By Erin Wood
Years in the making, River To Ridge: Arkansas’s Wildlife Management Areas is a field and travel guide across the wildly varying terrain of the state’s natural areas. But thanks to the soothing photography and descriptive prose, readers don’t have to leave the comfort of their chairs to feel immersed in healing outdoor scenes.
From Bayou Meto to Sylamore, profiles of state Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) take up the bulk of the book, but the state’s nature centers and even its hatcheries get their turns in the sun, too. And while several WMAs are well-known by hunters or outdoor enthusiasts, some of the best work in this hefty opus is shown in the discovery of smaller WMAs, off the beaten path of even some of the savviest Arkansawyers.
Editor Jeff Williams shares, “We wanted to make it part adventure guide, part travel planner, with lots of background and information for hunters, anglers, paddlers, campers, birders, and anyone else who enjoys the outdoors. Besides WMAs, it includes nature centers, water trails, fish hatcheries, and many more locations owned or operated by state, federal, and nonprofit agencies.”
At nearly 500 pages and illustrated with nearly 500 photographs, From River To Ridge is an affordable ($20) and informative tome on what makes the Natural State so natural. Thanks to editors Jeff Williams and Kirsten Bartlow and the many state writers and specialists who contributed, it’s an achievement all Arkansawyers can enjoy.
To purchase a copy, visit agfc.com/rivertoridge, the Game and Fish Commission HQ in Little Rock at 2 Natural Resources Drive, or your favorite independent local bookstore.
Hot Springs native Erin Wood is a writer, editor, and publisher in Little Rock. She owns and runs etaliapress.com.
Wood is the author of “Women Make Arkansas: Conversations With 50 Creatives” (2019) and editor of and a contributor to “Scars: An Anthology” (2015).
