The Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage

Freedom of Information Act requests regarding the records of the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission should be addressed to:

Organization and Operations

The Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission is (ANHC) charged with establishing and protecting a system of natural areas and working to conserve the state’s natural diversity. The commission was created by Act 112 of 1973 and moved to the Department of Arkansas Heritage when the department was created in 1975. The commission is made up of 15 members. Nine members are appointed by the governor for staggered terms of nine years each. Three members are appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and three members are appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Through Act 1023 of 1997 the Natural Heritage Commission acquired, in addition, the rights, powers, and duties of the former Natural and Scenic Rivers Commission.

Research Activities

Comprehensive information about Arkansas’s natural environment is the foundation for all the Natural Heritage Commission’s decisions. For this reason, its staff works continuously to build, maintain, and refine an extensive information base. Staff research includes surveys of scientific literature and systematic collections combined with examination of maps, aerial photographs, and satellite imagery. And, at the end of the process, on-the-ground field investigations usually are required.

The aim of staff research is to determine where the commission’s conservation action can do the most good. This means finding the best examples of each type of natural community in the state. It also means ascertaining which species of native plants and animals most need habitat protection and, then, where the best habitats of these species are located.

The staff uses the collected information to recommend land-protection projects to the commission. It also shares this information with other offices engaged in conservation work, economic development planning, and education. Many factors affect the decision for public land protection, including special species habitat values, relationships in an ecosystem, and accessibility to the public.

Land Protection

As of December 1, 2005, the commission held fee and lesser interests in 62 natural areas, totaling 24,413.01 acres. It also holds wetland conservation easements on 1,741.3 acres of forested land in Woodruff County and a conservation easement on 96.75 acres of forested bottomland along the Petit Jean River in Yell County. As successor to the Natural and Scenic Rivers Commission, the commission has oversight responsibility for the portions of four streams legislatively designated for protection through Act 689 of 1985. These constitute the Arkansas Natural and Scenic Rivers System and are, by name, the upper Cossatot, upper Little Missouri, upper Strawberry, and lower Saline Rivers.

In accordance with an interdepartmental agreement, the commission has management authority over portions of Hobbs State Management Area in Benton, Carroll, and Madison Counties. The commission has cooperative agreements, as follow: 1) with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the commission helps manage Saratoga Landing Blackland Prairie in Hempstead and Howard Counties, 2) with Potlatch Corporation, a 40-year agreement for managing the company’s Lost 40 in southern Calhoun County. In addition, the commission participates with the Arkansas Field Office of The Nature Conservancy in International Paper’s Unique Areas program, which protects one site.

Administration

The Natural Heritage Commission staff is organized in four major functional areas: Administration, Education and Information, Acquisitions and Stewardship, and Research and Inventory. The commission also benefits from the expertise of its staff outside the organizational structure. Staff field specialties include herpetology, entomology, dendrology, botany, plant community ecology, zoology, trail development, watershed protection, and environmental analysis.

General revenues support the work of the Natural Heritage Commission, funding staff positions and portions of its operating expenses. The remainder of administrative costs are paid from a variety of sources. The 1/8th Cent Conservation Tax contributes to the identification, conservation, and stewardship of the Natural Areas System, including some staff field ecologists. Staff positions are also paid from Federal Funds accessed by grants and other partnership agreements with Federal Agencies such as the US Forest Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Natural and Cultural Resources Council grants support research, education and stewardship activities and provide monies for acquisition of new properties for inclusion in the System of Natural Areas. Part-time field ecologists are included in the Natural and Cultural Resources Council grant package to offer a long-term relationship with workers across the state and provide for the care and upkeep of the commission’s lands. Research fees pay the expenses associated with part-time data research from time to time.

Public Information Requests

Specific Freedom of Information Act requests will be directed to the Department of Arkansas Heritage’s Public Information Officer (Melissa Whitfield), with assistance from ANHC’s Information Officer (Michael Warriner) and/or Information and Education Coordinator (Jane Jones-Schulz).

Specific information requests for element occurrence records, and other information contained in the agency’s Heritage Inventory data files will directed to the Data Manager (Cindy Osborne).

General information requests and requests for educational materials will be directed to the Information Officer (Michael Warriner) and/or Information and Education Coordinator (Jane Jones-Schulz).

Records [subsection (a)(2)]

The ANHC keeps administrative records, records for the commission, records for education materials and public information programming, records for each natural area in the System of Natural Areas, land acquisition records, stewardship records and computer database files backed up by paper files for research and inventory records. Examples and further explanations are listed below.

Records maintained by NHC
Administrative
Audit reports Charge accounts Equipment inventory Vehicle records Grant information Outgoing mail	Incoming Mail logs Financial reports Legislation - state Legislation - federal Deeds
Commission Records
Annual reports Members / appointments Meeting notices	Meeting agendas / handouts Meeting minutes Resolutions
Land Acquisition Records
Acquisition summaries Surveys, abstracts, appraisals, title information Commission action / records	Communication with Governor Purchase agreements Fiscal records / warrant requests
Stewardship Records
Monitoring projects Maps Site assessments	Neighbor information Burn plans / post burn summaries management plans
Research Inventory
Correspondence Environmental Review /  Information sharing projects (includes computer databases) Heritage Inventory data files (includes computer databases) General Managed Area files - areas owned by other entities ANHC Managed Area Files - areas owned and/or cooperatively managed by ANHC (includes computer databases) Species and Natural Community Reference files