The Arkansas Heritage Program biodiversity database maintains information on the location and status of species of conservation concern in Arkansas. This includes species listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The information is made available to outside users through the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission's Environmental Review/Information Sharing Program. Site-specific location information is only available through the Environmental Review/Information Sharing Program.

Two options for project review are offered:

1. A project may be handled as an “information request.” If handled under this option, a two week review period will be assigned to the project. A detailed database search will be conducted and a response prepared. The response will include the results of the data search, as well as a county element list that has been annotated to indicate those sensitive species known to occur within a one and five mile radius of the project site. The requestor will receive a response from the agency whether the agency has particular concerns or not. There is a charge for this service (see fee schedule below). Users will receive an invoice with the project response. This option provides a detailed project review, a two-week “turn-around” time (very large projects may take longer), and a definitive response.

2. A project may be submitted to the agency as an “opportunity for review.” If handled under this option, a 3-4 week review period will be assigned to the project. If the agency has no concerns about the proposal, project papers will be filed without comments. The agency will make no response to the requestor unless it has specific concerns. If desired, the requestor may contact the agency to find out the disposition of the project. As evidence that the review has been conducted, the requestor will be given the “ANHC Number” for the project. This is a unique identifying number assigned by the agency to each project it handles. A project handled as an “opportunity to review” is typically given a lower priority than an information request, time frames are likely to be much longer, and the responsibility to verify that a review has been conducted falls solely upon the requestor. There is no charge for this option.