http://www.ardemgaz.com/ShowStoryTemplate.asp?Path=ArDemocrat/2006/07/21&ID=Ar01500

    Opponents of powerboat racing on Greers Ferry Lake declared victory Thursday after a state commission gave race promoters $8,000, less than a third of what was sought.

    But the director of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism said the award was lower because the state Parks, Recreation and Travel Commission had only $50,000 to split among seven applicants for promoting events and attractions statewide.

    "What it came down to is, let's give five of them $8,000 and two of them $5,000," Richard Davies, the department director, said in a telephone interview.

    The Clinton, Fairfield Bay and Greers Ferry chambers of commerce had sought $25,000 to help promote the races, which are scheduled in April 2007 for televised broadcast on the Outdoor Channel.

    The parks commission heard from racing proponents at a meeting in April but decided to wait to give other groups more time to apply for the funding, derived from the 2 percent sales tax applied to hotel stays, admission to attractions and some marina rentals. At its meeting Thursday at Lake Dardanelle State Park in Russellville, the commission didn't allow extensive comments about the races.

    Chyenne Morning Star Wright, co-chairman of the Committee for the Preservation of Greers Ferry Lake, said her group was happy that the commission "listened to the people of this area that love this area and did not give them the $25,000 that they requested."

    Racing opponents say the boats will be noisy and could harm the environment. They said they gathered 1,300 signatures, some of them through a Web site, www.spiritsign.net.

    Morning Star Wright said her group hoped to discourage businesses from donating money to help put on the event. The chambers of commerce are trying to raise $150,000.

    "I don't live in this area to listen to the deafening noise of ocean powerboats," said Morning Star Wright, who lives on the lake between Heber Springs and Fairfield Bay.

    Gene Eddleman, president of the Greers Ferry Chamber of Commerce, said supporters were confident of raising the money. "We're very positive," Eddleman said. "We've got some very strong leads for the main sponsor, and if we get it, everybody else will kind of tail in behind it."

    The races, sponsored by the Offshore Super Series Powerboat Racing Association, are expected to attract 15,000 to 20,000 spectators, Eddleman said. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wouldn't have issued a permit for the event if it posed any threat to the lake, he said, noting that the lake already has plenty of noisy boats.

    "It would be one of the greatest impacts this area would have in a great while," Eddleman said. "It's not like it would be every day or every year."

    The commission had similar thoughts, Davies said. "If this was every day, we probably wouldn't be for it," Davies said. "But for a couple days, we think it would be a good thing."

    The 14-member commission also gave awards of $8,000 for a hot-rod convention in Little Rock and to promote two of the city's attractions: the pedestrian bridge over Murray Lock and Dam and the H.U. Lee International Gate and Garden near the Statehouse Convention Center. Another $8,000 will help promote the Joe Martin Stage Race, a bicycle race in Fayetteville.

    The commission also awarded $5,000 each to a winter festival in Bentonville and to the Tri-Peaks Challenge, a bicycle race that traverses Mount Nebo, Mount Magazine and Petit Jean Mountain.

This story was published Friday, July 21, 2006

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