Archive: Ozark Plateau Focus Area
Last updated: May 21, 2001
Background
The Ozark Plateau Focus Area encompasses approximately 48,000 square miles and includes parts of northern Arkansas, southern Missouri, southeastern Kansas, and northeastern Oklahoma. It is drained by seven major rivers. The population within the area was approximately 2.3 million in 1990, an increase of 28 percent from 1970.
The extensive karst features of the Ozark Plateau create an intricate groundwater flow system. The vast network of solution channels and conduits in the mostly carbonate aquifers directly affects the fragile environment in the area. Contaminants entering recharge areas, usually sinkholes and losing streams, move quickly to discharge areas such as wells or springs.
Land use in the area is mainly forest and agriculture. Large concentrations of poultry operations are located in northeastern Oklahoma, northwestern Arkansas, and southwestern Missouri. Cropland dominates the extreme northwestern and southeastern part of the area. Forests and pastures are the major land uses in the eastern and southern part of the area. Lead/ zinc mining historically occurred in the Tri- State Area, near the borders of Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma, in the Old Lead Belt Area of southeastern Missouri, and is currently ongoing in the Viburnum Trend Area of southeastern Missouri.
Activities
- White River Basin Water Quality Forum
- Inter-Agency Lead Mining Technical Team
On-the-Ground Projects
- Water quality in White River basin
- Focus on James River
- High priority in Missouri and Arkansas
- Current federal agency activity is high
- Many opportunities for partnerships
- Strong grassroots support in the area
- James River Partnership
- Watershed Committee of the Ozarks
Partners
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Park Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Office of Surface Mining, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey, various state agencies, county governments, private industry, environmental groups, universities and concerned private citizens.
For More Information
Vincent Vogt, Focus Area Team Leader Bureau of Land Management Rolla, Missouri Phone: 573/ 364-0203