We deeply mourn the sudden and unexpected loss of Lin Wellford who left this world on April 13, 2022 in a true flash flood near her home on the Osage Creek.

 

We are stunned and heartbroken, first for losing a friend and passionate champion of clean flowing waters, but also for the loss of a mighty warrior and imaginative organizer whose integrity, passion and dedication has benefited all who love the rivers! 

 

Lin’s love of nature, animals, clean water and wild places fueled her life’s ambitions. She was a board member of The Kings River Watershed Partnership since 2010 and a founding member of the Ozark River Stewards in 2013. Impacted by a presentation of the Waterkeeper Alliance exposing threats to clean water from CAFO’s, Lin became a tireless organizer to save the Buffalo River. She held over 30 fund raising and letter

writing events to bring awareness of the 2.5 million gallons of waste generated each year by C&H CAFO on Big Creek.

She was instrumental in exposing the algae growths on the Buffalo in 2016 and was one of the Three Grandmother’s

who legally challenged a decision by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.

Along with like minded individuals the momentum she helped fuel led to the closure of

this facility which had impacted the crystalline waters of the Buffalo River and tributaries we love. 

 

In 2021 Ozark River Stewards merged with the White River Waterkeeper and Lin as a founding board member helped establish the Arkansas Ozarks Waterkeeper (AOW) https://www.arkansasozarkswaterkeeper.org/ of which she was a current and instrumental board member. She will be dearly missed!

 

Lin’s talents and passions were many, among them writing, creativity, animals and the love of music as shared by one of the young people she mentored. She was considered the “mother of rock art painting” and wrote several books on the matter. From 2005-2019 Lin was an organizer of the Books in Bloom literary festival held each year at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs and also a regular volunteer for the Doggie Thrift Store in Berryville that benefits the local animal shelter.

 

She was well loved by her family, friends and a broad community. She will be dearly missed as a treasure for us and the planet. A Heartfelt “Thank You Lin” from AOW as your work lives on and will continue to influence and positively impact the waters and wild places you so loved.