Planning Grant for the George Harp Environmental Field Station

阿肯色州立大学授予一项规划拨款，用于制定一项战略计划，以加强和管理布法罗国家河（美国第一条国家河流）上新收购的乔治·哈普环境试验站。该野外观测站由亚利桑那州立大学根据与国家公园管理局的合作协议管理，为支持阿肯色州奥扎克地区的高地、湿地、洞穴学和河流研究提供了独特的机会。计划举办三个研讨会，包括州和地区大学研究人员、当地K-12教师和管理人员、保护非政府组织以及阿肯色州两年制大学的教师和管理人员。这些研讨会旨在提高公众意识并征求利益相关者的意见，为该站的发展提供方向、重点和支持。此外，对三个区域大学实地站的访问将为站的发展、加强和确定研究、教学、资助和推广机会征求意见、见解和方向。乔治哈普环境现场站是一所房子和几座附属建筑，占地40英亩，战略性地坐落在150英尺高的悬崖上，俯瞰布法罗国家河下游，靠近阿肯色州拉什的采矿鬼城。布法罗国家河占地80万英亩，发源于波士顿山峰，流经奥扎克高地的中心地带150英里，在那里它被认为是国家的一部分。美国最惊人的自由流动的河流。布法罗河流经斯普林菲尔德高原和塞勒姆高原这两个复杂的地理区域，流经北美大陆中部唯一没有冰川覆盖的高地地区，在那里与怀特河汇合。东部和西部稀树草原、林间空地和林地交错带的结合提供了一个独特的栖息地整合，与著名的地质古代结合在一起；创造一个支持高水平生物多样性和地方性的景观，该地区记录了200多种地方性物种。

Arkansas State University awarded a planning grant for the development of a strategic plan for enhancing and managing the newly acquired George Harp Environmental Field Station on the Buffalo National River, America's first national river. The field station, administered by ASU under a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service, provides a unique opportunity to support upland, wetland, speleological and riverine research in the Arkansas Ozarks. Three workshops are planned to include state and regional university researchers, local K-12 teachers and administrators, conservation NGOs, and faculty and administrators of Arkansas 2-year colleges. These workshops, designed to raise awareness and solicit ideas from stakeholders, will provide direction, emphases and support for the development of the Station. Additionally, visits to three regional university field stations will allow solicitation of ideas, insights and direction for Station development, enhancement, and identification of research, teaching, funding and outreach opportunities.The George Harp Environmental Field Station is a house and several outbuildings on 40 acres of land strategically located on a 150-foot bluff overlooking the lower Buffalo National River near the mining ghost town of Rush, Arkansas. The Buffalo National River, encompassing an 800,000 acre watershed, originates in the Boston Mountain peaks and flows 150 miles through the heartland of the Ozark Highlands, where it is considered one of the nation?s most prodigious free flowing rivers. Moving through a complex convergence of physiographic regions, the Springfield and Salem Plateaus, the Buffalo flows through the only unglaciated highland region in mid-continental North America, where it confluences with the White River. The union of eastern and western savanna, glade and woodland ecotones provides a unique integration of habitats, coalesced with renowned geologic antiquity; creating a landscape supporting a high level of biodiversity and endemism, with more than 200 endemic species documented from the region.