approved in May, Lane said. The plan will nearly double the 8 miles of trails already at the natural preserve.

"Permanent" in the agreement means forever, said Jeremy Pate, the city's development services director. Attorneys were involved in drafting the 20-page easement so it could be flexible, but also have teeth to protect the land if the federal or state government tries to inflict imminent domain on the property, he said.

Think of Kessler Mountain like a national or state park, Pate said.

The Parks and Recreation Department will oversee the human activity at Kessler Mountain. There is a fear that overuse of the mountain could cause environmental problems, but park staff are confident that citizens will take responsiblity to maintain the area's beauty, Parks Director Connie Edmonston said.

The land trust and city will work together to monitor the area's plant and animal species and habitats, Lane said. The easement calls for annual inspections, and the land trust will conduct informal inspections, she said.

Kessler Mountain is more than just a place for people to enjoy the outdoors, Ogle said. A botanist from the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission in 2014 discovered five ecologically significant habitats in the area with nine rare plant and animal species, according to a report released in February.

Two of those plant species -- the Missouri ground cherry and Church's wild rye -- are "globally rare," the report states. Missouri ground cherry hadn't been found in Arkansas in more than 60 years and Church's wild rye had never been discovered in Washington County before the study.

NW News on 08/19/2016