Natural Resources

Climate

Arkansas enjoys the four seasons in moderation, and the longer spring and fall seasons provide a mild climate for the state. The average rainfall is 44 to 54 inches per year, while the capital city of Little Rock receives less than four inches of annual frozen precipitation. Arkansas enjoys an average of 119 sunny days a year, averaging moderate temperatures of 40-45°F in January and 80°F in July.

Environmental Regulations

Our environmental regulations are in line with other states. The Department of Environmental Quality handles air, water and solid waste permits.

Water

Arkansas has more than 283,000 hectares (699,293 acres) of surface water. Over 800 billion liters of high quality ground water are contained in aquifers capable of yielding more than 2,000 liters per minute.

Arkansas has a large network of navigable rivers with ports on the Mississippi, Arkansas and Ouachita rivers.

Timber

Forests cover 18.8 million acres, or more than half of the state. Pine woods make up 42 percent, and the rest is mixed hardwoods, mostly oak. The makeup of Arkansas’s forests is 42 percent oak hickory, 24 percent loblolly-shortleaf, 18 percent oak-pine, 15 percent oak-gum-cypress, and one percent of the total forests are other types of timber.

Timber growing, harvesting, management, transporting and processing are major industries in Arkansas.

Minerals

Commercial production - Bromine (#1 in world), cement rock, clay, gypsum (#9 in the world), silica stone (only producer in nation), novaculite (only producer in nation), quartz crystals and lasca (#1 in nation), serpentine rock, shale, silica sand, syenite, tripoli (#3 in nation), dimension stone, crushed stone, sand, gravel, and slate. Arkansas ranks second nationally in the recovery of diamonds.

Present but not in production - Iron, manganese, copper, lead, zinc, silver, mercury, titanium, barite, vanadium, rare earths, phosphate rock, antimony and greensand.

Oil

Crude oil production is located in the southwest part of the state.

Total Production: 6,104 thousand barrels (2006).
Reserves: 5 million barrels (2006)

Natural Gas

Total Production: 93,258 million cubic feet (2006)
Reserves: 2,269 billion cubic feet (2006)

Coal

Total Production: 23 thousand short tons (2006)
Number of Mines: 2 (2006)