Dr. Sarah Lewis

The Watershed Conservation Resource Center (WCRC) with multiple partners is establishing The River Commons, a public space designed to connect people to a natural floodplain landscape through ecological restoration, recreation, cultural heritage, and community engagement. The River Commons is over 320 acres of land in Southeast Fayetteville that includes wetlands and prairie features with a section of the West Fork of the White River (WFWR) running through it. The WCRC partnered with the City of Fayetteville, AR and Beaver Water District to purchase two properties to protect water quality through the restoration of wetlands, floodplain, and other natural features along the WFWR. The River Commons landscape is ideal for public access and education, so the WCRC worked with the University of Arkansas Community Design Center (UACDC) and a steering committee (UACDC, Arkansas Archeological Survey, NWA Black Heritage Association, Osage Nation, City of Fayetteville, and WCRC) to develop a site design that highlights the site’s diverse cultural history by revealing Native-American, African American, and Euro-American lifeways and foodways and their distinct connection to the landscape. The proposed site design includes amenities that integrate ecology and cultural history through interactive exhibitions and cultural gardens. Recreation is emphasized with proposed boat storage and boating on the wetland and river, fishing, hiking, and birding that includes a tower. Progress in implementing the vision for The River Commons will be presented along with community engagement activities already happening, such as, a River Cane Workshop for the public but includes Environmental Professionals, Elected Officials, Native American Tribal Members, Artists, and Business Owners; The River Commons Gathering; Environmental Restoration Trainings; and Wetland and Native Plant Program for Happy Hollow Elementary School 3rd graders. Key to the success of The River Commons is the formation of The River Coalition of partners. Eighteen organizations and municipalities have joined and can utilize the property to further their missions and conduct environmentally based community engagement activities. Envisioned to become a NWA destination, The River Commons will be “a dynamic space where all may experience ecology, cultural heritage, outdoor recreation, and riverine restoration in ways that generate a deep understanding of our interdependency on natural systems and each other".

Approved for LA CES HSW- 3 hours