Arkansasonline
OPINION | REX NELSON: A golden anniversary
by Rex Nelson | Today at 1:45 a.m.
We gathered that Wednesday morning in a fifth-floor conference room of the Executive Building near the state Capitol. I was there at the invitation of Bill Stovall, a former speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives, a current lobbyist, and a man I consider a friend. If Stovall tells me I need to be somewhere, I figure it's important.
He wanted me to meet with representatives of the Buffalo River Coalition, consisting of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, the Ozark Society, the Arkansas Canoe Club and the National Parks Conservation Association.
The Buffalo River Watershed Alliance was created in early 2013 after it was learned that the state had approved the C&H hog farm on Big Creek, a tributary of the Buffalo.
What I didn't tell Stovall in advance of the meeting is that I consider all of these folks Arkansas heroes for their efforts to protect the watershed.
According to the alliance's website: "Buffalo River Watershed Alliance was organized by stakeholders living in the river's watershed, but its supporters span the state and region. The alliance was created to help preserve and protect the scenic beauty and pristine water quality of Buffalo National River by opposing and preventing construction and operation of industrial confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) within the watershed.
"Its goals are to educate and advocate for protection of the Buffalo River and its associated watershed by monitoring and addressing adverse environmental impacts and supporting a moratorium on future hog CAFOs within the watershed."
By the time these environmentalists found out about it, the hog farm already had been built in Newton County.
"We held a meeting at the old Buffalo Theater in Jasper and coalesced around this issue," said Gordon Watkins, the alliance president. "We partnered with an organization known as Earthjustice and filed a legal challenge."
In 2017, the advocacy group American Rivers ranked the Buffalo as one of America's 10 most endangered rivers due to the threat of hog farm pollution. There had been several major algal blooms in the watershed by that time. Significant growth in the summer of 2018 included toxic blue-green algae.
In July 2018, a 14.3-mile segment of the Buffalo River and Big Creek was listed as impaired, meaning that pathogen levels exceeded state water quality standards. The Buffalo was again listed on the most endangered rivers list in 2019. Later that year, C&H took a $6.2 million buyout from the state. The land went to the state as a conservation easement.
The battle had gone on for six years. One of those at the Little Rock meeting told me, "It was highly political to the end. It was really nasty business."
Watkins pointed out that 89 percent of the river's watershed is outside the boundaries of land overseen by the National Park Service. The conservation groups are also keeping an eye on Ozark streams such as the Kings River, upper White River and War Eagle Creek.
In 2016, Gov. Asa Hutchinson unveiled his Beautiful Buffalo River Initiative and announced the creation of a committee comprised of the heads of five state agencies. The governor said at the time that he had received more letters, emails and telephone calls about the hog farm than any other issue since taking office in January 2015.
The Buffalo River Conservation Committee, which was established by Hutchinson and now falls under the state Department of Agriculture, meets quarterly to address the impact to the watershed from unpaved roads, leaky septic systems, outdated municipal wastewater treatment plants and other factors. The committee provides grants for roads, water and wastewater infrastructure, algae studies, the planting of trees and other water-quality measures.
March 1 will mark 50 years since President Richard Nixon signed the bill creating Buffalo National River. The legislation put the Park Service in charge of almost 135 miles of the 150-mile-long river that runs through Newton, Searcy, Marion and Baxter counties. The Park Service released a report last year showing that 1.5 million visitors to Buffalo National River in 2020 spent $66.3 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 960 jobs and had a cumulative benefit of $76.1 million.
"Buffalo National River is a one-of-a-kind Arkansas jewel that attracts visitors from all over the country," park superintendent Mark Foust said. "During the pandemic, even more folks came out to enjoy the river and the outdoors. It's great to see our local communities benefit.
"We're working hard with Buffalo River watershed partners to conserve the national river and provide for its enjoyment for future generations of visitors, especially at a time when park visitation is increasing."
The spending analysis was conducted by Park Service and U.S. Geological Survey economists. The economic benefit of the river is clear. But the six-year battle over the hog farm was proof that there must be eternal vigilance on the part of groups that make up the Buffalo River Coalition.
Government can make big mistakes, which was evident when the state granted the hog farm a permit in the first place. I've heard former Gov. Mike Beebe say it was the biggest regret of his eight years in office.
In addition to economic benefits, there are other reasons why March 1, 1972, should go down as one of the key dates in Arkansas history. As I pointed out in last Sunday's column, Americans' impressions of Arkansas the previous 15 years were based on events in the fall of 1957 when the Little Rock Central High School desegregation crisis was the world's top news story.
Over time, the Buffalo helped Arkansas become viewed as a beautiful state in which to enjoy outdoor recreational pursuits rather than being seen as a violent, backward place. In addition to changing the way people thought about Arkansas, it changed the way we thought of ourselves.
Arkansas became the Natural State, and Arkansans became aware of the need for conservation efforts. In 1996, voters even amended the state Constitution to add a permanent one-eighth cent sales tax for conservation purposes.
The Park Service is planning a series of what it calls "event weekends" to celebrate the 50th anniversary. History Weekend will begin Feb. 26 with activities at Buffalo Point, St. Joe High School and other locations. A ceremony on the actual anniversary date--Tuesday, March 1--will take place on the campus of North Arkansas College at Harrison.
Arts in the Park Weekend will begin Thursday, June 9, with a student film festival at the Kenda drive-in movie theater in Marshall. Two days later, there will be a music festival at Tyler Bend that will feature traditional Ozark music. On Oct. 8-9, the Park Service will celebrate the natural resources in the region.
Meanwhile, the Ozark Society plans to conduct numerous hikes this winter. A one-day float from Tyler Bend to Gilbert is set for April 5. The society also will lead a river trip from Grinder's Ferry to the mouth of the river from June 13-18.
The Ozark Society is older than the national river designation, dating back to an organizational meeting on May 24, 1962, on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
"The society was initially founded to give organized resistance to the proposed construction of dams on the Buffalo River," Ellen Compton wrote in a history of the organization. "It was formed during a time of heightened interest in conservation efforts. People in northwest Arkansas and Pulaski County had investigated alliances with national groups about preventing the river from being dammed. Local activists opted to form a separate organization."
It was songwriter and native Arkansan Jimmy Driftwood who said it best when he called the Buffalo "Arkansas' gift to the nation, America's gift to the world."
Rex Nelson is a senior editor at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.