ASUMH Receives Grant From ANCRC for Trout Nature Center

Arkansas State University-Mountain Home (ASUMH) has been selected as a recipient of $822,558 from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council (ANCRC) to fund a Trout Nature Center in the Vada Sheid Community Development Center. The funds will allow the college to move forward on the project, which has been a dream of the university's Trout Task Force for over a year. The center will be located in the 65,000 square-foot building on the ASUMH campus.
The Trout Nature Center will make it possible for the men, women and children in a six-county area of north central Arkansas and the area's visitors to become aware of how they can help maintain healthy trout, the very basis of the local economy. The proposed Trout Nature Center will serve the community, tourists, fishing guides, national business groups and bioscience researchers and help them understand the impact of minimum flow. They will gain an appreciation for the local heritage and hydrology.

In addition, the community will benefit from the Trout Nature Center as it spurs local economic development.
"We are thrilled to learn that the ANCRC found the Trout Nature Center to be a project that will enrich the lives of Arkansans and that will help preserve Arkansas as The Natural State," said Ed Coulter, Chancellor of ASUMH. "There are so many opportunities that this center will provide both our students and residents, and we feel like the economic impact the center will have will be felt throughout north central Arkansas."

Set to be included in the center are interactive science exhibits and other elements to include topics on minimal flow, aquatic biology, water and its chemistry, common diseases and characteristics of the local trout species, changing water flow and its effect on geographic terrain, and more.

Carol Gresham, Vice Chancellor for Development at ASUMH credits Steve Wilson and other members of the Trout Task Force for the vision to develop such a center on the ASUMH campus. "The Trout Task Force has held monthly meetings for over a year now. They have identified community needs and issues that will be addressed in the Trout Nature Center and are excited about how students and professionals will be involved and served through the center."

Members of the Trout Task Force at ASUMH include Steve Wilson, Task Force Chairman and former Director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission; Jon Casey, Manager of the Norfork National Fish Hatchery; Heather Crunkleton, Co-owner of Rainbow Drive Resort; Dr. Ed Coulter, ASUMH Chancellor, Bob Cooke, Owner of Blue Ribbon Fly Shop; Frederick "Eddie" Dry, Ph.D., ASUMH Assistant Professor of Biology; Carol Gresham, ASUMH Vice Chancellor for Development; Jerry Farris, Ph.D., University Distinguished Professor Environmental Biology at ASU-Jonesboro; Gary Flippin, Owner of Rim Shoals Resort; Jim Gaston, Owner and CEO of Gaston's Resort; Duane Hada, Wildlife Artist and Fly Fishing Guide; Jon Hiser, Lake Manager Mountain Home Project Office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Bob Knight, Board Member of the Arkansas Parks and Tourism Commission and owner of ten radio stations; Tom Schmuecker, Owner of Wapsi Fly Manufacturing (the world's largest wholesale distributor of fly tying materials); Pat Smith, Secretary/Treasurer of the Friends of Norfork National Fish Hatchery; Phyllis Speer, Board Member of the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation; Michael Tipton, President of North Arkansas Fly Fishers; Jeff Williams, Trout Biologist of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission; Forrest L. Wood, Founder of Ranger Boats and leader of the 20-year public effort to establish minimum flow in the White River area.

The purpose of the ANCRC is to administer the Natural and Cultural Resources Grants and Trust Fund established by Arkansas Act 729 of 1987. The Natural and Cultural Resources Grants and Trust Fund is managed for the acquisition, management and stewardship of State-owned lands, or the preservation of State-owned historic sites, buildings, structures or objects which the ANCRC determines to be of value for recreation or conservation purposes for the benefit of future generations. The ANCRC is supported administratively by the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

For more information, visit http://ancrc.org/ or contact Carol Gresham, Vice Chancellor for Development at ASUMH at (870) 508-6116.