Five birds of prey featured at lecture
Students, staff and members of the community were greeted by five birds of prey Friday on the National Park College campus during a presentation by representatives of the Raptor Rehab of Central Arkansas.
Rodney Paul founded Raptor Rehab in 2003 and serves as its director. He is licensed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to care for birds of prey.
“We get no funding from the state or from the federal government to do this,” Paul said. “Everything is 100 percent out of our pocket. When I first started this, I was single, which made it a little bit easier, because it cost me about $10,000 to build my initial structures and get started.
“I actually have to pay U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service every five years. I have to pay them a fee to let me do this for free out of my pocket.”
The presentation was the latest feature in the Math and Sciences Division’s First Friday Lecture Series. More than 50 guests attended the presentation in the Laboratory Sciences Building.
Paul said maintaining the facility became two overwhelming for he and his wife several years ago. They started a volunteer program, which has attracted students, retirees and working professionals.
Tina Miller, a volunteer and a
The start date and completion of the trail’s first mile were projected in a meeting between Visit Hot Springs, Trail Solutions and officials from the city of Hot Springs and Garland County Thursday. The first mile of trail will require one 15-person Trail Solutions construction team to build, according to Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison.
Arrison said the team will be slow and methodical in their construction of the first mile, as they will be familiarizing themselves with the terrain.
“It’s a science,” Arrison said. “It’s not you and me going out in the backyard to build a trail that leads up to our treehouse. It’s highly technical.”
Arrison said if plans stay on track, the construction of Phase One will accelerate at the start of 2018. He said Trail Solutions plans to bring in heavier equipment and have a full force of three to four construction teams working on the project by Jan. 1.
City of Hot Springs Trails Coordinator Ken Freeman told The Sentinel-Record the Ouachita Mountain terrain that Trail Solutions will be carving away will be “a blessing and a curse” for the construction teams. He said the terrain deflects water and allows the teams to build a more challenging trail, but that its toughness makes for difficult construction.
Trail Solutions Specialist Joey Klein echoed this sentiment, both to The Sentinel-Record and Visit Hot Springs.
“He said, ‘If you can build a trail in Arkansas’ terrain, you can build a trail anywhere in the world,’” Visit Hot Springs Marketing Director Bill Solleder said of his meeting with Klein.
Arrison said Trail Solutions is currently in Hot Springs surveying the plot of land that will contain the trail. He told The Sentinel-Record Tuesday they will be surveying the land for four to five days before beginning construction.
“That’s why it’s tough to say numbers, miles of trail and cost. You just don’t know until you get in there,” Arrison said. “That’s why they take it slow, and when they’re doing this first mile of trail, they’ll learn a lot.”
“We keep thinking about it as, ‘These are mountain bikers,’” Solleder said. “They are mountain bikers, but really, when they’re talking, they’re talking like they’re construction workers.”
Other items discussed in Tuesday’s meeting were the maintenance and security of building equipment, communication for the project and assignment of the project’s different responsibilities.
Solleder said it was “exciting to be around a table where everybody is wanting to contribute in a positive way.”
“Everybody’s raring to go,” Arrison said. “Everybody’s really focused on it, and we’re really excited about when they start.”