Byway Organization Leverages Tax and Grant
for Byway Project

When a 1/8 of one cent state sales tax was passed to benefit the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and the Department of Arkansas Heritage, a portion was dedicated to build nature centers in four regions of Arkansas. The Arkansas Delta Byways organization participated in a grassroots campaign to have the center designated for Northeast Arkansas on the Crowley’s Ridge National Scenic Byway.

Five million dollars went into the development of each nature center. The byways organization assisted in leveraging that value with an additional $900,000 grant from the National Scenic Byway Program to develop interactive displays and a film featuring seats that rumble and other special effects to show how earthquakes and other forces of nature helped form Crowley’s Ridge as part of the visitor experience at the new nature center.