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Harold Alexander
- University of Arkansas Press
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Harold Alexander No man has played a more significant role in preserving the natural heritage of Arkansas than the late Harold Alexander of Conway. Harold was the moving force for stream preservation in the state, but he was much more than that. He was a warrior for the environment, a man who realized early on that words without action were meaningless . As an employee of the state Game and Fish Commission, Harold had to keep a low profile. But, behind the scenes he was a torrent of energy and determination. It would have been easy to underestimate his role in the preservation of Arkansas’s natural environment. But, any such thoughts were erased only a short time after his death in when Harold’s widow, Virginia Alexander,donated his papers to the archives at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. A review of his papers showed that Harold Alexander played such an important role that he has been called “the father of Arkansas conservation.” Alexander was born in Lawrence, Kansas, in . He took a zoology degree from the University of Kansas and then a master’s degree at Texas A & M University.Alexander was a talented artist.His master’s thesis, a guide to the ducks and geese of the Texas gulf coast, was illustrated with Harold’s beautiful color drawings—which still survive in the University of Central Arkansas archives. He soon found a job with the fledgling Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Drafted into the U.S. Army in , Harold spent most of his time at Wright Field in Ohio, doing scientific drawings. He later returned to his work at the Game and Fish Commission. Harold could write as well as draw, which were talents that helped him rise through the ranks at the Game and Fish Commission. He worked on a number of projects, including efforts to restore the deer and quail populations in Arkansas. Harold,who sometimes pushed the envelope as a public employee, was dogged in his determination to awaken Arkansans to the threats to the state’s natural legacy. He was one of the earlier voices in oppo- sition to the stream management practices of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Alexander had the ability to digest complicated scientific information and then translate it to the general population. In meetings and private conversations,Alexander urged public land managers and planners to “save our open spaces, wild lands and natural streams and rivers before they are all sacrificed on the altar of our technology.” Dr. Neil Compton of Bentonville, the foremost leader of the effort to save the Buffalo River, credited Harold Alexander with awakening him to the threats posed by dams and streamside development. In his book Battle for the Buffalo, Compton wrote of Harold’s role: “Harold Alexander is . . . a sort of Aldo Leopold for Arkansas.” Alexander was, Compton wrote, “a rumpled but straightforward, clear-headed fellow who laid it on the line.” Harold Alexander could be a lonely figure as he shuffled through the marble halls of the state capitol, casting about with his slightly downcast eyes, looking for a legislator who might listen to another hurried appeal on behalf of yet another environmental cause. Despite the onset of Parkinson’s disease, Harold pushed on with his environmental work till the end. He died on September , , a few weeks before being inducted into the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame. After his death, the Arkansas Wildlife Federation renamed its Conservationist of the Year Award in honor of Alexander. Perhaps Harold Alexander’s vision is best expressed on a plaque at the Tyler BendVisitor Center on the Buffalo National River: “A stream is a living thing. It moves, dances, and shimmers in the sun. It furnishes opportunities for enjoyment and its beauty moves men’s souls.” FOR MORE INFORMATION: Alexander, Harold. Papers. Torreyson Library Archives and Special Collections, University of Central Arkansas, Conway. Compton, Neil. The Battle for the Buffalo River: A Twentieth-Century Conservation Crisis in the Ozarks. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, . “Nationally-Renowned Arkansas Conservationist Alexander Dies.” Benton Courier, September , . Rogers, Suzanne. “Harold Edward Alexander (–).” The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/ entry-detail.aspx?search=&entryID=. Harold Alexander [52.90.235.91] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 07:00 GMT) ...