front&center Ken Smith

Conservation ‘a calling’ for Audubon executive director

By Elizabeth Pannell

LITTLE ROCK — Ken Smith took his love of nature and turned it

into a career when he worked alongside President Bill

Clinton. He has took his passion for conservation and

helped the city of Bryant save a wooded haven.

Smith’s passion for biology and conservation be

gan as a child when he waded and fished in small

streams in the Ouachita Mountains near Hot Springs.

But he said the first “real moment for me was as a

pre-med student in college.” “I took an environmental-issues class and was

struck by how important it is to protect our envi

ronment,” Smith said. “The moment felt like a ‘call

ing,’ and it meshed with my conviction that we were

charged by our creator to be stewards of our land,

water and wildlife.” The Bryant resident is now the executive direc

tor for Arkansas Audubon, which he said has two

goals.

“Our goals are conservation of natural resources

and education of natural resources,” Smith said. “We

also do a lot of initiatives related to restoring habitats,

streams and wetlands.” Prior to joining Audubon in 2001, Smith served as

assistant secretary for U.S. Fish Wildlife and Parks.

He also served as deputy chief of staff to President

Clinton and Secretary Bruce Babbitt in the U.S. De

partment of the Interior.

As assistant secretary he was responsible for de

veloping policy of the National Park Service and the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. At the Interior Depart

ment Smith was instrumental in establishing several

new national wildlife refuges, one of which is the

Pond Creek Bottoms National Wildlife Refuge in

southwest Arkansas.

Smith began working with Clinton when he was

governor of Arkansas and recalled his first interview

with him.

“At my first interview with him in early 1989 for the

job of his assistant for natural and cultural resources,

Betsy Wright asked me to lay out what I would rec

ommend as an environmental agenda,” Smith said.

“I must have mentioned 15 or more items, including

an additional written list of recommendations that

I had prepared.

“I talked for what seemed an eternity without him

saying a word or even raising his head in acknowledge

my presence,” Smith said. “At the end of my recital,

he did not say a word for a minute or so, then asked

if that was it. I said, ‘yes, of course,’ while sweating

profusely, at which point Bill began to respond to

each and every item in detail. It was an amazing dis

play of memory and intelligence. I was hooked at that

moment on to do the best anyone could possibly do

in that job.” In 1997 after working for four years at the De

partment of Interior with Secretary Babbitt, Smith

said he came to a point of “burn out.” Smith said

White House Director Nancy Hernreich arranged

for him to see Clinton before Smith left for home

in Arkansas.

“He asked me to consider some other positions in the administration, but I was emotionally and physically done,” Smith said. “We shook hands, and I thanked him for his support and confidence in me. He was genuinely touched, and I think I saw a tear in his eye. It was one of the hardest moments in my life to say goodbye.”

As executive director with Audubon, Smith works with his wife, Mary, who is director of education. Smith said the best part of working with his wife “is that your lives are more connected and coordinated.”

“You are able to keep up with each other and understand the stress each person is undergoing,” Smith said. “On the other hand, you have to avoid bringing your work home. Couples that work together must find time to have fun outside of work.”

Because conser vation is such a big part of his job, Smith and his wife have brought that idea to Bryant. The couple’s neighborhood is a short walk to Mill’s Park, where they can be found spending their evenings. Smith said the city has had several ideas for developing the park into everything from a golf course to a soccer field, which would in turn destroy the natural wooded area the couple love.

“We strongly feel that it’s a legacy for generations,” Smith said. “So many people use the mile-long trail, and they value the shade.”

Their lobbying efforts have paid off, and they have seennew sidewalks constructed from the residential area to the park so “visitors have a safe way to get the park.”

Smith said his future plans with Audubon include finishing the Little Rock Audubon Center in sout heast Litt le Rock.

“The center will serve the greater Little Rock area,” Smith said. “The goal is to provide at least 4,000 children from nearby schools with nature-based education by the first year of center operations.”

Smith said he wants to see more statew ide policies to make homes and businesses more energy-efficient.

“This will save us money,” Smith said. “If we don’t, we are going to be forced into building more energy plants.”

Smith said the most important thing is to reduce energy consumption through conservation. He said there are four points to make “our lives green.”

“Each home should be weat her i zed,” Smit h sa id. “Second, we need to reduce our gasoline consumption by driving more fuel- eff icient automobiles or improving the gas mileage of our current car. Third, we need to reduce or stop using yard chemicals and instead plant native plants and trees such as oaks, pines, dogwoods and wildflowers in our yards. We need to capture as much rain water on our yards through the use of rain gardens and rain barrels. And fourth, we need to purchase more of our food from local sources and support local farmers markets.” - epannell@ arkansasonline.commatter of

fact

Birth date: July 22, 1951

Birthplace: Los Angeles

Family includes: Wife, Mary; sons, Kyle and Jared;

daughters-in-law, Tina and Chandra; grandchildren,

Kyan and Kiera; and Gordon setter, Mac.

Hobbies: Reading, fly fishing, hunting, woodworking,

wildlife (bird) watching.

Most people don’t know: I collect and use old

woodworking tools, hand planes, saws and hand

braces.

Favorite bird: Osprey and owls

I can’t live without: Exercising every day, walking, yoga

or weights.

My favorite memory: I was 5 years old. My two brothers

and I were snuggled up in blankets driving to my

grandparents’ home with my parents. It was 4 a.m.,

and the Germinid Meteor Shower was under way. It

was incredible. We saw hundreds of meteors streaking

through the atmosphere.

The world would be a better place if: Parents did a

better job of taking care of their children. Too many

children are conceived and raised by people who lack

commitment or capacity to raise their children.

Favorite quote: Never doubt that a small group of

thoughtful, committed people can change the world.

Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead

My goals for the future: Professionally, it is to build the

first Audubon Nature Center in Arkansas on 425 acres

of land near the Little Rock Regional Airport. Second, I

want to stop the proposed coal-fired plant in Hempstead

County in the Little River Bottoms. The Little River

Bottoms is one of the most important ecosystems in

Arkansas. Thousands of birds nest there. On a personal

level, I want to spend more time with my sons and

grandchildren and be outdoors fishing and hiking and

seeing the world.

Tri-Lakes, Pages 128, 130 on 10/05/2008