OZARK SOCIETY INC Information

We are the Bayou Chapter of the Ozark Society, a group of outdoor enthusiasts who live in NW Louisiana. The Ozark Society Inc., was founded in 1962 by Dr. Neil Compton of Bentonville, an Ozark native, and a group of associates for the immediate purpose of saving the Buffalo River from dams proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Society founders helped get the National Park Service to survey the Buffalo River area and then began to campaign for the creation of the "Buffalo National River" as an alternative to the dams. It took 10 years, but Congress passed legislation to create our nation's first "national river" in 1972. It is now one of mid-America's most outstanding river-oriented attractions. Dr. Compton was one of six charter members inducted into the Arkansas Outdoor Sportsmen's Hall of Fame in September 1992. Since then, seven other Ozark Society members have been inducted into the Hall: Harold Alexander of Conway; Dr. Rex Hancock of Stuttgart; Jane Stern of Pine Bluff; Bill Apple of Little Rock; George Fisher of Little Rock; Dr. Joe Nix of Arkadelphia; and Kay Kelley Arnold of Little Rock.