W.Va. Gorge sets example for Buffalo River

by Bill Bowden | Today at 6:40 a.m.

Runway Group of Bentonville has touted the success of New River Gorge National Park & Preserve in West Virginia as a model for the Buffalo National River.

Annual visitation at New River Gorge increased by 60% from 2020 to 2021, the first year after its designation changed from a national river to a national park and preserve.

But attendance at New River Gorge decreased by 5% in 2022, according to the National Park Service.

A flyer distributed by the Coalition for Buffalo River National Park Preserve didn't mention the visitation decrease at New River Gorge in 2022.

There are at least two reasons for the huge spike in visitors in 2021: It was the first year after the covid-19 pandemic began (visitation numbers decreased by 12% in 2020), and New River Gorge was in the spotlight as America's newest national park.

Still, the 2022 visitation number at New River Gorge is a 33% increase over the pre-pandemic number of visitors in 2019. (The Buffalo National River had a 1.5% decrease over the same time period.)

Roger Wilson, CEO of Adventures on the Gorge -- which has 128 cabins, 15 RV sites and 150 campsites on land bordering the West Virginia national park -- said the change has been a good one.

"I'm very happy," he said. "The little stores are seeing more business now. Little restaurants are opening. I think this is a long-term thing. It may take 15 or 20 years for the full effect of having a national park here."

New River Gorge is famous for its whitewater rafting. Canoeing is the main attraction on the slower-flowing Buffalo River.

Wilson was among a small group who got the change underway in West Virginia, first by getting the approval of U.S. senators and congressmen and the governor.

Runway Group has floated the idea of making a similar designation change for the Buffalo National River, but their strategy of approaching U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., first seems to have chafed some of the locals, who see the idea as drifting down from Washington, D.C., or over from Bentonville.

"I don't know how they went about it in West Virginia, but here in Arkansas it's going over about as well as a screen door in a submarine," said state Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, whose Senate District 28 includes 34% of the Buffalo River watershed.

"If this was so well planned, then why are so many people upset?" said King. "I think they should have started locally down there and started visiting with them about it. Why would you not?"

King will be one of the speakers at a public town-hall meeting on the re-designation idea for the Buffalo National River that's scheduled for tonight in Jasper. More information can be found on the Remnants Project's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/remnantsproject. Runway Group said it won't have a representative at the meeting.

The Buffalo National River -- which is administered by the National Park Service -- attracted 1.3 million visitors last year and contributed over $64.9 million in spending to "local gateway regions." The Buffalo National River became the first national river in the United States on March 1, 1972, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. It is one of the few remaining free-flowing rivers in the lower 48 states.

Proponents say changing the Buffalo National River's designation to a national park and preserve would bring in more visitors and more federal funding for infrastructure, while preserving hunting and fishing access. That would translate, in theory, to more money for businesses and communities in the vicinity.

Opponents are concerned about overcrowding and the possibility of additional land-use restrictions.

Runway Group is a privately held company founded by Steuart and Tom Walton that invests in part in "outdoor recreation experiences." The Walton brothers are grandsons of Sam Walton, founder of Walmart Stores Inc.

On Wednesday, a spokesman said Runway Group remains a member of the Coalition for Buffalo River National Park Preserve. He didn't respond to a text message asking who other members of the coalition are.

"For more than a decade, we have invested resources throughout the state to expand access to the outdoors," Runway Group said in a statement posted Wednesday on its website at https://runwaynwa.com/statement-on-the-future-of-the-buffalo-national-river/.

"Our team develops unique experiences that benefit quality of life and create economic opportunities for our communities to thrive," the statement continued. "We believe a change in status is one idea that would provide needed infrastructure support to a growing number of tourists; would support the preservation of the river and its current boundaries; and would create new ways to benefit the surrounding communities."

Runway approached Westerman about the idea over a year ago.

"It was with all of that in mind when we approached Congressman Westerman in July 2022 to discuss an idea about the redesignation of the BNR to National Park Preserve," according to Runway. "We studied Preserve status because it's the only park status that can maintain hunting and other public recreation access."

Runway wanted Westerman's thoughts first because part of the Buffalo National River is within his Fourth Congressional District and because of his position on the House Natural Resources Committee, according to the company's statement.

Westerman became chairman of that committee in January. A bill to make the designation change would have to go through the Natural Resources Committee before going to the full House for a vote, then to the Senate, then to the president. But no such bill has been drafted.

"We're a long ways from me even writing a bill," Westerman told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette last week.

"Congressman Westerman made it clear to us that the idea needed support from various groups, state and local officials and the local community," according to Runway.

More conversations led to Runway's funding a poll that was conducted in September, according to the statement on its website. The poll included 412 voters from Baxter, Madison, Marion, Newton, and Searcy counties.

According to the poll results, 64% of respondents would ask their congressman to vote for legislation to change the Buffalo's designation to that of a national park preserve.

An overwhelming majority of respondents said they didn't want the federal government to take any additional private land for the park and they didn't want their taxes to increase.

"Polling is something Runway has engaged in in the past to understand how people feel about certain topics before we advocate for an idea," the company said on its website. "We instructed the polling company to be transparent about who funded the study if asked."

King described it as a push poll, which is a poll in which the person asking questions attempts to influence the response.

"I don't think there's any question that it's a push poll," said King. "I think that's the result they wanted."

Runway said it got valuable information from the survey.

"We learned a lot from the survey, including where we have shared values with the community: Runway doesn't support the taking of private lands and doesn't support mining or drilling on the Buffalo River. We are in favor of maintaining public access to traditional forms of recreation, such as hunting. We were also looking at the success of West Virginia's New River Gorge, which recently celebrated $3.7B in federal funding since it was designated a National Park.

"A designation change for the Buffalo National River is not our decision to make, but we believe it's an idea worth exploring," according to Runway.

Regarding property purchased in the Madison County town of Kingston, near the Buffalo National River, Runway Group said in its online statement: "As part of a restoration effort, members of the Walton family acquired three historic buildings on the square in downtown Kingston, intending to update them and open their doors to the community. While we don't yet have a timeline for the opening, we will share more when we do."

The Madison County Record of Huntsville, which broke the story on Oct. 4 about the survey being conducted, reported that Walton family entities own thousands of acres of land near Kingston through a limited liability company.

New River Gorge National Park & Preserve consists of 7,021 acres at the heart of the gorge, spanned by the New River Gorge Bridge, and another 65,000 acres of the park that is a preserve on which hunting and fishing are permitted, according to the Encyclopedia of West Virginia.

Wilson said he couldn't put an estimate on how much his business has increased since the national park designation because of restrictions during the pandemic on things like how many people he could put on a bus to send them to the river.

Wilson said he hopes the national park status will help the town of Fayetteville, W.Va., population 2,887, by bringing in business and providing jobs for local kids.

Wilson said not much has really changed at the park, other than the influx of visitors.

"Basically, they changed the name on the sign, from a national river to a national park and preserve," he said. "That's the biggest change, other than the little bit of land that you can't hunt on."

Wilson said four or five public meetings were held before New River Gorge was designated as a national river and preserve.

"Other than the original fear of losing rights and property by really a small handful, a majorly of locals supported it and still do and see the benefit," he said.

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