YELLVILLE -- Once this was a dairy farm. Now it's the bucolic setting for one of the four Conservation Education Centers operated by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. The facilities aim to give students from preschool to college a firsthand sense of what makes this the Natural State.
Fred Berry Conservation Education Center on Crooked Creek -- its slightly long-winded full name -- is a 421-acre preserve on the western outskirts of Yellville. Many of the site's organized activities are designed for school groups, but individual families are also welcome to visit.
The visitor center itself uses taxidermy to show examples of Arkansas wildlife, including a black bear. One alcove displays an exhibit on threats to continued survival of the bobwhite quail. A classroom can seat as many as 40 students.
Outdoor activities abound here, including a stocked pond set aside for fishing. Future archers can hone their skills with the bow and arrow on the dedicated shooting range. Five hiking trails traverse a variety of landscapes.
The longest path, Creek Bottom Trail, is a 2-mile loop along a stream known for its small-mouth bass fishing. Wildlife sightings are likely along the 1-mile Woodland Edge Trail, with eastern bluebirds and tree swallows using the nesting boxes along the loop.
More challenging is Creek Bluff Trail, which extends 9/10ths of a mile while climbing to reveal subtle habitat changes. Woodland Stream Trail is a loop route stretching 6/10ths of a mile, partly along a former logging roadbed. Merely 3/10ths of a mile, Upland Archery Trail is populated by white-tailed deer, barred owls, bobcats and coyotes.
The center is also on the 22-mile route of Crooked Creek Water Trail, which starts in Yellville City Park. The trail's brochure estimates that paddlers of canoes or kayaks "can expect to cover about 2 miles per hour on this stream with deep pools, fast chutes, riffles and small waves."
Opened in 2005, Fred Berry Center is named for a Yellville teacher who donated $1.75 million for the project in the form of stock in a local bank owned by his family.
At the dedication ceremony for the facility, Berry said: "The biggest challenge the human race faces is: How are we going to provide a decent life for billions of people? One way to approach that problem is through education. If kids develop an understanding of nature, its potential and how to make a living on it without damaging it, that will extend to other parts of the world."
Coming next month to the center is a series of free summer programs for youngsters accompanied by one or more adults.
Target Tuesdays will provide practice in archery, BB-gun skills and hatchet throwing, with equipment provided. The weekly sessions span June 12 to July 24. Wild Wednesdays will focus on wildlife, with a live animal included, weekly from June 1 to July 25. Fishing Fridays, weekly from June 15 to July 27, will feature catfishing in the center's pond.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission also oversees Rick Evans Grandview Prairie Conservation Education Center, near Columbus; Potlatch Conservation Education Center, at Cook's Lake near Casscoe; and Ponca Elk Education Center, in Ponca. As with the Fred Berry location, they focus on connecting students -- as well as adults -- to the fauna and flora of Arkansas.
Fred Berry Conservation Education Center on Crooked Creek is open 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Admission is free. To reach the center from Yellville, take U.S. 62 west from the Marion County Courthouse for 7/10ths of a mile. Then turn left on County Road 4002 and proceed a mile to the bridge crossing the creek.
For more information, visit fredberrycec.com or call (870) 449-3484.
Style on 05/22/2018