Sometimes it’s good to be up a creek, especially when you are 11 or 12 years old and it’s Walnut Creek in western Garland County, writes Jerry Butler in Family.
For 33 years, the Arkansas Audubon Society has hosted an ecology camp for youngsters. The camp now meets along the upper part of Walnut Creek at Camp Clearfork, a rustic descendant of the Civilian Conservation Corps now managed by the U.S. Forest Service. South of U.S. 270 and west of Crystal Springs, this group campground is a part of the Ouachita National Forest. The Arkansas Audubon Society rents the camp for two weeks each summer as the site of its Halberg Ecology Camp.
Barry Haas, who is retired from the animal feed business, has volunteered as treasurer for the camp for 17 years. He describes the camp as “an exceptional learning opportunity for youth interested in the wonders and complexities of nature.”
See Wednesday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more.