…He got on the old mare, and he and his old hound went to see what was going on. He decided to go down and see what the trouble was. He said he was plowing corn one day and heard a pig squealing down toward the spring. “Grandpap Vaughan lived southwest of the little village of Clifty. Today she treats 400 to 500 animals and birds each year. When they retired in 1988, their mission was picked up by Lynn Sciumbato, who started Morning Star Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Gravette. The operators of Vi-Jo Wildlife Haven in Siloam Springs relied on donations and treatment by volunteer veterinarians, but often paid for the haven’s operations themselves, picking up fresh road kill with which to feed their patients. Injured wildlife are cared for by certified rehabilitation facilities, which work to educate the public about the important role wildlife plays. The fish evolved in near-total darkness, where there was no need for working eyes. Ponds built along Interstate 49 near Lowell are meant to filter possibly polluted runoff water in the recharge area for the endangered blind Ozark cavefish. Organizations like the Northwest Arkansas Land Trust are taking action to help conserve wildlife habitat in a rapidly developing region. Protection-Today, ongoing challenges include wildlife moving into urban areas, chronic wasting disease in deer and elk herds, and an expanding feral hog population. While the largest fish caught were kept for trophy mounts, the rest of the fish were donated to area charities. Organized by Ray Scott of Alabama, the tourney attracted 106 of the nation’s top anglers, who competed for the grand prize of $2,000 and a weeklong trip for two to Acapulco, Mexico. The coming of Beaver Lake in the mid-1960s gave rise to fishing competitions such as the All-American Bass Tournament, first held in 1967. State fish hatcheries produce walleye, crappie, trout, largemouth bass, and other fish for stocking in area lakes and waterways. An elk herd was reestablished in Boxley Valley near the Buffalo River beginning in 1981. In later years the Commission worked to improve and rebuild habitat and wildlife species. In 1938 about 200 deer were harvested legally statewide.Ĭonservation-The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission was created in 1915 to establish regulations and issue licenses to hunters and fishers. During the Great Depression of the 1930s game animals were scarce, making it hard for folks to supplement their food supply. Overhunting continued and by the late 1800s the region’s game population was in serious decline. Overhunted-By the mid-1800s the buffalo herds of Benton and Washington counties were gone due to hunting and loss of habitat as the prairies were transformed into farmland. In 1893 Bill Young promised that, if elected Benton County circuit clerk, he would “buy a good set of hounds and let the boys hunt with them.” He won, brought in hounds from Tennessee, and drew up the bylaws for the Northwest Arkansas Fox Hunters Association, the oldest such group west of the Mississippi River. Farmers worked hard to kill wolves, panthers, foxes, and other predators to protect their livestock.
The rendered fat was used to make oil lamp fuel, lubricants, and even hair gel. Alvah Jackson is said to have had a bear-fat rendering plant in the 1820s or 1830s in Carroll (now Boone) County, near the mouth of Bear Creek. Settlers-When white settlers moved into the area in the early 1800s, they relied on local wildlife for food and leather and fur pelts for trade. Bear, elk, deer, bison, and small game animals were used for meat and leather, some of which, along with bear oil, was traded to other Native American tribes and Europeans. Native Americans-During the 1700s Osage Indians traveled south from their homes in what is now western Missouri to the Arkansas Ozarks in part to hunt game.