This month's Ozark Dumb Butt Award goes to Jim and Jane Smith of Eminence, Missouri. Jim and Jane own the Cross Country Trail Rides. In their enthusiasm to see the Jacks Fork River from their new palatial house on a hill overlooking the river, the Smiths have cut almost all the trees down all the way to the river's edge. The tree butts are clearly visible in the picture in the photo gallery "Dumb Butt Award- April 2009". To compound their ignorance, they have also spread tons of horse manure on their property, ostensibly to stimulate plant growth on the hillside. This is an example of supreme ignorance of how erosion is caused and of how nutrient loading the land can end up in the water. The clearcutting along the river up to its edge has yet to show any erosion and the abundant horse manure application has yet to show any increase in bacteria in the river. Environmental groups and state and federal agencies, however, will be monitoring the impact of this one man's dreamhouse.

The Jacks Fork has been cited for the Missouri's Impaired Waters List for several years and is currently undergoing a TMDL process to identify and correct problems. A USGS study of the bacteria problems in the Jacks Fork found bacteria from horses just downstream from Cross Country Trail Rides, where thousands of horses encamp along and traverse the river each tourist season.