Sustainability

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Woman riding on bicycle

The City of Fort Smith appreciates the importance of maintaining a healthy environment, reducing our environmental footprint, and mitigating unintended consequences that impact our climate and quality of life.

Learn more about how we practice sustainability in a variety of ways — including partnering with the private sector on many different sustainability projects. We invite everyone to engage in our efforts to help preserve and protect our environment.

Alternative Forms of Energy

Solar Energy

The city began purchasing solar energy from OG&E in September 2021. OG&E supplies the solar energy a few miles east of Fort Smith from their solar farm in Branch, AR. The solar power subscription enables the city to save approximately $47,000 a year in energy costs.

Landfill Gases

The city collects landfill gases (LFG) and then turns the biogas into a renewable fuel, compressed natural gas (CNG).

LFG is made up of roughly 50% methane and 50% carbon dioxide, but there are trace amounts of water, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen. The methane is collected and treated for pipeline injection while excess gas is flared or burned. The city’s partnership with Morrow Renewables generates approximately $1 million in annual revenue that the city uses to sustain the landfill operations, fund future expansion, and replace associated equipment.

As of early 2023, the landfill CNG fueling station provides fuel for six trucks for mobilization.

Green Plans and Priorities

Future Fort Smith (FFS) Plan

The Future Fort Smith (FFS) Plan identifies “Green Infrastructure/Environment” as one of Fort Smith’s top “Common Strength Priorities.” When developing their respective capital improvement plans and projects, all city departments consult the FFS Plan. This puts a focus on the importance of guiding development in an environmentally responsible way and encourages development with a pedestrian focus.

Review the FFS Plan

The Mobility Coordinator

To help ensure pedestrian-focused projects come to life, the city created a new staff position in 2022, the Mobility Coordinator. The Mobility Coordinator works to build awareness of alternative forms of transportation and is charged with developing the city’s first comprehensive mobility plan. This plan will focus on equitable access to outdoor recreation and supporting outdoor experiences via trails and other resources such as the Arkansas River.

Waterways in the City

One of Fort Smith’s most sensitive environmental features is the Arkansas River and its seven watershed sub-basins:

Little Massard
May Branch
Mill Creek
Sunnymede
Oak Park
Massard Creek
Spivey Creek

While the presence of waterways in the city provides enjoyment for residents and is an asset to the region, flooding and drainage issues continue to be an area of concern and focus for the City of Fort Smith.

Explore our Watershed

The Engineering Department prioritizes storm water management to help mitigate structure and street flooding. Our diligent staff reviews new development proposals to ensure compliance with state storm water regulations and green practices. Their ongoing work on capital improvement plans help reduce the negative impact from storm water events.

Visit the Engineering Department

Source Water

Source water is one of the city’s most important resources and services provided by the Water Utilities Department. The Water Utilities Department oversees the Environmental Monitoring program for water pretreatment and wastewater discharge including Fats, Oils, and Grease (FOG).

Energy and Environment Innovation Plan

The Energy and Environment Innovation (EEI) Priority Action Plan (PAP) Supplement for the City of Fort Smith was collaboratively crafted by City Administration, with instrumental support from the Western Arkansas Planning & Development District (WAPDD). Valuable input from the Fort Smith Climate Lobby and The River Valley Green Energy and Education Program (RV-GEEP) further enriched the planning process.

In September 2023, the City of Fort Smith formalized a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment, Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ), for regional Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) planning. The designated Fort Smith Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) encompasses five counties, including three in Arkansas and two in Oklahoma, with Fort Smith anchoring this vital region. Boasting a population exceeding 300,000 citizens, this area includes key cities like Van Buren, Ozark, Poteau, and Sallisaw, all strategically positioned under the umbrella of Fort Smith in the western part of Arkansas.

Review the Energy and Environment Innovation Plan

Energy Master Plan

Energy costs are an enormous expense for our nation's cities; energy is often one of the largest line items in a city’s budget. To help significantly reduce these costs and improve energy efficiency, the City of Fort Smith is participating in the OGE SAGE® Program. The no-cost program will assist in identifying energy efficiency opportunities in our portfolio of buildings, and help us to:

Improve city focus
Reduce energy expenditures
Boost the local economy (through upgrade projects)
Enhance community relations

The program provides technical and financial assistance for efficiency upgrades. Whether we retrofit an existing building or incorporate energy efficiency technologies into new construction, we will identify and implement cost-effective projects that will allow us to use energy more efficiently. In addition, the SAGE® Program will help us form a long-term strategy to address rising energy costs. As part of our participation and with assistance from the program, we have prepared this Energy Master Plan to outline where we are today and what steps we will undertake to improve the efficiency of our buildings by 10% by 2025

Review the Energy Master Plan

Department Efforts

Transportation

City Fleet, Active Transportation, and Mass Transit

By providing public transit to its citizens, the Transit Department (Fort Smith Transit) helps reduce the number of vehicles on the road. This reduces:

CO2 emissions
Energy consumption
Traffic congestion
Occupied parking spaces
Maintenance related materials (such as engine oil) from the landfill

Elective Vehicle (EV) Fast-Charging Stations

The city is working with Francis Energy to install two electric vehicle (EV) fast-charging stations in front of the Park at West End (Garrison Avenue & 2nd Street) and two at the Fort Smith Convention Center. As user demand increases, Francis Energy plans to install two additional fast-charging stations at each location, for an ultimate total of 8 stations. The new charging stations will provide a valuable service to the local and visiting EV drivers since EVs emit no direct emissions, reduce sound pollution, and improve the quality of life in urban areas. For more info, please see the November 8, 2021 board meeting.

City Vehicles

In conjunction with the City of Fort Smith bikeway plan, Fixed Route buses are equipped with bike racks on the front exterior of all buses.

Learn More About the Bikeways

Fort Smith Transit recently constructed a new fast fill compressed natural gas fueling station and ordered a fleet of six new CNG low floor buses to further protect the environment and improve its operational efficiency. The Fort Smith Transit fleet also includes:

4 hybrid cars
4 CNG pickup trucks
1 CNG SUV
6 new CNG buses
13 bi-fuel buses (CNG & unleaded)

Facilities

Parks and Recreation

Throughout the year, the city promotes several sustainable programs, projects, and public engagement events to raise environmental awareness and highlight the importance of sustainability in Fort Smith. Many of these projects are public-private partnerships with departments within Fort Smith as well as national organizations.

The City maintains its membership in the Tree City USA Community program through multiple activities and events. For example, in 2021, city employees participated in the city’s first “Mulch March.” This enabled employees from all departments and other volunteers to help the Parks and Recreation Department apply mulch to the flower beds along Garrison Avenue.

Solid Waste Services

Regular programming from the Solid Waste Services Department includes bi-weekly recycling cart collection for residents and businesses to help ensure proper disposal of items, prevent waste ending up scattered across the city, and decrease illegal dumping incidents.

The city also partners with Keep Fort Smith Beautiful on regular clean-up events. These events are sponsored by the Solid Waste Services Department. They provide large containers for residents to drop off unwanted or bulky items such as old furniture or appliances.

Yard Waste

For yard waste and organic material, the Solid Waste Services Department provides residents with free yard waste carts. After the residential yard waste is collected, the department transforms the material into compost at the city’s landfill facility, where the public can purchase mulch each spring.