Environmental notebook

Fayetteville maps clean-energy path

The Fayetteville City Council has adopted a plan to run on 100 percent “clean” and renewable energy by 2030, according to a news release from the Sierra Club.

The council approved Tuesday the Energy Action Plan, which aims to reduce climate change-inducing greenhouse gas emissions from the city. The 90-page plan outlines activities to achieve the goal, including making homes and buildings more energy-efficient, advocating for utilities to increase renewable energy usage, increasing the use of more fuel-efficient and alternative fuel vehicles owned by the city, and discouraging urban sprawl, among other measures.

The city is the first in Arkansas to make such a pledge and the 54th nationwide, according to the Sierra Club, which lobbies for the pledges through its “Mayors for 100% Clean Energy” program.

“Fayetteville has shown leadership in climate change adaptation and mitigation in a variety of ways,” Mayor Lioneld Jordan said in the news release. “We’ve installed electric vehicle charging stations around the city, signed onto the Sierra Club’s ‘Mayors for 100% Clean Energy’ pledge, promoted energy efficiency programs for homes and businesses, and much more.”

State to get millions for four watersheds

An Arkansas watershed will receive federal funding this year for water quality initiatives, according to an announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The Buffalo Slough-Cache River watershed in Greene and Lawrence counties will join three other state watersheds already in the National Water Quality Initiative — Cousart Bayou-Little Cypress Bayou, Upper Deep Bayou and Lower Deep Bayou. It’s one of 30 new watersheds added to the initiatives nationwide.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service will spend $30 million in the 201 watersheds in the 7-year-old program.

Arkansas will receive $1.4 million of those funds, but how much each watershed will get has not been decided, according to Natural Resources Conservation Service staff members in Little Rock.

The program provides funds to states for farmers, ranchers or forest landowners to employ conservation practices that improve soil health, reduce erosion and lower nutrient runoff, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Nutrients are elements like phosphorus and nitrogen, excess amounts of which can harm water bodies and contribute to algae growth.

Grant to improve Little Rock park

Audubon Arkansas will improve Gillam Park in Little Rock’s Granite Mountain neighborhood with the help of a $37,000 grant from 3M, according to a news release from Audubon Arkansas.

The funds will be used to create an improved self-guided outdoor learning experience, the release said. Afterward, Audubon Arkansas envisions school field trips and summer camp activities.

The 480-acre park’s biodiversity is “unique in an urban setting,” the release said. Coupled with its history as a recreational space for black people during segregation, the park can serve as a place for historical and environmental education.

Nine groups to get gardening money

The Arkansas Flower and Garden Show board has awarded $15,000 in grants through its Greening of Arkansas Grant Program, according to an announcement from the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

Nine organizations have received them for the construction of gardens, landscapes and green spaces: Southern Arkansas University Tech in East Camden, Seven Hills Garden in Fayetteville, the Boone County Master Gardeners in Harrison, the Pulaski County Master Gardeners in Little Rock, the Pulaski Heights Elementary School Parent Teacher Association in Little Rock, Audubon Arkansas in Little Rock, the Paron Community Center, the Jefferson County Clean and Beautiful Commission in Pine Bluff and Five Rivers Historic Preservation in Pocahontas.

The board also will spend thousands of dollars toward scholarships for students studying horticulture in Arkansas, the release said. Scholarships won’t be awarded until August, a system spokesman said.