Beaver Lake, Arkansas

Beaver Lake is a nature lover's delight during all seasons. Towering limestone bluffs, natural caves and a wide variety of trees and flowering shrubs afford shutter bugs and nature lovers many hours of enjoyment throughout the year. In spring, visitors can enjoy a pleasant drive along hillsides quilted with beautiful redbud, serviceberry and dogwood blossoms.

 

Then between the sheer enjoyment of summer and the peaceful solitude of winter, visitors can hike along several nature trails and watch the autumn foliage ignite into fiery displays.

Beaver Lake is nestled high in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas, the birthplace of the White River. With some 487 miles of natural shoreline, Beaver Lake offers the best in recreational opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts of all ages.

 

Taking advantage of the natural and scenic beauty, the Corps of Engineers has constructed a variety of recreational facilities around the lake. Paved access roads wind through 12 developed parks. In these campgrounds, visitors can enjoy modern campsites offering electricity and fire rings with drinking water, showers, and restrooms nearby. Other facilities, such as picnic sites, swimming beaches, hiking trails, boat launching ramps, sanitary dump stations, group picnic shelters, and amphitheaters are also available in the parks. Seven Corps of Engineers parks contain year-round commercial marinas providing grocery items, fuel, boat rental and storage, fishing guides, and other supplies and services.

 

Natural Resources

 

Beaver Dam was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1944. Construction began in 1960 and was completed in 1964. The authorized purposes are: flood control, hydroelectric power, recreation, and water supply.

 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the steward of the lands and waters at USACE water resource projects. The Natural Resource Management Mission is to manage and conserve those natural resources, consistent with ecosystem management principles, while providing quality outdoor recreation experiences to serve the needs of present and future generations. In all aspects of natural and cultural resource management, the USACE promotes awareness of environmental values and adheres to sound environmental stewardship, protection; compliance and restoration practices.

 

Management of the shoreline will provide an opportunity for optimum recreational experiences for the maximum number of people, the environment, and project resources. These management practices are accomplished through the Shoreline Management Plan (SMP). The objectives are to manage and protect the shoreline; to establish and maintain acceptable fish and wildlife habitat; aesthetic quality, and natural environmental conditions; and to promote the safe and healthful use of the lake and shoreline for recreational purposes by all users.

 

Recreational Activities: Fishing

 

Northwest Arkansas abounds with a diversity of fishing opportunities. Beaver Lake has more than 28,000 surface acres of water. Just below the dam, the bone-chilling waters of the upper White River provides perfect habitat for pole-bending rainbow and record-size German brown trout. The lake itself provides year-round fishing pleasure for adventurous anglers who can try their luck at catching large and small-mouth bass, crappie, bream, white bass, stripers, and channel or spoon-bill catfish.

 

Each year, millions of fingerling game fish from the Blackburn Creek Nursery Pond are released into the clear, blue waters by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. The first on-site rearing pond in this area, the Blackburn Creek Pond, is the workplace for fishery biologists and other specialists in the field who work hard to keep Beaver Lake in the forefront of fish production.

 

Shoreline Management

 

The Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) establishes policy and furnishes guidelines for the protection and conservation of the desirable environmental characteristics of the lake while maintaining a balance between public and private shoreline uses. The SMP provides for the effective long-range management of the shoreline resources of Beaver Lake. This SMP describes the types of private uses and activities that may be permitted on public lands.

 

Management of the shoreline will provide an opportunity for optimum recreational experiences for the maximum number of people, the environment, and project resources. The objectives of the SMP are to manage and protect shoreline; to establish and maintain acceptable fish and wildlife habitat; aesthetic quality, and natural environmental conditions; and to promote the safe and healthful use of the lake and shoreline for recreational purposes by all users.

 

At the top of conservation pool elevation 1120 m.s.l., Beaver Lake has a shoreline of 449 miles. As the pool rises to the top of flood control pool elevation 1130 m.s.l., the shoreline miles increases to 483 miles. The Beaver project area contains 40,463 surface acres. Land which is owned in fee by the government consists of land that surrounds the lake. The limits of fee land are defined by the Government Fee Take Line (GFTL). The GFTL consists of a straight line from monument to monument. The boundary markers, or monuments, are topped with a brass cap, which indicates the tract of land which was purchased from the land owner. Ownership of private land does not convey any exclusive rights to the use of adjoining public lands, or the lake. The general public can use public lands. Shoreline Use Permits or Licenses may be issued within the guidelines of ER 1130-2-406, dated 27 July 1990, Shoreline Management at Civil Works Projects, SWLOM 1130-2-23, dated 15 September 1993; and the SMP for Beaver Lake, dated 28 August 1998.