2003 Arkansas Envirothon Area Special Topic Scenario

Agricultural Land Conservation and Preservation

     Heather Ridge Farm has suddenly been left to the five of you by the death of Aunt Lucy. Heather Ridge Farm was named for the only daughter of your great, great, grandfather, Raymond McGregor, a decorated veteran of the Spanish-American War. Only one of you has been living and working on the farm full time, while the rest of you work and live in the local city. All of you have been working on the farm as much as possible, so you have a real interest in the future of the farm.  Aunt Lucy raised the five of you, after your parents were killed in a train wreck.

     The house on the farm was built in 1905. The barn was rebuilt in 1947 after a tornado flattened the old one. The house and barn are still in excellent shape. All of you helped in caring for Aunt Lucy as she lived in the old family home. There is an old cemetery, east of the house on the ridge, surrounded by a hand forged iron fence, where your parents and other relatives are buried.

     The 648 acre farm raises corn, milo, and soybeans on the sandy loam fields in the McGregor Creek bottom. Annual crops are sold to a local feed mill. The ridge was put into permanent grasses to reduce soil erosion. The hay is sold to local horse owners. The four broiler houses produce an abundance of fertilizer. The farm has been signed up with the Champagnolle Conservation District for fifty-six years. The local district conservationist, Sharon Beasley, has visited the farm and offered advice over the years to Aunt Lucy and the five of you. You took her advice and have implemented several BMPs. Some homeowners, in a two year old subdivision on the edge of the city, have been complaining to the city council and county government about odors and noise from the farm upsetting their pristine country life. Two of you moved to this subdivision two years ago, when it opened up, in order to be close to Aunt Lucy and for your view of the farm.

      McGregor Creek meanders across the farm in a wooded corridor, which is home to deer, raccoon, brown bats, crayfish, darters, barred owls, squirrels, and red fox. There is a good mixture of native grasses, shrubs, and hardwood trees in the wooded alley. The spring fed creek flows into a wetland on the southwest corner of the farm overlooked by the house. The wetland is used by migrating waterfowl each year but also has a permanent waterfowl population.  The creek comes onto the farm from the city of Artesian and over the last few years there has been an increase in trash floating in the creek onto the farm and eventually into the wetland area.

The city of Artesian had grown dramatically over the last decade and is interested in possibly annexing the farm into the city. The city attorney, Fredrick Wantsitall, Esq. has contacted you about the annexation and odor problems. The city council is meeting to discuss annexation and other issues. You requested and received twenty minutes on the agenda. Your job is to explain to the Council why you think the farm should not be annexed, to discuss the odors from the farm, and why the farm should remain in operation as an heirloom family farm. It is one of only fourteen remaining farms in the county, and the only one adjacent to the city limits of Artesian.