In addition to planting trees, beautification of Fort Smith could incorporate bat habitats and pollinator pathways like those seen in Austin, Texas, and Seattle.
Following the planting of a summer red maple Wednesday at Creekmore Community Center in celebration of Arbor Day, the Fort Smith Parks and Recreation Commission’s monthly meeting included a presentation on the natural and economic benefits of bats and bees.
Pete Hanham of the Fort Smith Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee offered the parks commission an idea presented to him by a citizen concerned with mosquito pesticide spraying, and the hope of providing habitat for an endangered bat population. He suggested a bat habitat be built at Carol Ann Cross Park.
“They are a ‘green’ way of controlling mosquitoes, but they don’t just target mosquitoes,” Hanham said. “They eat any bugs they can catch.”
Information provided touted the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin where more than a million Mexican free-tailed bats attract over 100,000 people annually visit to watch the nightly emergence to eat from 10,000 to 20,000 pounds of insects and agricultural pests a night.
Hanham added that although bats would help in controlling the mosquito population, he thought spraying would still be needed. The commissioners were receptive to the idea of building a bat habitat.
“It sounds like a good idea because they are endangered,” Parks Commissioner Sherry Toliver said. “I think an education campaign would be needed to make sure people understood.”
According to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the endangered bats in Arkansas include the gray bat, the Ozark big-eared bat and the Indiana bat.
Parks Director Mike Alsup said the Boys Scouts of America have built bat boxes that have been placed in trees around the city and he has not heard any complaints. He was uncertain if bats are using the bat boxes.
Pollinator pathways would include connected strips of land in the city with flowering plants to help provide food for bees. A program was created in Seattle in 2008 in response to honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder with a mile-long series of gardens along Seattle’s Columbia Street to provide connections between isolated ecosystems.
“The prolific pollinators have been stressed by pests, diseases and pollutants,” the Seattle program information states.
Parks Commission Chairwoman Lorie Robertson suggested they search the community for bee experts to partner with before a building project would start. Hanham said the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith may be a good partner.
Also Wednesday, Parks Director Mike Alsup gave the commissioners an update on the proposed cell phone tower at Carol Ann Cross Park.
Verizon Wireless has shown interest in the project, so they and AT&T will go before the Fort Smith Planning Commission in November to discuss a cooperative agreement, he said. AT&T leases space on two other Verizon towers in city. It is uncertain now who will build the tower and who will lease space from it.
“We just have to make sure the language in the agreement is to serve our citizens,” Alsup said.