Save the Ozarks sprang up as a public interest group in April of 2013, so we’re a young organization.  However, our small, all-volunteer staff has a cumulative history of well over a century of professional experience.

With the strong support and engagement of our regional community, a team of topnotch lawyers and paralegals, and a team of nationally renowned experts, Save the Ozarks has stayed and potentially stopped a plan that was widely regarded as absolutely unstoppable:  the plan to construct an unnecessary extra-high voltage transmission line that will, if carried out, carve an enormous, irreversible scar across the heart of the Ozarks.

This plan was conceived and defended by the Southwest Power Pool, a regional transmission organization that plans and oversees transmission lines in a nine-state area.  It is to be carried out by American Electric Power, the nation’s largest investor-owned utility, and its subsidiary, Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO).

Having stayed AEP-SWEPCO’s plan for a year now and for at least another year in the future, we will continue to do everything in our power to stop AEP-SWEPCO’s Shipe Road – Kings River Project now and forever.

Our Vision

The quality of our lives is inextricably bound to the beauty and integrity of our natural environment. Our vision is the preservation, protection and enhancement of our forested karst terrain so that what we have now will last generations.

Our Mission

Save the Ozarks’ purpose is to preserve, protect and enhance the environment of the Ozark Highlands and the quality of life of all its inhabitants.

The Ozarks Highlands is a region with rugged but vulnerable karst terrain with mountains covered by montane forests; an abundance of rivers, lakes, and creeks; numerous caves, springs, sinkholes, stony bluffs and outcroppings; rich biodiversity that includes endangered, threatened, and rare flora and fauna, some of which are unique to the Ozarks; and human habitat that includes historic structures and archeological sites. Each one of these is an essential part of the region’s scenic beauty — the natural splendor that is the foundation of its tourism-based economy and the extraordinary quality of life of its inhabitants. Protecting the economy and quality of life of the people of the Ozarks goes hand-in-hand with safeguarding their private property rights and values.

We invite you to get to know us.

Take a look at Who We Are, What We Do Now, and What We Have Done.