Raise Your Paddle for the Buffalo: Saturday

[Tim Eubanks]

Don't know if this has been posted, but here it is FYI:

A group calling themselves the Ozark River Stewards announce plans for a protest float of the Buffalo River to take place Saturday, May 24. Any paddler with an interest in maintaining clean, safe rivers is asked to come join in a peaceful demonstration of how much they value the country's first National River.

"We encourage people to decorate their canoes, kayaks or rafts, to dress up in wild costumes, face paint, hog hats- just whatever they can think of to make a statement," explained Ginny Masullo, one of the organizers. "The important thing is to give people the chance to be part of a visible show of support for protecting the Buffalo from the very real threat it is facing."

Last summer an industrial hog farm was granted a permit to operate a confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) in the watershed of the Buffalo River, an area that had previously had a ban on such facilities. The permit allows the open waste lagoons to leak up to 5000 gallons per day into the ground. Engineers have estimated leakage at the farm to be around 3400 gallons per day. "Clearly all that sewage is going somewhere," Masullo points out. "Water flows downhill in watersheds, and so it is inevitable that we will be seeing signs of degradation in the river."

Participants are asked to gather at either the Grinder's Ferry access by the Hwy. 65 bridge just north of the entrance to Tyler Bend, or at Ozark Campground north of Jasper. Extra signs will be available at either point. A bonfire rally is planned for that evening at the upriver end of the Gilbert gravel bar. Paddlers are asked to bring something to grill and something to share. For more information, email LinWellford@gmail.com