Ozark National Scenic Riverways Planning Sequestration Reductions in Park Operations
Van Buren, MO – The public should be prepared for reduced hours and services provided by Ozark National Scenic Riverways employees due to the sequestration. “We want to inform the public of these potential impacts as they make their vacation plans,” states Superintendent Bill Black.
With [...]

Van Buren, MO – During the fall and winter of 1862, the Union Army, consisting of 8,000 men under the command of John Davidson, left their post at Patterson, Missouri, to slowly make their way toward Northern Arkansas. Their movement was part of the Federal winter campaign to discourage Confederate raiding and bushwhacking in [...]

Ozark National Scenic Riverways Issues Immediate
Ban on Open Fires in the Park
Van Buren, MO – Due to the unusually hot and dry conditions that have persisted throughout the region, Ozark National Scenic Riverways has issued an immediate ban on open fires within the park. The fire ban prohibits all campfires and other open fires, [...]

Float the summer away on the Current River
By Tom Uhlenbrock
Photos by Tom Uhlenbrock and Scott Myers -DNR-DSP
Missouri State Parks
SALEM, Mo. – Early settlers lowered an anvil on a rope into the turquoise waters of Montauk Spring in an attempt to measure its depth. The weight dropped 367 feet – longer than a football field – [...]

In late May, Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson, (8th District) was told by National Park Service director Jonathan Jarvis that a decision on a General Management Plan for Ozark National Scenic Riverways would be pushed back to 2013, if not further.
After noticing a lead story in our exchange copy of Shannon County’s Current [...]

Bill Black, Superintendent at Fort Smith National Historic Site in Arkansas, has been selected as the new Superintendent at Ozark National Scenic Riverways in Van Buren, Mo. Black served in an acting capacity in the position for 4 months earlier this year, and takes the position permanently in mid-summer.
In announcing Black’s selection, National Park [...]

It seems everyone has to comment before the National Park Service’s draft General Management Plan for Ozark National Scenic Riverways is issued, so naturally the Missouri House of Representatives has seen fit to get into the act.
This is a bit lengthy, but it is the best summary of the legislation which went into the [...]

Van Buren, MO – Ozark National Scenic Riverways recently recognized employees for their length of federal service: Michael Casteel (5 years), Josh Gibbs (10 years), Aaron Mier (15 years), Dena Matteson (20 years), and Mary Ficker (30 years).

“The park’s draft General Management Plan (GMP) continues to be reviewed by the National Park Service’s Denver Service Center and the Midwest Regional Office in Omaha, Nebraska,” said interim Supertintendent Bill Black. “The process is taking longer than we anticipated.”
This news comes via the Riverways Record, a monthly email newsletter the park is now [...]

Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson (8th District) will be holding a town hall meeting to discuss National Park Service issues this Saturday, February 25 from noon to 2 p.m. at the River Centre at The Landing in Van Buren.
By Jo Schaper
With the public release of the draft General Management Plan pending in the near future, the [...]