Environment - Ways to Conserve Natural Resources

Environmental Programs, Seeking Ways to Conserve Natural Resources

The Rockefeller Institute’s environmental programs focus on using our grounds and facilities to provide a variety of educational programming in horticulture, landscaping and environmental education.

Our setting and proximity to several natural areas, coupled with the wealth of resources and expertise available from the University of Arkansas System, enables us to offer unique programs that promote and celebrate the natural heritage of our “Natural State.”
 
The overall goal of our environmental programs is to provide workshops and seminars that promote practices of good stewardship of the land – such as Arkansas sustainable farms – and ways to conserve natural resources. The programs are aimed at transmitting knowledge and skills to individuals, demonstrating appropriate practices, and helping develop models for the protection and conservation of Arkansas’ ecological systems.

Select an environmental program or scroll down for more information:


AmeriCorps
 
AmeriCorps is a federally funded national service program that engages Americans of all ages and backgrounds in service to address the most critical problems in our nation’s communities.

The Rockefeller Institute AmeriCorps program has an environmental focus. This allows us to combine our environmental education efforts with our outreach mission. Our members participate in local community clean-ups, landscaping projects, recycling efforts and other general environmental awareness events.


Bountiful Arkansas
SAVE THE DATE: July 16-17, 2010

Locally raised and produced food has been called “the new organic” – better tasting, better for the environment, better for local economies and better for your health. Bountiful Arkansas, a celebration of Arkansas' homegrown foods, is a hands-on event devoted to tasting and learning about locally grown produce from Arkansas. The 2009 event was a combination of a Winthrop Rockefeller Distinguished Lectures program, Culinary Arts class and an Environment/Heritage program devoted to eating food grown right here in Arkansas.
 

Environmental Workshop Series

Workshops on heritage gardening, quail and songbird habitat, beginner and intermediate nature photography, low maintenance gardening, native tree and plant identification, butterflies, and landscape construction are typical offerings in our environmental workshop series.

Upcoming workshops in our environmental workshop series include the following: 


Mountaintop Harvest: Connecting the Past with the Present
SAVE THE DATE: September 18, 2010

Visit the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute’s Heritage Farmstead and witness life on the farm as part of Mountaintop Harvest: A Day Connecting the Past with the Present. Activities include demonstrations of traditional farming practices, a lecture about the history of farming on Petit Jean Mountain, muscadine workshops, and more.


Agritourism Initiative 

Agritourism and rural economic development was one of our first efforts in using the “strategic conversation” approach to discuss how to expand economic opportunities for hard-hit farm and rural-based businesses through the development of agritourism. Representatives from more than 20 different organizations attended the meeting. 

The development of an 18-month agritourism pilot project in the Arkansas River Valley region led by the Rockefeller Institute was one immediate outcome of this strategic conversation. Funded through a USDA Rural Business Opportunity Grant, the goal of this project is to expand opportunities for farm and rural businesses in the six counties immediately surrounding the Petit Jean Mountain. 

The Arkansas Agritourism Initiative is the second result, the goal of which is to facilitate the development of the agritourism industry in Arkansas. 


The Heritage Farmstead

Given the natural and historical setting of the Rockefeller Institute, we are intertwining our environmental programming with our heritage programming by creating a demonstration farm called “The Heritage Farmstead.”

The Heritage Farmstead is being developed to preserve knowledge of the close-knit agrarian society of small, self-sufficient farms Gov. Rockefeller found when he first arrived on Petit Jean Mountain in 1953.


Small Acreage Farming & Agroforestry

A workshop series on sustainable small acreage farming and agroforestry is currently being developed at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute and will begin by late summer 2009. This new program is designed for new and transitional farmers and will teach the skills necessary for Arkansas sustainable farms that are both small and profitable. The workshops will include in-classroom and in-the-field training, farm tours, and mentoring.
 

Arkansas River Valley Audubon Chapter
 
The Rockefeller Institute helped establish a new chapter of Audubon. This has grown quickly and will bring increasing amounts of Audubon programming and activities to the five counties surrounding Petit Jean Mountain.
 
Meetings are held at 7 p.m. on the fourth Monday of each month, rotating among Lake Dardanelle State Park in Russellville, the Rockefeller Institute, University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton and Faulkner County Library in Conway.
 
 
Collaboration is important to us, as the programs at the Rockefeller Institute are designed to complement efforts by other organizations in the state. We value input from the public and partnerships with other organizations and institutions. If you have ideas for environmental education programs you would like to see offered or would like to partner with us to offer a specific environmental education program, please e-mail us.