In the News

River silt and road erosion seem unlikely topics for a luncheon at the Country Club of Little Rock, but The Nature Conservancy likes to celebrate its environmental successes in style.

The Sept. 30 gathering took place the day after the The Nature Conservancy and BHP Billiton -- a multinational mining, metals and petroleum company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia -- announced the joint Sustainable Rivers and Forests Initiative, a $14 million investment by BHP that will help protect nearly 3,700 acres of critical riverfront property and forestland in Texas and Arkansas.

The news is big for those living around Greers Ferry Lake and the four forks of the Little Red River that spill into the lake. About 150,000 people depend on Greers for drinking water, and preventing further bank erosion will surely make the lake more appealing to water enthusiasts and other recreational users, said Scott Simon, director of The Nature Conservancy in Arkansas.

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