Arkansas Blog

During the National Night Out in NLR, Park Hill last night I weas talking with our city Historian Sue Smith. She told me that when Park Hill was developed by Mr Mathews in the 20's that the entire Park Hill neighborhood was stripped of all its trees. There is an areal photo from 1928 of Park Hill on the city's web site www.nlrhistory.com that shows this.

Llikewise she told me Hill Crest was cleared of all its trees during its development.

Can you imagine that?

In the mid 90's Little Rock adopted a tree ordinance thanks to the tireless efforts of some activists who have since moved on to greener pastures. It stated that trees of a certain circumference could not be removed without approval. I see it violated often. Is it still on the books and just ignored?

There's enough ignored laws on the books that we could easily amend the constitution to allow the ledge to meet for only two days every sixty years, until we catch up with what's already out there in the Code ;-)

Just show up at 6 am on Sunday morning and cut the suckers down like everybody else does.

And on and on it goes. Treeless construction sites are still the norm. Too hard to work around the darn things I suspect. At our building site, after our careful consideration for future shade, our contractor (one of the best in the business at the time) told us we needed to remove most of the trees we intended to keep. He was especially irritated about one in the front yard. "It'll detract from your front porch," he told us.
Yeah, we kept the contractor and the trees, but he mumbled a lot about the appearance of that tree right there in front of his masterpiece. Does it block the view of the porch from the road? Sure, but that's not an issue with us. In fact, it's an advantage.
But the real advantage is apparent when you walk out from under that tree and go around to the side of the house. Yesterday afternoon, it was tolerable under the tree and a blast furnace beyond its shade.
I'd hate to guess what our electric bill would be without our trees.

In Arkansas, poor people have anarchy. The government exists to figure out how to split up money that comes in from out of state.

No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session- Mark Twain

Max: Thre is a college in Conway that has a lot of pecan shells in a courtyard where a saying ism well known that it takes a 100 years to grow an Oak. I was fortunate enough to have assisted my Biology Professor, Dr. Tom Clark, with planting a few magnolias, cypresses and oaks. Didn't plant any peaches but he even took us over to the better peach groves along Crowley's Ridge...Where is the inspiration and respect for the Gift of Life? A developer can knock out the forest without ever comprehending the ecologies inherent to the trees.

In Conway, developers are Gods...and green-space/etc. are just an environmental crumbs thrown citizens way when crap like the egret slaughter occurs (which was deliberate) or/and people otherwise get fed up with watching waste like fields of ancient oaks coming down in a 24 -hr slash/burn-fest...and without any thought given toward utilization. Several times areas have been set aside from mass-development, green-spaces, they're called...up until the 'right' citizen/developer says 'May I?'. Bye bye so-called green spaces.

I've given up...fought for 20+years. Watched Hal Crafton's bulldozers decimate a centuries-old egret rookery, claim innocence (ha ha) and throw himself on the mercy of the court. (It was directly in the way of the Sacred Centennial-Valley Country Club project.) He was fined the maximum: $40,000...money well spent...compared to the time the project would've been forced to wait for the birds to mature/leave. I will NEVER forget the thousands of baby birds with broken limbs of all sorts wandering aimlessly through west Conway. (Of course, the egret hospital was located in my garage...oh lord...but we actually saved a lot) Anyway...my depressing environmental story.

Yes, I know every town is afflicted with Developer Dominance...but Conway is especially awash in good-old-boys' disdain for the environment.

I'm still stunned the Supreme Court decided private property can be taken for private use...stunned. What I don't understand is how something that's hated by both Parties prevails....but then I didn't think a prez, any prez, could use signing statements to trump Congress. I actually thought all that Separation of Powers stuff was protected by the Constitution. Hell, I also bought that 'innocent till guilty' stuff...and due process/habeas corpus. I didn't even know that a president could remove all negative protesters from his/her eyesight...or that being scared of big bad terrorists trumped any ole piece of paper those silly forefathers handed down. I guess Monkeyboy has taught me a thing or two...

And let us never ever ever forget Kohl's cutting down a grove of century old trees to make way for their store in Fayetteville! I had sympathy pains in Fort Baptist so bad, I can't shop at the Kohl's store here. Though you'd never know it these days, there is more to life than corporate profits!

My comment isn't about trees, but it is about the ecology and what we are unknowningly, knowing and uncaringly doing to the earth we all share. While on a little cruise with relatives, we went power snorkeling in Cozumel. It was beautiful but very uncomfortable - constant tiny stings made it so unpleasant you would almost give up and head back to the boat. Turns out these stings were from millions, maybe billions, of tiny little jellyfish. I was curious why previous ocean lovers had never mentioned this unpleasantness but everyone seemed to take it in stride. Upon returning to Hot Springs and catching up on my email, I found a NYT article about a new phenomenon in the oceans caused by pollution, over fishing, and climate change, that has allowed a huge over growth in tiny jellyfish that would normally have been already eaten and digested by larger fish. This fairly new development threatens to make the beautiful waters of the ocean and some of the sights much more difficult to see and enjoy.

We upset the delicate balance of nature and the Republicans scoff and tell us the earth is ours to use and tree huggers are impeding development, but in the end the joke is on all of us because there will be no earth to develop or enjoy.

The first requirement for being a good Republican is stupidity.

...and the seven trees at War Memorial Park that fell victim to the stars and stripes abortion that's under construction...

>>And let us never ever ever forget Kohl's cutting down a grove of century old trees to make way for their store in Fayetteville!<<

How sad it was DBI, not just the loss of a very old stand of trees but of the Truth. By the second week of the Kohl-Tree story, the media had the truth buried. In week two it was a story between radical tree huggers and the cops-government. It was no longer about preservation. I've never set foot in Kohls.
I know dozens who won't. There's likely thousands.
.

The first requirement for being a good Republican is stupidity.<<

The second requirement is arrogance.

Do not call them "Developers" if you are speaking in the negative. They are Destructors. Save the term "Developer" for people who are actually making life better for everyone. I know, I know, we may lose the word forever.

Do not call them "Developers" if you are speaking in the negative. They are Destructors. Save the term "Developer" for people who are actually making life better for everyone. I know, I know, we may lose the word forever.

The tree ordinance is a joke because it was conceived as a joke. There is no real enforcement. The law is ambiguous. In other words, it never had a chance of being enforced and they people who passed it knew it. Nothing has changed in little rock. They give you 'window dressing' and think that it will satisfy you. I worked for the City of Little Rock and was privy to some discussions involving developers so this doesn't surprise me. The own the town and will screw it every chance they get. Just accept the reality of the situation and get used to being screwed.

As you know, I always love to give my 2 cents worth where trees are concerned.

I watched with interest when Eddie Drilling of A T & T convinced the Little Rock Board that Comcast needed competition and A T & T was the ticket for Little Rock with it's new IPTV.

Dr. Kumpuris fell all over himself in wanting competition vs. Comcast. And where will A T & T go first? To the Heights, and the closer to the Country Club the better. Now Dr. Kumpuris, you live on the edge of the Country Club, but those of us who live six or seven blocks away get to put up with all of the fiber optic cable to run your new TV.

And guess what, the company that A T & T uses to lay the cable will drill thru a hundred year old oak tree in a heartbeat. When I wasn't home, they drilled thru the root balls of a maple, dogwood three locusts and a pin oak. All in one stretch of my side yard.

Now, I get to spend $350.00 a month watering my stressed out shade trees that all have dead limbs in them in hopes that they don't die. And folks, please don't call the PSC and complain. Their pat answer is, "you need to speak to A T & T's contractor".

Now my question is, Dr. Kumpuris when A T & T, IPTV arrives, will you invite me and a couple of my neighbors up to watch a football game or two. My neighbors and I don't plan on subscribing to this service.