Not just another cleanup, event to offer opportunities to explore nature

LITTLE ROCK (Oct. 28, 2016) – The Friends of Fourche Creek are hosting Fourche Creek Discovery Day this Saturday at Interstate Park. Not just another cleanup, Fourche Creek Discovery Day will introduce volunteers to the beauty and recreational value of Little Rock’s main waterway. Participants will join experts on guided floats, hikes, and fishing, while also spending time picking up litter. 

Discovery Day will kick off at 8 a.m. on October 29 at Interstate Park (3900 S. Arch St.) in Little Rock. Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola will highlight the work of Friends of Fourche Creek volunteers, who continue to lead successful cleanups along the creek. Starting at 9 a.m. volunteers will have the option to rotate among a variety of activities including canoeing, birdwatching, and geocaching. Lunch, provided by First Security Bank, will be served at noon. Garbage bags, gloves, canoes, paddles, life jackets, fishing poles, and binoculars will be provided, or people can bring their own. Volunteers are encouraged to bring a reusable water bottle, wear long pants, and wear sturdy shoes or rubber boots that can get wet and muddy. 

Interstate Park lies at the eastern edge of Fourche Bottoms, an 1,800-acre wetland in the heart of the city that has the potential to become a recreational gem for city residents and visitors alike. Yet the aesthetics and the health of this urban preserve are harmed by the amount of pollutants that enter the water from over half of the surface area of Little Rock.

“When people realize the value of Fourche Bottoms for recreation and wildlife, they’ll be more likely to take actions to keep it clean, such as not littering,” says Dan Scheiman, Chair of Friends of Fourche Creek and Bird Conservation Director for Audubon Arkansas.

The Friends of Fourche Creek is a volunteer coalition of partners dedicated to the restoration, protection, and enhancement of the Fourche Creek ecosystem and to creating and sustaining a first-class urban greenspace for those who live, work and play in the watershed.

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