Marking the 40th anniversary of the Arkansas Wilderness Act

November 3, 2024 at 8:00 a.m.

by Bob Robinson

Editor's Note: This article is the first in a series commemorating the 40th anniversary of the signing of federal legislation to create nine new federal wilderness areas in Arkansas. The series will focus on the history of the legislation, as well as highlight the natural qualities of each area.

On Oct. 19, 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed Public Law 98-508, guaranteeing the protection of 91,100 acres in Arkansas' Ozark and Ouachita National Forests. This was the largest share of wilderness land Congress had approved for any state east of the Rockies.

The purpose of the act was to designate certain national forest lands as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System to promote, perpetuate and preserve the wilderness character of the land. In addition, it would protect watersheds and wildlife habitats, preserve scenic/historic resources and promote scientific research. It also provides recreation, solitude, physical/mental challenges and inspiration for the benefit of all Americans to a greater extent than is possible in the absence of wilderness designation.

The areas included in the legislation were:

◼️ 7,568 acres of the Ouachita National Forest, titled "Black Fork Mountain Wilderness"

◼️ 6,310 acres of the Ouachita National Forest, titled "Dry Creek Wilderness"

◼️ 10,884 acres of the Ouachita National Forest, titled "Poteau Mountain Wilderness"

◼️ 10,105 acres of the Ouachita National Forest, titled "Flatside Wilderness"

◼️ 1,504 acres of the Ozark-Saint Francis National Forest, titled "Upper Buffalo Wilderness"

◼️ 15,177 acres of the Ozark-Saint Francis National Forest, titled "Hurricane Creek Wilderness"

◼️ 11,822 acres of the Ozark-Saint Francis National Forest, titled "Richland Creek Wilderness"

◼️ 10,777 acres of the Ozark-Saint Francis National Forest, titled "East Fork Wilderness"

◼️ 16,956 acres of the Ozark-Saint Francis National Forest, titled "Leatherwood Wilderness."

These nine areas joined Caney Creek Wilderness, the main section of the Upper Buffalo Wilderness and Big Lake Wilderness, which were already protected under other legislation.

Saving the stories

For the bill to reach Reagan's desk and be signed, Arkansas legislators had to deal with pressures from business interests who opposed it. U.S. Sens. Dale Bumpers and David Pryor, both D-Ark., along with U.S. Rep. Beryl Anthony, D-Ark., U.S. Rep. Ed Bethune, R-Ark., and Texas Republican Sen. John Tower, worked together in a bipartisan manner to advance the bill for the president's approval.

Stewart Noland, former president of the Ozark Society, says the unknown heroes and everyday citizens who toiled with the grunt work and grassroots effort required to garner both political and public support for the bill, also played vital roles in the legislation's passage.

In 2023, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the passing of the act, Noland was concerned that their stories had never been told. He realized that some of the players involved in the effort were no longer alive and worried that further delays could result in their chapters being lost.

He approached his longtime friend Scott Lunsford, who worked at the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History in Fayetteville, about preserving this valuable history for future posterity. The Pryor Center acknowledged the importance of this history and agreed to work on the project. It was an ideal joint venture, combining the Pryor Center's audio and office resources with the Ozark Society's historical knowledge.

Noland and Tom McClure set out to record the stories of 31 key players involved in preserving Arkansas' wilderness areas. These recordings, along with documentation contributed by many people related to the program, will be stored at the University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections and made available to the public at a later date.

A coalition is formed

The preservation of Arkansas' wilderness areas has deep roots. It can be traced to 1948 when Congress first began exploring the concept of developing a Federal wilderness system. American environmental activist Howard Zahniser began formulating the Wilderness Act in 1956. After more than 60 drafts and eight years of work, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Zahniser's final version into law on Sept. 3, 1964.

Zahniser's poetic definition of a wilderness guided him through the process, stating, "A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."

This was followed in 1967 by the U.S. Forest Service's review of areas suitable for wilderness designation titled "Roadless Area Review and Evaluation" or "RARE I." The study's recommendations were abandoned after courts ruled the agency had not sufficiently complied with the regulations of the National Environmental Policy Act. A second roadless inventory, RARE II, was initiated in 1977.

From 1977 to 1979, the Forest Service, with public comment, inventoried the nation's lands for areas possessing wilderness potential and then submitted their recommendations to Congress.

An organization called the Arkansas Conservation Coalition, which included representatives from the Sierra Club, Ozark Society, Arkansas Audubon Society, Arkansas Wildlife Federation and other environmentalists, was directly involved in surveying and categorizing Arkansas' national forests during the early stages of RARE II. ACC member Bill Coleman, manager for environmental affairs for then-Arkansas Power & Light Co. (now Entergy Arkansas Inc.), volunteered to lead groups of scientists, naturalists and other experienced environmentalists into Arkansas' forests to inventory and advocate for wilderness areas in both the Ouachita and Ozark National Forests. ACC dispatched 11 teams on foot to survey 400,000 acres in the two forests possessing "wilderness" designation potential.

The coalition submitted about 200 pages summarizing its fieldwork and recommendations to the Forest Service to be included in the RARE II study. It represented over 7,000 man-hours of work by 40 to 50 individuals.

With this enormous commitment by the ACC members, their disappointment was understandable when the Forest Service designated only four of the 25 areas that had been inventoried to be slated for "instant wilderness." These results reinforced ACC's claims that having the Forest Service conduct the RARE II study was like having a corporation audit itself.

The coalition realized early in the process that the path to preserving Arkansas' natural areas would be a rocky one.

The Path to Preservation

ACC was acutely aware of the opposition present in the private sector. Wilderness designation opponents had circulated information that rural Arkansas wilderness designation would close the land to hunting and access to cemeteries within the area. Leaflets were distributed, claiming bordering lands would be condemned and appended to the wilderness areas.

ACC knew it would require a full-court press to combat this misinformation. Their efforts included talking to politicians, writing letters, taking potential supporters on forest outings to witness the natural grandeur, developing convincing data, testifying at public hearings, writing newspaper articles and doing anything else they could to solicit sponsorship for legislation to protect wilderness areas.

ACC members Lissa Thompon and Ed White prepared an 11-minute slide program that many speakers showed at meetings across the state. It addressed issues of concern for locals and reassured them the bill would not block people from using the land and would protect it for their children and future generations. It proved very effective.

These ACC volunteers often faced heated opposition when traveling to town hall gatherings to speak on behalf of the wilderness.

In his recorded interview, Sierra Club member Tom McKinney recounted a "lively" encounter at a town hall meeting in one small community. He explained the benefits of wilderness areas and attempted to dispel what he said were falsehoods being circulated about resulting restrictions. His claims were not well received.

En route to his vehicle after the meeting, he was confronted by a guy who threatened him. McKinney punched the man and promptly proceeded to his truck. As he pulled out of the parking lot, one of the men put a bullet through his fender.

This experience was more of an exception than the rule for most gatherings. ACC member Tom McClure shared stories of community meetings where locals discovered they shared a common objective.

When McClure questioned groups about their goals for forests, many responded they wanted to preserve them so their children and future generations could enjoy the same outdoor activities they had as children. They were tired of the timber industry's clear-cut policy.

McClure explained these were also the objectives of the Wilderness Act. He added that by including an area in the bill, forest preservation would be protected by law.

The political process

While groups like the Forest Service and Arkansas Conservation Coalition may make recommendations for wilderness proposals, only Congress can officially designate wilderness areas.

Bethune was an early supporter of the Wilderness Act. He stepped forward in a big way, suggesting various avenues on how to present a plan for legislation. He contacted Bumpers, asking the state's senior senator to join him. Bumpers agreed.

By this time, the actions to promote the bill had advanced from the forests of Arkansas to the halls of Washington. As luck would have it, Coleman was transferred to the nation's capital for an internship. While there, he provided a place to stay for Arkansans traveling to Washington to testify before Congress.

Bumpers and Pryor co-sponsored the Arkansas Wilderness Bill in the Senate, while Bethune and Anthony introduced the bill in the House. As they say, the rest is history.

With the passage of the act, future generations may now echo Aldo Leopold's sentiment, "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in."