Spavinaw Creek Access Areas Around Benton Cunty

[Greasy B]

This creek is a long way from home but I'm enjoying reading about this issue. Thank you for the update.

[Feathers and Fins]

Where is the Scratching head Icon... Those complaints you linked to are from 2006 ... 7 years ago what New information is there if any at all.

[creekfreak]

Where is the Scratching head Icon... Those complaints you linked to are from 2006 ... 7 years ago what New information is there if any at all.

You're exactly right. So you feel those complaints are no longer relevant or maybe you don't realize the severity of what was being done?

Yes, there is new information.....but what a fool I'd be to release this info on a public forum. Also, so what if it was 2006? Evidently, the AGFC or Judge decided SVA was still competent enough to reverse what was once a public creek to now a privately managed Club which supposedly controls 15 miles from the OK line down.

[Feathers and Fins]

Ok now I have to really wonder what you are talking about. 15 Miles from the OK line down is NOT AGFC jurisdiction not certain why you bring that up.

The area in question in the reports appears to be HWY102 AR to HWY43 AR. But according to the papers you posted a permit was going to be issued if I read it correctly back then. Was said permit issued? If so then the next question is if said permit was issued is there a statute of limitation for reversal of the permit and if so what is that time limit?

[bfishn]

Evidently, altering/dredging a very sensitive spring fed stream in AR doesn't raise much concern w/ the AGFC.

ftp://ftp.adeq.state.ar.us/Pub/WebDatabases/Complaints/006364-comp.pdf

ftp://ftp.adeq.state.ar.us/Pub/WebDatabases/Complaints/005000-comp.pdf

SVA is in cahoots w/ the AGFC. After speaking with a officer for 30+ min regarding the ridiculousness of the situation, he finally stated they "have big pockets", and left it at that.

However, very soon (no later than late fall) this will become a much more public issue. The AGFC needs to be exposed as well as the Club. I also read in their newsletter that the AGFC would be stocking more Brown Trout in Spavinaw in agreement w/ the Club. Evidently, money can makes things happen.

I know this has been drawn out since my first post but there will be more to come exposing this issue. Unfortunately, it takes time to get your "ducks in a row".......more to come!

While I share your frustration to a degree, I think your antagonism towards the AGFC is somewhat misplaced. As your own linked documents show, jurisdiction for the obvious streambed manipulation falls on the ADEQ (and to a very tiny degree the USACE), The only business AGFC has there is.. fish and game... not public access, and not stream alteration.

[bfishn]

I did some searching to see what AGFC had to say. What there was;

Until recently, the only documented wild rainbow trout population in Arkansas
was in upper Spavinaw Creek, a privately owned spring creek in Benton County.
This population is currently protected under catch-and-release only regulations
though no formal agreement exists with the landowners for angler access.

From the Trout Management Plan

Strategy 1.3.5
Create protocols and incentives for working with private landowners to allow
for seasonal and year-round trout management for public fishing on private
streams.
Spavinaw Creek is the flagship for this objective. A trout management plan exists
for Spavinaw Creek, but it contains no system for working with private
landowners to allow public fishing. As human populations expand, and trout
permit sales continue to increase, the need for more fishing opportunities will
become more pressing. Private water is the main source of “new” water to
expand fishing opportunities. AGFC needs to work with partners to provide
incentives (money and assistance) to landowners in exchange for easements,
leases, and fishing rights.

Strategy 1.3.6
Purchase land for the purpose of expanding public trout angling in
partnership with Wildlife Management Area (WMA) expansion or expansion
of Watchable Wildlife programs, etc.
Justification for buying land to gain control of spring creeks or streams for fishing
is perhaps difficult. However, if large enough tracts of land are available,
coupling expanded fishing opportunities with other resource uses would be a
positive, efficient way for AGFC to serve the people of Arkansas, especially in
counties where AGFC efforts have been low. Small tracts with creeks could be
managed for fishing along with small game hunting (rabbits, quail, etc.), bow
hunting, permit hunting, or watchable wildlife in the form of a trail along the
creek. Again, Spavinaw Creek in Benton County provides an example for this
new approach to management.

From an old interview with Mr Bowman;

"We haven’t stocked trout there or done any direct management in over eight years,” Bowman confirmed. “We planned to stock and regulate it and buy some land to gain public access, but land costs were high.” With folks moving to northwest Arkansas, snapping up land and building houses and businesses as if a gold rush were on, property values around the creek have rocketed into the $3,000-per-acre range.

That harsh economic reality means the AGFC is going to need help — in the form of generous property owners, private organizations or outside sources of funding — for all Arkansans to be able to enjoy Spavinaw Creek. If Bowman allows his imagination to run free, he easily envisions a mini-wildlife management area designed for consumptive uses (bowhunting and fishing, for example) and non-consumptive activities such as wildlife watching on a walking trail. “If we could find willing landowners or groups to cost-share with us, Spavinaw could become something really special,” he said. “It’d be a great resource for the area.”

As for the meager numbers of what they have stocked there... Hatcheries are often faced with small lots of fish that need gone to make room for others. a few hundred 4 inchers recovered on cleanout after loading trucks for net pens. Broodstock that has served its' purpose. Plenty of reasons. Spavinaw is the closest trout water to the CC Hatchery at Centerton by far. Makes sense to me to see what a few fish do over time there, before writing a check for a chunk of land.

I think the smart money would be to plant the seed with the right WalMart people rather than souring the AGFC on something we might want their help with someday.

[txspecks04]

Still keeping an eye on this, but I am not really "in the know." Any news?

[1969Larson]

Creekfreak, Got any updates? It has been a few months. Thanks!

[Quillback]

Still snowbound, so I'm reading all these old threads...

Didn't realize that land was going for $3K/acre, but with AGFC getting 1/8 on the sales tax, they've got some money. Maybe manage it like MO manages their trout parks, pay a fee to fish, have daily trout stockings in a catch and keep section and have another section for catch and release fishing. Manage the surrounding land as quail habitat.

[bfishn]

Try $4,500/acre;

http://www.terrascend.com/property/1695