The Beaver Watershed Alliance (Alliance) recently hosted its annual Friendraiser celebration on September 25 at Bunch Park in Elkins, AR, along the White River. This annual celebration brings together community members, supporters, and organizations dedicated to protecting the Beaver Lake watershed. Guests gathered for an evening of live music, food, local brews, and educational opportunities highlighting the importance of water stewardship and protecting our region’s most vital resource – Beaver Lake. As part of the Friendraiser, the Alliance recognized seven outstanding individuals and groups for their contributions to watershed protection.
“The strong partnerships among community members, neighbors, and organizations make it possible for the Alliance to fulfill its mission to restore, protect, and enhance the Beaver Lake watershed,” said Becky Roark, Executive Director for the Alliance. “We are excited to recognize and honor the Watershed Champions that went above and beyond this past year.”
Watershed Champion Awards were presented in the categories of Streamside, Urban, and Agriculture, Professional Partner and Volunteering. The 2025 award recipients include:
Don House, Sabine Schmidt, Jamille Shawn
Watershed Champion – Streamside Landowners: Jamille Shawn, Don House, and Sabine Schmidt
Jamille Shawn, Don House, and Sabine Schmidt are landowners on the upper Middle Fork, Hazel Valley area. They have had multiple site visits over the years to address an eroding streambank, a low water crossing, and land management along the river segment. In 2023, work began to obtain grant funding and partners to remove a low water crossing and replace it with an improved crossing for water quality improvement and aquatic organism passage. Throughout this partnership, the landowners shared with neighbors on the work and helped others to engage with the Alliance. In 2025, Jamille helped to co-host a Middle Fork landowner meeting, with local landowners attending to address stream and water quality. These efforts combined have helped to advance the Alliance mission and further implement best management practices, while expanding partnerships. To add, the low water crossing replacement has helped the landowners to now have access to their homes during high water events, a win-win for all.
Isaac Harderson and Mayor Heath Caudle, City of West Fork
Watershed Champion – Urban Landowner: City of West Fork
The City of West Fork has been an excellent partner to the Alliance, helping to expand the mission and establish demonstration sites throughout the community. Throughout the years, the City and Master Gardeners partnered with the Alliance to install demonstration rain gardens, with educational signage, to showcase how residents can reduce stormwater and improve water quality. Projects grew over the years, including a partnership to install a large Low Impact Development (LID) project at the Public Library, hosting workshops on LID, and participating in Smart Growth programming, with City Council members participating and sharing with others their path to enabling LID in their community. The City also helped to improve water quality on the West Fork – White River when they decommissioned a failing septic line and connected to a new line, reducing inputs into the river and helping towards the overall efforts and success of a river segment being removed from the 303d impaired waterways list. In addition, West Fork has been a great partner in litter cleanups, establishing educational signage around town, and has supported the Alliance’s mission for many years.
Watershed Champion – Agriculture/Producer Landowner: Doug Myers (not pictured)
Doug Myers is a War Eagle Creek landowner, stewarding the Clifty Creek sub-watershed. He has taken many actions over the years to establish native grasses, convert a pasture to prairie, practice rotational-grazing, riparian-exclusion/spring exclusion fencing, alternative watering, and is an active participant in workshops/outreach events. Doug is a great champion in land stewardship and sets the example for others to learn practices that are not only good for water quality but also benefit farm operations.
John Chapman, Flow State, LLC
Watershed Champion – Professional Partner: Flow State, LLC – John Chapman
Flow State, LLC has been an exceptional partner to the Alliance over the years, making significant contributions to source water protection and habitat restoration. Under the leadership of John Chapman, the Flow State team has played a key role in completing a mile of stream restoration on War Eagle Creek through an America the Beautiful grant. Their expertise, dedication, and collaborative spirit have strengthened partnerships, brought innovative solutions to challenging projects, and ensured that conservation goals were met with both efficiency and care. John’s proactive approach and willingness to go above and beyond have not only benefited the War Eagle Creek project but have also set a high standard for professional collaboration in watershed protection. The Alliance is proud to recognize Flow State, LLC, and John Chapman as a Watershed Champion.
Angela Oxford
Watershed Champion – Volunteer Partner: Angela Oxford – Walmart
For more than a decade, Angela Oxford has been instrumental in connecting volunteers with boots-on-the-ground conservation stewardship. During her tenure at the University of Arkansas, she served as a cornerstone of volunteer engagement, consistently connecting student volunteers to Alliance stewardship events and introducing countless young people to the importance of protecting our waterways. In her current role with Walmart, Angela continues to champion volunteerism by fostering connections with employees and managers through the Spark Good program. Her efforts have expanded the Alliance’s reach and impact, ensuring more residents and businesses of NWA are dedicated to caring for our watersheds. Angela’s leadership and passion for volunteer engagement make her a truly deserving recipient of the Watershed Champion Volunteer Award.
The Alliance congratulates all awardees and thanks them for their partnership and dedication and hard work to restore, protect, and enhance the Beaver Lake watershed!
