The public is invited to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the Eagle Watch Nature Trail the morning of Saturday, Sept. 14, including a program starting at 10 a.m. Eagle Watch is located on SWEPCO Lake one mile west of Gentry, Ark., on Hwy. 12.

Southwestern Electric Power Co.’s (SWEPCO) Flint Creek Power Plant in Gentry has been home to the Eagle Watch Nature Trail since 1999. The year-round warm water in the power plant’s 500-acre reservoir, SWEPCO Lake, attracts wintering American Bald Eagles. Eagle Watch is also home to a multitude of other birds, wildlife and plant species.

“This is a great opportunity to celebrate the stewardship and community partnerships that have made Eagle Watch a success over the past two decades,” said Sara Vestfals, Flint Creek plant manager.

SWEPCO employees worked with members of the community to develop the 65-acre Eagle Watch project, which today includes two wildlife-viewing pavilions and a half-mile nature trail. School kids, community groups, bird watchers, hikers and other visitors enjoy the nature trail.

Eagle Watch is free and open to the public year-round.

In August 2018, Flint Creek Power Plant was awarded the Conservation Certification by the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) in recognition of the plant’s commitment to environmental stewardship. The plant’s wildlife habitat improvement programs include tallgrass prairie restoration, nesting boxes and other bird habitat improvement, and pollinator garden landscapes.

Flint Creek has held certification under the WHC’s Corporate Lands for Learning and Wildlife at Work programs since 2004 and 2002, respectively, and since 2016 when the two programs were combined into the Conservation Certification.

Flint Creek is a 516-megawatt coal-fueled power plant serving co-owners AEP SWEPCO and Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. (AECC). SWEPCO operates the plant.

More Eagle Watch information:

Facebook.com/SWEPCOEagleWatch

SWEPCO.com/Environment/EagleWatch

About Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO)

SWEPCO, an American Electric Power (AEP: NYSE) company, serves 536,000 customers in western Arkansas, northwest and central Louisiana, northeast Texas and the Texas Panhandle. SWEPCO’s headquarters are in Shreveport, La. News releases and other information about SWEPCO can be found at SWEPCO.com. Connect with us at Facebook.com/SWEPCO, Twitter.com/SWEPCOnews, Youtube.com/SWEPCOtv and SWEPCOConnections.com.

About American Electric Power (AEP)

American Electric Power, based in Columbus, Ohio, is focused on building a smarter energy infrastructure and delivering new technologies and custom energy solutions to our customers. AEP’s more than 18,000 employees operate and maintain the nation’s largest electricity transmission system and more than 219,000 miles of distribution lines to efficiently deliver safe, reliable power to nearly 5.4 million regulated customers in 11 states. AEP also is one of the nation’s largest electricity producers with approximately 32,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity, including 5,273 megawatts of renewable energy. AEP’s family of companies includes utilities AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana, East Texas and the Texas Panhandle). AEP also owns AEP Energy, AEP Energy Partners, AEP OnSite Partners, and AEP Renewables, which provide innovative competitive energy solutions nationwide.