An area tourist destination has one of four deferred maintenance projects in Arkansas to receive funding from the USDA Forest Service Southern Region. Blanchard Springs Caverns near Mountain View is also one of 22 locations throughout the entire region to get the federal money through the Great American Outdoors Act for the fiscal year 2023.
According to the press release from the Forest Service, Blanchard Springs will get a portion of the $8.4 billion going toward the Arkansas projects. The money will be used toward the replacement of sewage line at the caverns.
Other projects in Arkansas to receive funding include renovation to the Shady Lake Recreation Site day use area west of Glenwood, rehabilitation to the Cove Lake Dam spillway south of Paris and rehabilitation to the Bear Creek Lake spillway near Marianna.
The Forest Service Southern Region’s total investment is $30.4 billion with money also going to Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. These projects support the recent announcement by the Departments of Agriculture and Interior proposing a combined $2.8 billion in funding for fiscal year 2024 to improve infrastructure, recreation facilities, public lands access and land and water conservation as the Great American Outdoors Act enters its third year out of five.
For additional information about the Forest Service implementation of the Great American Outdoors Act, visit fs.usda.gov/managing-land/gaoa.
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