Even three million years ago, life was a little slower on the Buffalo, slow enough for giant snails.

That’s one of the big draws of the Buffalo undefined its slow, don’t-get-in-a-hurry nature. The Buffalo goes at its own pace, and like following a Florida retiree driving in the left hand lane, if you’re going to float, swim or fish on the Buffalo, you’re going to slow down.

Since its creation 42 years ago as America’s first national river assured the Buffalo would retain its laid back nature, it has entertained millions who want to leave the hustle and bustle of everyday life for a few hours.

While the Buffalo may be slow, other things need to be fast. One of those things is an answer to a controversy that has been shaping up on practically the river’s banks. That is the C&H Hog Farms located just outside Mt. Judea and not too far from the Buffalo River at the Carver bridge.

The owners of the farm insist that they went through the proper channels to get a permit for the farm and that they are going above and beyond what is necessary to prevent pollution in the area. After all, they have said, they have lived on the Buffalo their entire lives and love it, too.
Opponents of the farm insist that waste from 6,500 hogs will seep into the porous karst landscape and eventually wind up in the Buffalo. Who wants to swim or canoe in a river filled with hog feces or float down the river while getting a whiff of hog manure, they ask.
We need to get a quick resolution to this question in order to save the jewel of Arkansas natural attractions.

We don’t want to someday find the fossilized remains of the Arkansas tourist industry along the Buffalo.