Opinion

You have no idea how it hurts an old-time outdoorsman like me to roam the Ozarks and witness what is happening to the wild turkey. What hurts most is to know it is likely to be this way for years and years, maybe for good, like what happened to the bobwhite quail. The reasons for the decline of the wild turkey are many, but the situation we create with too much hunting is a big part of it. They have begun, over the decades to breed later and later in the spring, and the harvest of gobblers before they ever mate, is significant. Many southern states have begun to recognize that problem… too many toms being killed too early in the spring, by a great increase in hunters. And those states, at least eight of them, are trying to ease the hunting pressure and the harvest of spring gobblers.

Want to know what Bull Shoals Library offers without leaving home? BSL collections are now accessible on-line in a searchable data base. The web site is: https://www.libib.com/u/bullshoalslibrary The searchable site shows BSL has over 8,800 books and 1,224 movies.

Petit Jean State Park is an Arkansas classic, a natural and historic treasure that has welcomed travelers for decades. The natural beauty and ancient geology of the legendary Petit Jean Mountain inspired the creation of Arkansas’s first state park and with it our state park system. The park mirrors the mountain’s rugged beauty with its rustic-style, native log and stone facilities constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) beginning in 1933. The CCC built trails, roads, bridges, cabins, and the focal point of the park, historic Mather Lodge, a 24-room lodge overlooking Cedar Creek Canyon with a restaurant, meeting rooms, and gift shop.