LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – With the help of hard hats and heavy equipment, UALR Chancellor Joel Anderson, accompanied by Mayor Mark Stodola and officials of Audubon Arkansas, began today turning a five-acre urban corner of concrete and asphalt into a creek shoreline of native trees and grasses.

Bulldozers and other heavy equipment will take down five unusable buildings in the flood plain on the southeastern border of the…[more]

There is continuing trouble ahead for amphibian populations in the Ozarks and across the world.

Biologists for the Missouri Department of Conservation analyzed hellbender salamanders in the Ozarks last year only to discover a fungus infection similar to the one that has wiped out entire populations of frogs in…[more]

Towering cypress trees at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge are a reminder of the 2.4 million acre swamp that once covered southeastern Missouri’s Bootheel region. The refuge preserves this natural heritage for recreational use. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo)
Preservation and recreation are top management goals at Missouri’s largest national wildlife refuge.…[more]

Recent bacteria testing of water in the Lake of the Ozarks found 61 of the 62 samples safe for swimming and other whole body contact recreation, according to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

The test samples, the third in a series of six monthly samplings that began in May and will run through October, were taken July 9. Through the first three months of testing, 97.2 percent…[more]

Interest in Missouri’s native plants is increasing as homeowners, farmers and landowners see the environmental and economic benefits.

“Using native Missouri plants offers several advantages. Such plants are better adapted to Missouri’s changing climate and soil conditions than are non-native plants,” said Tim Reinbott, University of Missouri Bradford…[more]

LM Glasfiber today announced plans to open a new facility in Little Rock, Arkansas. The site will feature a blade manufacturing plant and a dedicated training facility. The plant is scheduled to begin operations in first quarter 2008 and will employ over 1,100 people within five years.

“We are very pleased to announce our new facility in Little Rock, which will become our largest facility world wide. The…[more]

LITTLE ROCK – Governor Mike Beebe today approved the release of more than $1.7 million from his Hazard Mitigation Fund to provide matching funds for infrastructure projects in nine Arkansas counties and to reimburse Arkansans who qualify for the Arkansas Safe Shelter Program.
The Safe Shelter Program, administered by the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, issues rebates of up to $1,000 to homeowners who build safe rooms or…[more]

A new weather tower installed at the University of Missouri-Columbia will provide more information about wind energy and air pollution in cities.

The weather tower is located on Sanborn Field on the MU campus. It will measure how wind speed is affected by nearby buildings.

“It’s important to know…[more]

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Golf courses are known as centers for human recreation, but if managed properly, they also could be important wildlife sanctuaries, a University of Missouri-Columbia researcher has found.

“There are more than 17,000 golf courses in the United States, and approximately 70 percent of that land is not used…[more]

John Tharp caught a lot more on his fishing trip than he ever wanted.

While fishing on a lake in Dixon, Mo., May 26, Tharp, 59, of Columbia, received a tick bite. Eight days later, he became terribly ill with high fever, upset stomach, vomiting and complete malaise.

A doctor diagnosed his condition as ehrlichiosis, a tick-borne disease, and prescribed a regimen of antibiotics. Tharp had…[more]