In the late 1990s, Arkansas agencies urged landowners to use BMPs to keep cattle from streams. Today, 2 agencies and local owners protect these sensitive waters together

Water quality concerns in Fulton County, Arkansas, prompted the Arkansas Department of Agriculture and the Fulton County Conservation District to focus on protecting local tributaries and streams in the late 1990s.

Many of these waterways were designated as Extraordinary Resource Waters or Ecologically Sensitive Waterbodies. The Fulton County Conservation District focused on best management practices designed to prevent livestock from accessing waterways and reduce nonpoint source pollution.