Page 7 - 2016TVTimesMay29

Saturday, August 31, 2019 El Dorado News-Times 7C
Plans progressing for education -conservation center in El Dorado
By Tia Lyons
Staff Writer
With an abundance
of outdoor recreational opportunities, South Arkansa is considered a prime destination for sportsmen.
Hunting, fishing, boating and camping are just a few of the open-air activities that are available in the southernmost region of the Natural State.
Many of those activities can be found in El Dorado and Union County and within the next three years, local, state and federal officials hope
to be able to offer a new option for outdoor/nature enthusiasts and to draw more visitors to the area.
The El Dorado City Council and El Dorado Airport Commission are teaming up with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Arkansas Department of Aeronautics and the Federal Aviation Administration to build a conservation education center on the grounds of South Arkansas Regional Airport at Goodwin Field.
Discussions about the project began in 2016 when former AGFC chairman Emon Mahony, of El Dorado, got the ball rolling on an idea to establish a wildlife education center for South Arkansas.
Airport commissioners enthusiastically supported the idea and agreed to work with applicable agencies to develop the project.
Since then, plans have steadily progressed for the tentatively-named “South Arkansas Conservation Education Center," a 3,200
- 3,400 square-foot facility that will be built on the west side of Airport Drive, the
Photo provided
New center: This conceptual design depicts the tentatively named South Arkansas Conservation Education Center, a project of the El Dorado City Council and Airport Commission, along with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Department of Aeronautics and Federal Aviation Administration.
winding road that leads off U.S. 82 and serves as the entranceway to the SARA terminal.
The proposed will for the center will take up roughly 12 acres across from the old Babe Ruth baseball field.
Conceptual designs for the project include a fishing pier; static and 3-D archery ranges; a BB-gun shooting station; a nature trail with interactive panels; and more amenities.
Inside the center, visitors will have access to display areas, including an aquarium, an activity area, a classroom,
office space, hunter/ boater-safety testing areas, restrooms and a gift shop, where hunting and fishing licenses will be sold.
Early on, airport commissioners requested that construction plans be redesigned to incorporate notable elements of the area, such as its timber industry, and to fit in with the design of the post-WWII-era SARA terminal.
The site will extend westward into a wooded area, where a pond has been drained in preparation for
rehabilitation.
The pond will be rebuilt
in a fashion that would discourage the gathering of wading birds, such as the great blue heron, that could interfere with aircraft that fly in and out of the airport.
As part of its pitch to the city, the AGFC, which uses airplanes to monitor game movement and population, has also incorporated aviation elements into the project.
Costs are estimated at $700,000 - $800,000, which would be covered by a 1/8-
cent conservation sales tax that was passed by Arkansas voters in 1996 to assist the AGFC with its mission of managing fish and wildlife resources.
The AGFC will operate and maintain the conservation- education center.
Eric Maynard, assistant chief of education for the AGFC, has said the facility will be staffed with two part-time employees and the center and its activities will be free to the public.
See AGFC, Page 8C