Ozark Lady,
Did you get enough rain back in September to help? We just got back from an ATV riding trip to Mena and I haven't seen it that dry ever. The entire area is under a burn ban which means no campfires, no fires in the fireplaces in the homes with fireplaces. Every day we rode in the mountains, we would get back to the lodge totally covered in dust. This is the same area in Wolf Pen Gap national forest where the Little Missouri River flooded earlier this summer drowning 21 campers. A lot of bridges and low water crossings washed out and those roads are still closed. The river rose from 3' deep to 25' deep in just a few hours at night while everyone was asleep. They need some rain bad before a forest fire gets started.
Ted