Northwest Arkansas Land Trust, farm family protect 200 acres near southeast Fayetteville

Linda and Lloyd Stith 
(Courtesy Photo/Northwest Arkansas Land Trust)
Linda and Lloyd Stith (Courtesy Photo/Northwest Arkansas Land Trust)


FAYETTEVILLE -- A local farming couple is protecting land at the far southeast end of the city with help from the nonprofit Northwest Arkansas Land Trust.

About 200 acres at the Middle Fork of the White River near Lake Sequoyah will be permanently protected through a conservation easement, according to a land trust news release. The acreage includes the family farm of Lloyd and Linda Stith. The Stiths will continue to own the land while the land trust manages the conservation easement.

Development is creeping closer to the family's cow and calf operation, Linda Stith said in the release. It was important to the family to keep the natural areas and open spaces of the property intact, she said.

"Both my husband and I grew up running loose in the woods and rivers around our childhood homes in the Missouri Ozarks," Linda Stith said in the release. "Our land has allowed our children and grandchildren to experience that same kind of freedom and enjoyment of the natural world."

The land is part of the Beaver Lake watershed and primarily lies within a floodplain, making it essential to water quality for the region, said Pam Nelson, the land trust's director of land protection.

"Protecting it from future development will help keep our drinking water safe and clean," she said in the release. "The project is a great example of how family farms and conservation go hand-in-hand ensuring local food production continues to thrive in the region."

The Northwest Arkansas Land Trust has more than 6,500 acres under protection. It works with private landowners to establish conservation easements or purchase property. It also accepts donated land.

The land trust has a long-term plan to protect environmentally sensitive areas throughout the region. The goal is to create a wildlife corridor, expand water quality sites and increase resiliency to climate change, according to the organization's website.


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