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Here are some ways you can help Save the Buffalo River Forever!

Extra! Extra! New action! Please Help Before November 14, 2024:

A permanent moratorium on swine Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) requires yet another step!  

 A permanent moratorium on swine CAFOs in Regulation 5 must be approved by the Arkansas Administrative Rules subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council on November 14.

Ask your legislator to tell members of the Arkansas Administrative Rules subcommittee that you support a permanent moratorium on swine Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations in the Buffalo River watershed for BOTH Regulation 5 and 6. Tell them you also support stronger public notification guidelines the rulemaking for Regulation 5 for swine CAFO permits throughout the state.

https://senate.arkansas.gov/senators/senator-search/

https://www.arkansashouse.org/

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• Let your state Representative and Senator know you care about the Buffalo and ask that it be permanently protected against future confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
  
• Arkansas Congressional Delegation
• Sample letter to Congressman Westerman requesting funding for the BNR

Here are a few reasons why:

1.    The Buffalo National River is the crown jewel of Arkansas and is a valuable tourism destination in the state contributing $54.9 million to the area in 2018.

2.    The Buffalo National River makes up only 11% of the watershed which feeds it.  89% of the watershed lies outside of the National Park boundary and deserves robust protection by the state. A medium to large CAFO produces approximately 2.5 million gallons of untreated raw swine sewage yearly.  This liquid animal waste must be disposed of near the CAFO because transportation costs to distribute it out of the Buffalo National River watershed are cost prohibitive.  

3.    The pasture soils in the watershed are too thin to accommodate this industrial level distribution of CAFO waste that contains far more nutrients than the vegetation could possibly use resulting in soil with legacy phosphorous that can continue to leach for years producing algal blooms.

4.    The Buffalo watershed is particularly vulnerable to pollutants due to karst geology that underlies it. Dye trace studies sited by the Big Creek Research Extension Team’s report show just how far and how fast water can run underground.

5.    In 2018 Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality placed Big Creek and 14 miles of the Buffalo River on the 303(d) draft list of impaired streams, raising a red flag and demanding protection.

6.    The Buffalo National River is an economic engine for the area. Many family businesses such as outfitters, restaurants, farm to table growers, cabin rentals and more rely upon the health of the river to support and sustain their livelihoods for their families and employees.

7. The state has already invested a considerable amount of money and time trying to correct the mistake of allowing a large CAFO in the Buffalo River Watershed. We need a permanent moratorium to preserve and protect the Buffalo National River and to ensure that such a mistake never happens again.