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Internship at Audubon 2005: David Stafford

Friday Sturgis Scholar UALR
Journal Entry

The Fourche Creek float was an experience I never thought I would have in the heart of Little Rock. The ancient trees, the shade, the winding stream channels, and the flash of birds --- Green Heron, Great Horned Owl, and Mississippi kites. I would never have known about it had I not been involved with Audubon. My experience was profound, not only because of the trees and secret stream, but also because of the changes that are happening to the stream. Urbanization is changing the Fourche Creek and killing an area that most people don’t even know that is dying. Huge dams of trash barricade our progress. Oils and chemicals float on the water where roads and tributaries bring storm water runoff bearing fresh trash and dirt.

The Fourche is an example of humans killing an ecosystem. I once heard that most of the world cannot get a clean drink of water, but soon we won’t be able to find clean water either. So now we must begin to work with the community and organizations to help tell people about all that is going on.

We must get the larger community to understand what is happening to the creek and how, we can repair the creek. We need to connect people like me, who just don’t know what it going on, with the creek. Fourche Creek needs our help.It provides wildlife habitat and water filtration. We need people who care.