Ozark-St. Francis National Forests officials are holding a public meeting to provide information and seek comments on a proposal to restore a forest area located near Lake Wedington.
The meeting is scheduled from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday at the Tontitown City Administration Building and City Hall, 235 E. Henri de Tonti Blvd.
The meeting also will discuss an amendment to the forest plan to correct a classification error.
"A forest stand inventory revealed dying timber in an area of the forest near Lake Wedington," said Amy Burt, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests' environmental coordinator. "With this amount of overstocked trees in the area, the trees may become more susceptible to catastrophic infestations from insects without treatment."
As part of the restoration proposal, the 2005 forest plan has to be corrected because the area where active management is needed near Lake Wedington is misclassified. This forested area was listed as a pasture.
"We are reclassifying sections of the project area so that they receive the appropriate management," said Jobi Brown, Boston Ranger District's National Environmental Policy Act coordinator. "Because of the misclassification, the proposed treatment cannot be applied, which is key to successfully completing the project."
Information on the project can be found at https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=54302.
Sports on 08/13/2019