Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association
Dedicated to Conserving the Natural Areas of Fayetteville and its Environs for the Benefit of Present & Future Generations
About Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association
Our Roots | Accomplishments, Successes & Pressroom | Meet Our Boards | Contact a Board Member | Your 1-Stop Download Center | E-NewsletterOur Roots
From Acorn...
FNHA was formed in January of 2003 when rumors began to circulate that Mount Sequoyah Woods, a 67-acre natural area in the heart of Fayetteville, was going to be sold by the Western Methodist Assembly. 
Because of its beauty and easy accessibility, this forested tract has been a favorite hiking area for many, many years. In cooperation with the City of Fayetteville, FNHA committed to raising $300,000 (in private donations) of the $1,300,000 selling price. With this agreement in place, the City acquired Mount Sequoyah Woods from the Methodist Assembly, and FNHA followed through on its fundraising commitment.
The community-wide effort to "Save Mount Sequoyah Woods" brought the issue of undeveloped natural space to the attention of both private citizens and the business community within Fayetteville, most notably, real estate developers. As a result of our efforts, FNHA became recognized as an effective advocate for healthy green infrastructure, while not being perceived as anti-development.
To Seedling...
FNHA's mission is to identify and protect Fayetteville's most important natural areas and on our community's mature tree canopy. We are not against development. However, we think it is vitally important to preserve the most important natural spaces in our area for the enjoyment of current and future generations.
To date, FNHA has contributed to the conservation of over 110 acres of mature urban forest plus 2 acres of urban wetlands. Data from an FNHA-sponsored GIS conservation assessment were instrumental in helping obtain a 20-acre conservation easement on another tract, and provided the foundation for conserving a 14–acre, centrally located natural area, all within Fayetteville's city limits.
FNHA has earned an excellent reputation within our community for both conservation and common sense resulting in tremendous citizen support.
A Mighty Oak Grows
Accomplishments, Successes & Pressroom
Perhaps FNHA's more satisfying accomplishments are when we foster, encourage, and facilitate natural-area preservation projects within neighborhoods currently facing development. A wetland area in south Fayetteville
and an upland forest tract near the center of town are examples. Additionally we helped persuade the Barber Group and Tony DePalma's heirs to donate, in memory of Dr. DePalma, 30 wooded acres contiguous to the Mt. Sequoyah Woods bringing to 97 the total acres in that natural area.
In 2006, FNHA applied for and received a matching grant from the Arkansas Forestry Commission's Urban Forestry Program and the U.S. Forestry Service to identify and rank the best land parcels for preservation in and around Fayetteville. To do that, the Ozark Highland's office of the Nature Conservancy and the University of Arkansas Landscape Department teamed up to employ a computer mapping technique called "Geographic Information System" (GIS). (See "What Makes a Good Conservation Site") The City planners and developers have embraced the results of this FNHA-sponsored research as useful information for making decisions about future development projects within the city.
The League of Women Voters of Washington County nominated FNHA's GIS Project for the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality Stewardship Award, known as the Envy of Arkansas Award. Our project placed first in the Innovation category.
FNHA won a regional award when the City of Fayetteville Parks and Recreation Department nominated us for the 2007 Organization of the Year in the Southwest Region National Recreation and Parks Association, citing our on-going conservation efforts. We were awarded an Organization Citation. The Southwest Region is comprised of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas.
The GIS project accomplished many wonderful things, but it did not address the issue of securing long-term funding for the premium parcels that were identified. FNHA's current goal is to facilitate creative ways to preserve the most important tracts of green space uncovered in the GIS survey.
Citizens of Fayetteville understand the importance of having public natural spaces, such as forests, prairies and wetlands, to serve as retreats from the increasingly hectic pace of city life and to retain the natural Ozark setting of our city. The GIS study will be the basis for a sustainable conservation program which is currently being developed.
Meet Our Boards
Officers
Chairman: Bob Caulk
Bob and his wife, Sara, are both retired from the petroleum industry and retired to Fayetteville in 2000. In addition to serving on the governing board of FNHA for 4 years and organizing our fall fundraisers, he was part of the team that worked to preserve the Brooks-Hummel Nature Reserve, heavily involved in the Urban Forest Conservation Assessment, helps with conservation easement monitoring work, and was on the construction crew that built the kiosks at both entrances to Mt. Sequoyah Woods. Sara serves as executive secretary, database manager and website administrator.
Vice-Chair: Karen Rollet-Crocker
Karen came to Fayetteville in 1985 when she took a position as Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Arkansas. She designed the kiosks at the entrances to Mt. Sequoyah Woods and has helped FNHA procure several grants. Karen has donated many hours of her time as a landscape architect toward matching grant funds for FNHA. Most significantly, she oversaw an urban forestry grant that profiled and ranked Fayetteville land parcels on their value as greenspace. Karen has recently retired from the U of A.
Treasurer: Tom Lonon
Tom came to Fayetteville in 1979 and is in private practice as a certified public accountant.
Secretary: Nancy Varvil
Nancy grew up in Arkansas, but spent many years out of the state. She returned to Fayetteville in 1984 and now serves as election coordinator for Washington County. Nancy also sits on the Environmental Concerns Committee of the City of Fayetteville.
Governing Board
Mike Adelman came to Fayetteville in 2000 and has recently retired from Proctor and Gamble. He is treasurer of the local chapter of the Ozark Society and, as an avid hiker, has an appreciation for land conservation.
Deborah Coody is our newest board member and brings her years of experience in local politics to the FNHA Board. She is also interested in gardening, cooking , art and architecture. She works with her husband Dan as a builder and remodeler.
Steve Hatfield is editor of the FNHA newsletter. He came to Fayetteville in 1990. In 1993, when he became a licensed landscape architect, he became the Trails and Greenways Coordinator for the City of Fayetteville and later worked as the Park Landscape Architect. He now owns a landscape architecture firm in Fayetteville that focuses on park, trail and site planning. He is also on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board for the City of Fayetteville.
Pete Heinzelman, M.D. co-founded FNHA and held the chairman position from inception in 2003 until February, 2008. He and his wife Margo came to Fayetteville in 1976 when he joined the Ozark Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Clinic as an orthopaedic surgeon and she worked as a nurse. Margo serves in the unofficial capacity as FNHA archivist and assists with correspondence. Pete has recently retired from practicing medicine.
Doug James is FNHA's advisor on the biological characteristics of Fayetteville's green spaces and often writes on this subject for FHNA projects. He came to Fayetteville in 1953 and is a Professor of Biology at the University of Arkansas. Doug co-authored Arkansas Birds: Their Abundance and Distribution.
Advisory Board
Wade Colwell, vice president of investments, A.G. Edwards
Sue Condren, artist
Terry Condren, entrepreneur
Robert Cross, professor emeritus, chemical engineering, University of Arkansas
Al Einert, landscape architect
Dan Ferritor, professor of sociology and former chancellor, University of Arkansas
Colene Gaston, staff attorney, Beaver Water District
Joyce Hale, retired business manager, Hale Engineering
Paul LeBlanc, retired medical technologist, Veterans Administration Hospital
Maxine LeBlanc, retired mathematics teacher, Woodland Jr. High School
Bob Morgan, environmental officer, Beaver Water District
Paige Mulhollan, retired, president, Wright State University
Mary Bess Mulhollan, homemaker and nature photographer
Dennis Petersen, mortgage banker, Wells Fargo
Frank Sharp, president, Ozark Mountain Smokehouse
Sara Sharp, musician
Kimberly Smith, chair, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas
Duane Woltjen, co-founder FNHA, retired engineer, Marshalltown Tools
Judy Woltjen, retired nurse, Butterfield Trail Village
Contact a Board Member
Bob Caulk 973-2968 bobcaulk@cox.net
Karen Rollet-Crocker 442-9360 krollet@uark.edu
Tom Lonon 527-6982 Tom@lononcpa.com
Nancy Varvil 871-7023 nvarvil@yahoo.com
Mike Adelman 571-1488 jrzadelman@aol.com
Steve Hatfield 443-3294 shatfieldrla@aol.com
Pete Heinzelmann 521-8973 petemarg@cox.net
Doug James 575-6364
Deborah Coody 443-6758 dcoody@swbell.net
Duane Woltjen 521-7032 ozarktraveler@ArkansasUSA.com
Your 1-Stop Download Center
In Progress
Green Infrastructure Planning
Frank & Sara Sharp Conservation Easement
Urban Forest Conservation Assessment report
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