Eighty or so students from Kirksey Middle School in Rogers, Arkansas visited the Illinois River Watershed Partnership’s Watershed Sanctuary in Cave Springs on May 15, 2015. They got a tour of the Sanctuary, chased crawdads in the former hatchery raceways, and constructed four floating wetland ecologies. The floating wetlands provide habitat for fish, birds, and numerous insects and other invertebrates and take nutrients up out of the water.
Steve Patterson guided students through the wetland construction process, assisted by Brad Hufhines and Bob Morgan from the Beaver Watershed District, Chas McCoy from IRWP, and Keith Patterson. Samantha Hutchinson, environmental educator from Crystal Bridges Museum, also came by to lend a hand.
A good time was had by all and four new patches of wetland habitat were created and launched in the lake.
A big thank you to IRWP for inviting us to work with them and to everybody who helped make this little bit of positive environmental action possible.
