Arkansas Advocate
A state panel on Tuesday rejected a proposal to create a recreation master plan for the Buffalo National River in favor of a project that aims to improve water quality through community engagement.
The Buffalo River Conservation Committee approved the disbursement of its remaining funds, $69,676, to support H2Ozarks’ proposal to hold landowner workshops and implement water quality monitoring in the Mill Creek sub-watershed.
H2Ozarks’ proposal was one of two water quality projects the panel asked submitters to refine after its September meeting. The second project came from the United States Geological Survey, which proposed a one-year seepage study of a Buffalo River tributary.
The committee also considered a new proposal Tuesday from the Office of Outdoor Recreation, a division of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism. Office of Outdoor Recreation Director Katherine Andrews proposed granting the funds to communities surrounding the Buffalo National River corridor to hire a third-party firm to develop a recreation master plan of existing trail connectivity.
Andrews said the project would be community-led so community members would select the firm. Her office could help facilitate discussions and implement the finalized master plan, but Andrews said any trail connections recommended through the master plan would be completed by the communities themselves. Andrews noted there are several grant programs available that could help communities to fund trail connections.
The proposal prompted a number of questions, including one about how feasible it would be for communities to connect to existing trails in the federal land of the Buffalo National River, which is surrounded by a lot of private land.
Approximately 60% of the land within the Buffalo River Watershed is privately owned, according to the committee’s 2022 annual report. Federal ownership accounts for about 37% and 3% of the watershed is owned by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
One audience member said he was concerned that “if a master plan is developed, then the state will use that master plan against us in the future.” Another man said the proposal would “not be received as well as you think it will” due to ongoing controversy around a proposal to re-designate the federal lands along the Buffalo National River as a national park preserve.
A national river designation preserves free-flowing streams, protects the waterway from industrial uses, and allows for hiking, canoeing and hunting. A national park preserve loosens those restrictions, opens the door for potential mineral extraction and allows management to be transferred to local or state control.
The history of the Buffalo River Conservation Committee dates back to 2016 when then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson created the Beautiful Buffalo River Action Committee, which developed a voluntary watershed management plan. Hutchinson replaced the group three years later by establishing the Buffalo River Conservation Committee through executive order.
Following legislative approval in 2019, $1 million from the governor’s discretionary fund was transferred to an Arkansas Department of Agriculture account to support grants and projects within the Buffalo River Watershed. Private donors pledged an additional $1 million in support of the Buffalo River Watershed Enhancement Project.
In 2021, the Arkansas General Assembly passed Act 785 to codify the Buffalo River Conservation Committee into law. The legislation retained the secretaries of the Departments of Agriculture; Health; Energy and Environment; and Parks, Heritage and Tourism as committee members, and added two new ones — the county judges from Newton and Searcy counties.
Over the years, the committee has funded a variety of projects, including a city of Jasper wastewater treatment facility improvements, a U.S. Geological Survey water survey and feral hog eradication efforts.
Tuesday’s meeting included discussions about the need for continued funding to support projects like the three proposals presented to the committee.
Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, said she plans to file an appropriations bill in next year’s fiscal session, and hopes she’ll get support.
Madison County Record
Posted Wednesday, November 1, 2023
By Ellen Kreth, For The Record
JASPER — After a town hall meeting last Thursday, proponents of turning public land around the Buffalo National River into a national park preserve said they would step back from the idea. The following day, a website touting the benefits of re-designating the land was taken down.
But opponents of the idea are not backing down and don’t trust that efforts to re-designate the land are no longer ongoing.
Misty Langdon, owner of Steel Creek Cabins, who organized the town hall meeting, said proponents have poured too much time, resources and money “into this project that seems to be linked to Bryan Sanders [Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ husband],” to just walk away.
In July 2022, the Runway Group approached U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., who represents Arkansas’ 4th Congressional District and chairs the Natural Resources Committee, with the idea of making public land around the river a national park preserve.
Grandsons of Walmart founder Sam Walton and co-founders of the Runway Group, Steuart and Tom Walton are investors in real estate, outdoor initiatives, conservation, recreation, hospitality and businesses in Northwest Arkansas.
Walton Enterprises currently owns more than 6,000 acres in Kingston in Madison County.
The Runway Group also has been linked with working with the governor’s office and the First Gentleman on the possibility of re-designating public lands.
Last Friday, Runway Group’s Vice President of Corporate and Community Affairs Krista Cupp said the group watched the town hall meeting. She reiterated they are not going forward with any proposal for re-designation. There are “no next steps,” she said.
“We wanted to explore a new idea for our home state together. However, this is not our decision to make. There is no new action being taken,” a statement issued earlier by the Runway Group said.
Cupp said when the group approached Westerman, it didn’t present a proposal to re-designate the land but simply asked if the idea was worth exploring.
Westerman, who had two staff members attend the town hall, issued a statement saying, in part, “Although it is in the purview of the House Natural Resources Committee to advance legislation to designate National Parks, I’ve made it clear I would not support any proposition that does not have grass roots support from those that live, work, and raise their families in the Buffalo River watershed.”
Westerman also said no plan to write or introduce any legislation re-designating land is underway.
“As the Representative for Arkansas’s Fourth Congressional District, my first priority is advocating on behalf of my constituents. I will continue to listen to the thoughts and concerns of Arkansans that would be impacted by any change in designation,” Westerman stated.
“The governor is strongly committed to protecting Arkansans’ property rights, hunting rights, and the Buffalo National River,” Alexa Henning, Communications Director for Gov. Sanders, said in a statement.
“She has had an informal conversation with Congressman Westerman but hasn’t seen a plan or taken a position, and doesn’t anticipate any re-designation moving forward in Congress at this time.
“The First Gentleman does not support nor has he even discussed the idea of drilling or mining in the Buffalo National River,” Henning stated.
“The purpose of the Natural State Initiative is to promote outdoor recreation and grow tourism and the outdoor economy, and the First Gentleman is deeply committed to protecting the Buffalo National River and the rights of Arkansans in one of the most beautiful areas of our state.”
In January 2023, Gov. Sanders signed an executive order establishing the Natural State Advisory Group and appointed Bryan Sanders as chairman. Tom Walton is one of the 18 members of the group. So far no meetings have been announced or open to the public, but the group has been active in exchanging e-mails regarding tourism and parks plans.
Langdon said she believes the group for re-designation will “work quietly in the background, but if they are planning to take a step back — we’re ready to take a step forward and we can tango.
“Because this re-designation nonsense has us ready to protect what we hold dear — our way of life.
“We have seen statements from Congressman Westerman that he would need to see the support of the locals in order to get on board with this re-designation and if the crowd at the town hall is any indicator —I feel the community has made its’ position clear.
“I feel like Runway, Bryan Sanders and anyone else involved should see the writing on the wall and find another swimming hole to play in,” Langdon said.
Town hall meeting
At the town hall meeting, speakers questioned what the potential land re-designation involved, lashed out at the results of a recently conducted survey about the potential change and stressed their desires to preserve their way of life.
They spoke to an overflow-capacity, standing-room only crowd of 1,200 people — more than double the town’s population — that packed the Jasper High School Auditorium. More than 500 people grabbed up Zoom invitations early in the day and 1,400 people watched a livestream by the Newton County Library.
Jasper School Superintendent Candra Brasel could not remember seeing a crowd that large in the school auditorium.
Langdon was originally planning for 75, but quickly determined the widespread interest called for a large meeting area.
“When we hear of people with outside interests who want to commercialize our land and pave over our way life, we get riled up, and rightfully so,” stated Langdon, who is the seventh generation of her mother’s family to live on the same farm and the ninth generation to live on the river.
Jasper Mayor Mike Thomas, who was acting as town-hall moderator, seemed to be the only non-committal person on the agenda. When asked where he stood on the proposal, he told The Record, “I’m smart enough to know I need more information.”
Thomas said he hoped the night would answer questions about the short- and long-term effects re-designating lands.
Langdon invited the Runway Group to speak also but last week, “Runway informed me that they would no longer participate in the meeting. This is unfortunate as with the others who were invited who chose not to appear.”
Langdon received “a call this morning from Runway wishing us well and asking me to make a comment on their behalf. However, I feel that a statement would be better coming directly from their team,” she said as the crowd cheered.
A reserved chair with names of some of those not attending, including the Runway Group, Gov. Sanders and Bryan Sanders, sat empty on the stage.
Seat at the table
After hearing about the proposed re-designation when The Record broke the story on Oct. 4, speakers stressed they felt left out of discussions.
Before the meeting began, Boone County Justice of the Peace Fred Woehl told The Record when the Buffalo River was designated as a national river, the government “took some of my land.”
In 1972, the river received the designation as the country’s first national river.
Woehl said he was “ok” with the government’s action because the river has been an asset, but he resents not having a say now.
“Ain’t nobody up here that tells Little Rock what to do,” Woehl said. “So Little Rock shouldn’t tell Newton County what to do.”
Woehl said he knew Sam Walton and his grandsons are 180 degrees different from Sam Walton.
“Sam is spinning in his grave knowing what’s going on. Sam and I were friends.”
Woehl then turned and faced the crowd and asked a Record reporter, “Do you see any people here on a bike?”.
He was referring to bike trails built by and the interest in biking by the Tom and Steuart Walton, who have invested heavily in trails in Madison County and throughout the state.
Jacque Alexander with Backcountry Horseman got the first of many interruptions for applause and cheers when she said, “All classes of citizens need to be heard, not just the people with a lot of money,” referring to the Waltons and their wealth.
The Walton family is considered the wealthiest in America, amassing a fortune of more than $245 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
Newton County has an average median income of approximately $42,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Gordon Watkins of Buffalo River Watershed Alliance said local people should have been involved in discussions from the beginning. He noticed large land purchases and thought, “Somebody is planning something.”
“If you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re on the menu,” he said.
Watkins was alarmed the Runway Group began discussions with Westerman rather than with people who live beside the river and on its tributaries.
Watkins recognizes the need to plan for future growth but wants to manage the current situation before bringing in more tourists, such as seeing trash picked up and toilets cleaned.
The Runway Group could use the re-designation as a marketing tool to increase economic development, Gordon said. Cupp said it always has been about economic development as well as community input and feedback.
Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, who represents District 28, questioned the Runway Group’s transparency. “When everyone wants to take something, they’re not going to tell you,” King said.
King told the crowd the local people should have been informed from the beginning. “I know this train had been rolling down the tracks,” he said.
Jared Phillips, a writer, farmer and historian, who teaches at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, said he is tired of seeing land values triple.
“When do we as people from the hills get to sit at the table and have a say?” he asked “This is our home and we don’t get asked about it.”
Phillips said with the developments in the area, he feels less welcome. He feels the Waltons are “telling us regular folks in the Ozarks we’re in the way of what rich folks want to do.”
He also questioned why some elected officials chose not to attend the town hall, asking where they were and what could be more important. “Junior high football is almost over,” he said.
Poll Results
In September, in an effort to gauge public opinion, the Runway Group said it hired Selzer & Co., who polled 412 voters in Baxter, Madison, Marion, Newton and Searcy counties about a change in land designation and produced a flyer with the results.
Jasper native Wendy Finn, who lives on a farm that has been in her family for 123 years, went over results from the survey, poking holes in results, stating that the survey was flawed, and asserting it was confusing and not comprehensive.
Finn’s slide presentation viewed on large screens in the auditorium started with “technical difficulties,” that she “didn’t anticipate but we’re going to make this work as we do in Newton County,” which has limited broadband accessibility.
“They drew conclusions and put them on so-called, ‘fact sheets,’” Finn said of the survey.
She said the poll was confusing because people polled were left thinking, “What’s happening,” or “My head is spinning.”
Speakers also mocked the selection of those polled. King said people in attendance were a better representation of how people feel about the proposal rather than the Runway poll and stated the people who actually live in the watershed should have been polled.
Tourism
Langdon pointed out that the survey and information from Runway showed a potential increase in tourism from 1.5 million to 2.4 million, a 60% increase, which she said, “will change our landscape.”
Re-designating land will bring in more tourists increasing taxes and adding to economic growth in the area, according to those in favor of re-designation.
“You’re looking at positive economic impact, prolonging and protecting the national park, the national river, protecting what brings people here, so hunting, fishing, floating, all that. None of that changes. And that’s why it’s a national park preserve and not just a national park,” according to Austin Albers, president and owner of Buffalo Outdoor Center.
“So they’re seeing, not necessarily more river usage, but more people coming into the area, so more lodging, more restaurants, more purchases of fuel and using the services in the area,” he said in an earlier interview with The Record.
“It’s bringing more positive infrastructure to one of our poorest areas in the state,” Albers said.
The Buffalo National River saw a 6.5% increase in tourism during the Covid-19 pandemic. “This area is no stranger to the tourism industry,” she said.
Phillips said an increase in tourism makes land more expensive by increasing taxes and, “We have to leave.”
He also said an influx of tourists makes working in the area harder.
“Think of it if you’re trying to haul a trailer and have to get through a mess of tourists,” he said. “It’s getting to where you can’t work.”
Jack Stewart of the Audubon Society told The Record, “Sometimes we tend to love our special places to death.” He said people are fearful, “We’ll be overwhelmed with tourists and it will completely change the area.”
Preserve a way of life
Newton County resident Billy Bell, who worked as a resource protection ranger on the river for 13 years and for 20 years in resource management and protection, drew a standing ovation after he spoke.
“I am not for the re-designation of the Buffalo National River,” Bell emphasized and then paused. “Give me one minute. I’m very passionate about this at the moment,” he said, becoming emotional.
Bell drew a correlation regarding the song, “Rich Men North of Richmond,” and said in the current situation the lyrics could be, “Rich Men Not From Here.”
Bell said, “Rich men not from here brought the Buffalo National River into being using the battle cry, ‘Save the Buffalo River.’
“Rich men not from here recently decided what kind of farming we should or should not be able to do on our own land, also using the battle cry, ‘Save The Buffalo.’
“And today it appears rich men not from here are pushing to change our way of life once again.”
The crowd cheered and applauded when Bell said rich men were using the battle cry of “Save the Buffalo River” to spin public opinion and exploit the river “for their own personal gain.”
President of Newton County Farm Bureau Jack Boles also drew a groundswell of applause when he said his organization “opposes any name change to the Buffalo National River or expansion or re-designation.”
Going Forward
Stewart, along with Watkins, stressed the need for a plan of the area. Watkins said he hoped the justices of peace would work together to come up with a plan for management of the area’s growth.
“Without an agreed upon vision, it will be easy for some group to divide us and conquer,” Stewart said.
Attorney Brinkley Cook-Campbell, who grew up in Mt. Judea, said, “We have a pretty wonderful status quo going on,” that isn’t broken and doesn’t need to be fixed.
He then read a letter and encouraged others to get a copy to send to their representatives, senators and other elected officials.
Some parts of the letter read, “We want to raise our grandchildren to appreciate this area. We want to teach them to bottle feed a calf on the family farm. We want to take them floating on the Buffalo. We want them to be able to hunt and fish, to hike and to rock climb, and above all, we want them to love their fellow people and respect nature.
“‘National Park’ or ‘National Park Preserve’ status would mean an end to our way of life,” the letter said.
Democrat Gazette
by Bill Bowden
The Arkansas Office of Outdoor Recreation proposed on Tuesday that about $70,000 in state grant money go to communities in the vicinity of the Buffalo National River to hire a firm to do a master plan of trail connectivity.
But the Buffalo River Conservation Committee, which is under the state Department of Agriculture, won't be providing a grant to fund the plan -- at least not this year.
Instead, the committee voted Tuesday to give the remaining $70,000 it has available for year-end grants to H2Ozarks of Kimberling City, Mo., to implement conservation practices in the sub-watershed of Mill Creek, a tributary of the Buffalo River.
Katherine Andrews, director of the Office of Outdoor Recreation, pitched the trail plan via Zoom on Tuesday to the committee, which was meeting in Marshall.
"This project proposal that was put forth by our department; we would like to propose that the BRCC grant the remaining funds to communities surrounding the Buffalo National River corridor to be used to hire a third-party firm to conduct a recreation master plan of existing trail connectivity," Andrews said.
The Office of Outdoor Recreation would assist the third-party firm, she said. The study would look at trails surrounding, but not within, the Buffalo National River boundary.
"We hope that this firm could develop an inventory of recreational assets in the area and a review of existing trails and infrastructure for a comprehensive, community-led plan for connectivity," Andrews said.
A woman at the meeting asked if the Natural State Initiative was behind the proposal, and Andrews said it was not.
She said the proposal came from within the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, of which the Office of Outdoor Recreation is a part.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee formed the Natural State Initiative through an executive order in January and appointed her husband, Bryan Sanders, to serve as chairman of the Natural State Initiative Advisory Council, which provides advice to the governor regarding the promotion of outdoor recreation and the outdoor economy in Arkansas.
Also on the Advisory Council is Tom Walton, a grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton and co-founder of Runway Group of Bentonville, which has floated the idea of having the Buffalo National River re-designated as a national park and preserve.
The re-designation idea, which in theory would bring more visitors to the area, has been opposed by many area residents who say they should have been consulted before Runway Group met with U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., about it over a year ago.
A public townhall-style meeting on the issue drew a crowd of about 1,200 in the Jasper school cafeteria on Thursday, with those who spoke being very much opposed to the national park re-designation. They were concerned about overcrowding, river access, private property rights and a change to "our way of life."
Runway Group didn't send a representative to the meeting in Jasper. Runway promotes trails and has worked to help make Bentonville a destination for mountain bikers.
After Andrews presented her proposal on Tuesday, Andy McCutcheon of St. Joe said that a couple of years ago, it might have been a good idea, but "I'm just going to go ahead and kick the elephant in the room."
"There's a certain other proposal, idea or suggestion that is going on that has a lot of people in this area very hostile right now, very alert, very on edge," he said, referring to the Buffalo National River re-designation idea.
Because of that, McCutcheon said, the proposal Andrews made Tuesday may face stiff opposition.
"I think if you go into these communities right now with the tensions the way they are, this will not be received very well," said McCutcheon. "Anything with 'tourism' attached to it right now is going to be very scrutinized."
McCutcheon said he's been on Buffalo River Conservation Committee subcommittees and he's been a vocal landowner and advocate.
The committee was formed by former Gov. Asa Hutchinson in 2019 after the state agreed to pay $6.2 million to buy out C&H Hog Farms, the subject of years-long environmental concerns on Big Creek, about 6.6 miles from where it flows into the Buffalo River.
"I think we've made good inroads," said McCutcheon. "Over the last couple of months, we've got some black eyes over something we've had nothing to do with. And I spoke out. I've tried to mitigate that and say BRCC had nothing to do with it, we didn't even know it was coming. But there's a lot of people who still harbor some feelings that we did."
The committee's water quality studies will still be well received, said McCutcheon.
Darryl Treat, executive director of the Searcy County Chamber of Commerce, said the trail plan sounded like a good idea, but he has concerns.
"We have a fabulous trail that runs from southwestern Searcy County, the Ozark Highlands Trail, all the way to Wollum on the Buffalo River, picks up the Buffalo River Trail, goes all the way down the south side of the river to Dillards Ferry," he said.
"It's all connected. ... And then, apart from that main trail, which is under the umbrella of the Ozark Highlands Trail, the other trails that we have are few and far between."
They'll cut the ribbon on a new trail on Monday, said Treat.
"But these trails, there's really not a lot of opportunity to connect with other trails because they are isolated within a lot of private land," he said. "And so I don't really know how to connect them."
Treat said Searcy County also has horseback riding trails and cycling trails, which are primarily on roads but are basically connected.
"One thing I fear is that if a master plan is developed, then the state will use that master plan against us in the future," he said.
"And that's one thing I'm just a little concerned about. I would hope that the people in each of the individual counties would continue to have the greatest oversight on how they want to see the future of tourism in their county and not be pushed in a certain direction based on a master plan."
A third proposal for the remaining grant funding was from the U.S. Geological Survey to do a "seepage study," looking primarily at the interaction of surface water and groundwater.
KUAF Radio
By Jacqueline Froelich
Listen here
A wrecked gaudy metal sign just off Highway 7 between Jasper and Harrison, Arkansas that once lured tourists into the legendary Dogpatch USA amusement park still stands. But chained entry gates bar the public from entering what's now a massive construction zone. After Bass Pro Shop founder and CEO Johnny Morris bought the vacant t 400-acre park in early 2020 for $1.2 million dollars, ground was broken on the new tourist attraction called Marble Falls Nature Park. A year later, Morris spoke briefly to a KY3-Missouri television reporter about the purchase.
“First time I was exposed to it was three or four years ago and it was pretty dilapidated, the buildings run down," Morris said. "But what is there is beautiful nature, limestone bluffs, a huge spring. We plan to build a restaurant there, and take our time to develop nature trails. They had a big trout hatchery there, so one of our first goals is to reactivate the hatchery.”
The spring-fed trout hatchery and ponds are impounded by Marble Falls, which cascades into Mill Creek, a tributary of the Buffalo National River. The trout farm was originally built in the 1930s by Newton County native Albert Raney, Sr., said grandson James Devito, retired owner of Devito's Restaurant in Eureka Springs.
“The family lore is that grandpa bought about 800 acres after the railroad had been through Newton County and timbered out most of the large trees," he said. "I heard that he paid like a couple of dollars an acre for the land that consisted of Bluff Springs and and the falls at Marble Falls.”
Devito recalled later visiting Dogpatch USA, built on his grandfather's land, which opened in 1968.
“The park consisted of everything from a train that transited around the park and there were motorized boats that you could use in the lake," he said. "There were various thrill rides like you would see at any carnival. There was also a tram that took you from a parking lot above the park down into to the park itself. And later what developed in the upper part of the park was a winter scene, with a ski slope, and a skating rink and lodge.”
Visitors to the amusement park gradually dwindled in the 1980s, drawn to other places like Silver Dollar City in Branson and the Victorian-era village of Eureka Springs in Carroll County, before closing in 1993. Devito said he recently stopped by the site, to check out construction progress on the new nature park centered on the Bluff Springs area.
“What I did see was they exposed a tunnel shaft right next to the spring that we had no idea existed," he said. "And there's some work that they've done above the springs which. And if it's like Dogwood Canyon, I have a feeling that you'll be seeing a large waterfall cascading above where the spring exits from that side of the bluff.”
Dogwood Canyon Nature Park near Lampe, Missouri, purchased by Johnny Morris in 1990 when the site was an RV hunting campground, was slowly transformed into a majestic 10,000-acre private preserve where patrons for a price can hike, cycle, horseback ride, fish, and take wildlife tours. Reserved one-day tickets cost $21 dollars for adults $15 for kids. The cost is even higher at the gate. Morris also builds high-end nature resorts, lodges and museums.
The nature preserves are a mission of the Johnny Morris Conservation Foundation,which “advances conservation by honoring the traditions of hunting and fishing.” Funding is infused into the foundation by Bass Pro Shop a privately-held sporting goods retailer with peak revenue in 2022 reportedly valued at $6.5 billion dollars.
“I struggle a little bit to even grasp the impact which we expect to be really significant," said Harrison Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Wilson Marseilles, who believes the attraction will bring much-needed revenue to the region.
"[Especially] for residents looking for jobs in conservation, tourism, and hospitality," Marseilles said. "Some of it is speculation on on what it will end up being, and the full impact but we expect it to be pretty significant with the amount of capital investment that we know is going to be there. And the amount of infrastructure that they're building out, it's an exciting time, it really is, so we're just kind of waiting for more information as it continues to come out.”
In recent years, little information about the park's development has been released to the public. No website exists. After the parcel was purchased, a Bass Pro Shop official met with members of the state's Buffalo River Conservation Committee, where he announced that the park would provide 600 construction jobs, hire 170 park employees, generate $1.4 million dollars in sales tax revenue and $324 thousand dollars in annual property taxes.
Vixen James, a third-generation Newton County native, attended that meeting. He’s a local realtor and president of the Newton County Chamber. He agrees that locals have been kept in the dark about the park’s progress.
“I believe that it’s true that you know when they do have their plans and timelines established, that they do want to engage the public or at least the stakeholders to keep them informed," he said. "And to to work with them, but they're not at that point and they're not releasing any of that.”
A query to Bass Pro Shop for this report about developments of the new preserve yielded no response. Morris owns property on either side of the highway leading into the park, and rumors are circulating that he may fund widening sections of Highway 7 to ease access into the new preserve, although a state transportation department official said no formal proposal or plans have been submitted. County resident Vixen James says road widening could be a possible course of action.
“But again they're so professional in the way they approach their projects," he said, "they're very disciplined, and until they have timed out plans, they're not speaking to it.”
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality is monitoring for any breaches of the park's stormwater construction permit. ADEQ records and photographs tracing back to 2020 show extensive earthwork, including a new gorge, berms and enlargement of a cave opening on Bluff Springs. State environmental investigators have documented multiple incidents of turbidity in ponds and streams, caused by dredging and construction sediments in violation of federal and state clean water rules, holding park facility managers to compliance. Local residents, not wanting to be identified for this report, say historically the ponds and streams on the site ran clear, but now contain lots of algae.
Anticipating that hundreds of thousands of visitors could annually patronize the new nature preserve which lies in the Buffalo National River watershed, more than $1.6 million dollars in state funding assistance to improve a nearby wastewater treatment facility serving the unincorporated community of Marble Falls was approved by the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission in late 2021.
Arkansas realtor Stuart Nance, a fourth-generation Newton County native, back in 2020, brokered the sale of Dogpatch USA to Johnny Morris, DBA, as Down by the Falls, LLC.
“My ancestors homesteaded the Pruitt area, they were the Pruitt family," he said. "And my parents to this day still live on the Pruitt homestead which is all the land south of Dogpatch to the Buffalo River, 1100 acres, which we recently sold to Johnny. So Johnny Morris now owns continuously from the Boone County line, the Dogpatch property and the Nance/Pruitt ranch.”
But if or how that additional property will be developed by Morris is not known. Nance also said his family once held the keys to the abandoned Dogpatch property back in 2011, the result of a court-ordered settlement -- three years later, selling the amusement park for $2 million dollars. That owner was forced into foreclosure, with the Nance family repossessing the parcel for a time. Unable to manage upkeep or restore the historic site, the facility was scheduled for public auction on the Newton County Courthouse steps in March 2020. But a month before the auction could take place, Johnny Morris, Nance said, stepped forward, making an offer no one could refuse.
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Published November 1, 2023
KUAF Radio - Listen here
Published October 30, 2023 at 2:20 PM CDT
LISTEN • 6:40
Matthew Moore: I’m here with Jacqueline Froelich, Ozarks at Large senior news producer, to discuss a town hall meeting held Thursday in Jasper in Newton County about a controversial effort to expand the Buffalo National River into a national park preserve. As you’ve reported, the Walton-backed Runway Group in Bentonville has been leading this effort. They’ve met with state and federal officials – but not the public. So how many turned out for the town hall meeting and what was the tone?
Jacqueline Froelich: I spoke with Wendy Finn, a co-organizer of the town hall, who along with Misty Langdon — a seventh generation Newton County farmer — have formed a group to thwart re-designating the river. Finn said 1,185 showed up for the town hall in person, with 1,900 attending virtually. The event was calm, she added, but attendees were upset and confused about how changing the park could impact their lives.
“People were angry at the idea of possibly losing land," Finn said. "I think most people oppose a designation change to the Buffalo National River.”
MM: The meeting featured a panel comprised of natives, several farmers, an attorney, a state senator, an Arkansas Farm Bureau official, an environmentalist and a scholar. All of them oppose a park preserve?
JF: Yes. The audio stream quality is not the best, but this is Newton County native Billy Bell.
“I have spent my entire life playing on or in the Buffalo National River or its tributaries," Bell said. "I am not for re-designation for the Buffalo National River.”
JF: Reciting verse, Bell told the crowd that “rich men not from here are pushing to change a way of life.” He was referring to Runway Group LLC, based in Bentonville. The well-regarded private company, operated by Walmart heirs Tom and Steuart Walton, invest in real estate, businesses, outdoor recreation, and conservation. Runway’s interest in re-designating the Buffalo River came to light in September when the Waltons commissioned a survey, later posting results online as “The Coalition for Buffalo River National Park Preserve.” The five-county survey shows a majority would support a park preserve. But I’ve been told the survey failed to include an adequate number of residents in Newton County, which lies in the heart of Buffalo River watershed.
MM: Why is Runway Group involved in this?
JF: Runway’s spokesperson, J.T. Geren in an email to Ozarks at Large wrote that changing the national river to a national park preserve will provide benefits to surrounding communities and help with needed infrastructure improvement to support an ever-growing number of tourists. Data show that last year, the Buffalo National River attracted 1.3 million visitors who spent nearly $65 million dollars on food, accommodations and outfitters.
MM: Re-designating a national river will require an act of Congress. You queried Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders about her role in this, and were told Sanders had spoken with U.S. Congressman Bruce Westerman, R-AR. The watershed is located in his district. When she took office, Sanders vowed to make Arkansas a top recreation destination, signing an executive order establishing the Natural State Advisory Council, appointing her husband Bryan Sanders as chair?
JF: Yes. But the thing is, key stakeholders including staff with the Buffalo River National Park Service and founder of the apex environmental group Buffalo River Watershed Alliance were excluded from this process. We spoke with Alliance president Gordon Watkins, after the town hall.
"I think it was unfortunate the way they chose to proceed with this project," Watkins said, "and that began at the top with Congressman Westerman's office from what we can tell back in July of 2022.”
JF: Which was startling to hear, that this has been in motion for well over a year. Watkins said that the best way to discuss major projects like this is to talk directly to the people and that means starting from the bottom, not at the top. He did say Runway Group agreed to meet with him virtually, the day before the town hall gathering. Nothing new was revealed, he said. But he was told the company is backing off leading what it's described as “an economic development project.” It’s unclear who will take over and what’s next. Congressman Westerman is reportedly planning his own town hall meeting.
MM: But to better understand the consequence of a national park preserve, you spoke with Allan Franco, a lawyer who researches rural land use regulation who's familiar with Runway's effort?
JF: Yes, Allan Franco told me it will be up to Congress to legislate what activities will be allowed on the preserve within a declared Buffalo River National Park boundary. But he also commented on the economic interests pushing for this change.
“Well we know that they're going to be interested in making a profit off the Buffalo National River," Franco said. "One way that they could do that is through tourism and vacation rentals. Right now the current legislation doesn't expressly allow for vacation rentals. Other national preserve designations in more recent years have specifically allowed for vacation rentals within the park boundary.”
JF: I was surprised to hear this as well. But it makes sense given several Arkansas lawmakers have sponsored legislation to nullify county and municipal codes to control short-term rental sprawl -- which has been shown to vastly reduce affordable residential housing. Franco also said if a national park preserve facility is approved by Congress, resulting in an expanded footprint, it's unlikely that private property — based on recent federal trends — would be taken thru eminent domain condemnation. Instead he says property would be acquired through purchase. As for what's called consumptive activities such as hunting, animal grazing, industrial agriculture, minerals and fuels extraction on a re-designated Buffalo National River Park Preserve? All of it is allowed, but again, the details will be up to Congress to decide.
MM: You also asked Runway Group if the company has donated support to the Buffalo National River Foundation to improve things like trails and facilities. What was the response?
JF: No comment. But a spokesperson did email me a link to a five-year old National Park Service study citing myriad problems within the Buffalo National River park, for example overcrowding, insufficient river access, inadequate facilities and water quality issues.
MM: The Buffalo River was declared our nations very first national river in 1972, after efforts to impound the stream for hydroelectricity were defeated. We’ll continue to follow this story.
Update: Runway Group's coalition page appears to have been removed, but the company continues to post news regarding it's efforts to re-designate the Buffalo River park.
JASPER — A sign on the way into this Newton County town states its population is 547.
On Thursday evening, more than twice that number, upwards of 1,185 people, squeezed into the cafeteria at the local high school. The original 400 chairs had been supplemented by another 273 that students toted in from every classroom on campus — even then, the crowd spread along the walls of the gym, into the vestibule and hallways, past vending machines and photos of past graduates.
Those numbers did not include the 500 people watching on the library’s Zoom livestream (their subscription caps streams at 500), or the more than 1,400 folks who tuned in via Facebook Live.
“I was expecting this to be 75 people at Carroll Electric, so you’ll have to bear with me here,” event organizer Misty Langdon said from the crowded dais shortly after 6 p.m., apologizing that they didn’t have the ability to broadcast into the rest of the school.
The only reason so many people would turn out on a Thursday night? The Buffalo River.
For more than three weeks, news stories and rumors had stirred concerns and lingering distrust among residents who live in the towns and communities along the Buffalo — that once again wealthy outsiders were trying to alter the river’s protected status as the nation’s first National River.
Thursday night, that concern and distrust came to a head as ten different speakers — including Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, and people from organizations ranging from the National Audubon Society to the local chapter of the Farm Bureau — voiced wariness and opposition to a nascent proposal to re-designate the federal lands along the Buffalo National River, just over 94,000 acres today, as a national park preserve.
The difference is a significant one: a national river designation preserves free-flowing streams, protects the waterway from industrial uses, and allows for hiking, canoeing and hunting. A national park preserve loosens those restrictions, opens the door for potential mineral extraction, and allows management to be transferred to local or state control.
“I see history repeating itself there,” Langdon said in an interview the day before the meeting, noting parallels between the 1970s and today. “These are wealthy people that do not live here and do not know the culture here. And yet they are proposing to make sweeping changes to our landscape. And I think that frightens the people that live in the community.”
Langdon — a seventh-generation resident of nearby Steel Creek whose “cultural heritage and historical preservation group” the Remnants Project organized the evening — had spent the past few days organizing the event. But the real work had started roughly two weeks before, when rumors about a phone survey were circulating in the community.
As reported by The Madison County Record on Oct. 4, Iowa-based Selzer & Company, which was later linked to Walton-run Runway Group LLC, polled 412 voters in Baxter, Madison, Marion, Newton and Searcy counties between Sept. 11-13 about their thoughts concerning the proposed re-designation.
Wendy Finn, one of the first speakers of the evening, took a close look at the survey and the fact sheets that re-designation proponents had developed from those results, flagging some problematic language and omissions.
For example, Finn said, 64 percent of those surveyed were in favor of designating the Buffalo River as a National Park and Preserve, but the surveyors didn’t define what those terms meant. Finn also noted that nearly half of the survey respondents (43%) had been from Baxter County, which contains the least amount of Buffalo River watershed of the counties surveyed (2.5%). Newton County, on the other hand, which has 46% of the Buffalo River watershed, made up only 7% percent of those surveyed, or 29 people.
After getting wind of the survey, Langdon had reached out to some local county elected officials, asking them, “Shouldn’t we have a meeting to get to the bottom of this?” Nothing had materialized. She then reached out to the Runway Group on Oct. 11 and asked if they’d be interested in participating in a town hall style meeting on Oct. 26. Absolutely, was the answer.
She’d hoped to bring them in to answer some questions about the survey — and why there had even been a survey, “because nobody had really been able to understand the ‘why’ behind it.”
Adding to the uncertainty was another piece of information first reported by The Madison County Record in its Oct. 4 story — that Walton Enterprises-owned Kings Creek LLC had purchased land near Kingston, accumulating “more than 6,000 contiguous acres, according to records from the Madison County Assessor’s Office, making it one of the largest landowners in Madison County.”
To this, Langdon said: “I’m not fearing eminent domain, I’m fearing being taxed out of my home. You know, I hear people saying, ‘how am I going to pay my taxes, I can barely pay my taxes now.’ And these are people that are older and on a fixed income.”
After opening Thursday’s meeting and explaining the reason for holding it, Langdon addressed the lack of an elephant in the room: The no-show from the Runway Group. Although Runway had originally agreed to attend, they pulled out as the winds of public opinion shifted around the meeting and the projected attendance snowballed.
Runway’s presence “would have provided an opportunity for transparency and an opportunity to meet the community that they have been researching,” Langdon told the crowd. “I did receive a call this morning from Runway wishing us well and asking me to make a comment on their behalf. However, I feel that any statement would be better coming from their team.”
On the flier that provided the event schedule, there was a list of those who had also “declined or not responded”: Johnny Morris; National (sic) State Advisory Council; Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders; 1st Gentleman Bryan Sanders; National Parks Service.
“I think that whenever we’re looking at this, we need to be transparent,” said King, the lawmaker who’s been most vocal about needing to involve the local community in decision-making. “That’s just not flat happening right now.”
Over the course of an hour and a half, 10 different speakers stood and took their place at the microphone.
Although each person approached the issue at hand through their own lens, whether that was agriculture, recreation, politics, history, preservation, and so forth, they all echoed the same sentiment that had drawn such large crowds to the room that evening — that they were not about to be left out of a conversation that would so directly affect their lives. (Gordon Watkins, who spoke on behalf of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, summed this up when he said, “Someone said that if you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re on the menu.”)
Langdon, whose family has owned Steel Creek Cabins since 2004, addressed the effects of past increased tourism, showing photographs of roads lined with cars and the river log-jammed with kayaks. This, Langdon explained, is what a 6.5% percent increase in tourism looked like — which is what the area had experienced during the COVID years — before noting that the Runway Group had projected a 60% increase.
One of the most crowd-rousing speeches of the night came from Billy Bell, whose bio simply stated, “Billy Bell is a Newton County resident.”
“The propaganda that I have seen in the watershed map tells us that these rich men are going to protect our rights to hunt and fish — but what I see is a bait and switch operation,” Bell said to whistles, claps, and a “that’s right.” “The questions I have are: One, who are they protecting us from? Two, do we actually need protection? And three, is telling us that we need protection a scare tactic?”
Bell said he’d worked 20 years in resource management and protection for the Buffalo River and U.S. Forest Service, then listed a series of protected activities on the river, including different veins of fishing and hunting — “deer, bear, elk, turkey, squirrel, squirrel with a dog, rabbit, rabbit with a dog, coon, coon with a dog — ending each series with the statement “No permit required.” At the end of his speech, Bell was given the night’s only full standing ovation.
The last speaker of the night, attorney Brinkley Cook-Campell, a native of Mount Judea, read a two-page open letter that was addressed to U.S. Reps. Bruce Westerman, Rick Crawford, Steve Womack and French Hill; U.S. Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton; Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders “and all Arkansas elected officials.”
Runway Group representatives approached Westerman about designating the federal lands surrounding the Buffalo as a park preserve in July 2022, The Madison County Record reported this week.
Cook-Campbell’s letter read in part:
“As time passes, the Buffalo River will likely succumb to what ruins all natural wonders — too many people and an expensive price tag. Let’s not hasten that result by changing the river’s designation. Our community should be left as it is, beautiful, pristine and wild. Because when it changes — when the visitor centers and hotels come, when the hay field becomes a parking lot, and the gravel bar around the bend becomes a plaza of restrooms — there will be no going back. The locals will see their way of life lost forever.”
After the meeting, Langdon said that seeing such varied and often diametrically opposed interests sharing a stage felt like being in “The Twilight Zone”: “These are the two most polarized groups in our community that have come together to say this will not benefit our community or the river in any way.”
She went on to say that she was so proud of her community, but that this was likely far from the last time that the community would need to draw together. Although the Runway Group had been reported as saying they planned to retract the plans, skepticism remained strong. One of the prevailing notions during the meeting had been the need for a unified vision — and as Langdon said the day before, they needed to have that vision heard well before legislation was crafted.
“One thing that we learned is once it starts the process of going through legislation, we have very little input in how that bill is written.”
In the meantime, however, as she looked over the 673 chairs being pulled into stacks and the diminishing clusters of conversations, she seemed pleased with the event — and said she was also looking forward to some well-deserved rest.
“We have an off-the-grid cabin,” Langdon said. “I plan on being there for about the next three days with no cell service.”
Arkansas Times
NEWS
BY
ON
October 27, 2023
Jasper, a tiny Ozarks town in Newton County, is home to only about 525 residents. But Thursday night, it hosted a town hall attended by 1,185 people.
If you think that’s a lot, there were another 500 watching the meeting on Zoom and 1,400 on Facebook live, according to the town hall’s organizer, the Remnants Project, an Ozarks-based preservation group.
The topic bringing so many people together was the future of the Buffalo National River, which a Walton-founded company, Runway Group LLC, wants to turn into a national park preserve.
That’s an idea many locals near the nation’s first national river don’t like. But they even more dislike the idea of outsiders pushing the proposal without talking with residents up front.
Reports early this week were that Runway, an investment business founded by two third-generation Walton brothers, was backing off the idea. But in a statement on its website Wednesday, Runway still seemed enamored with its idea.
“A designation change for the Buffalo National River is not our decision to make, but we believe it’s an idea worth exploring,” Runway said.
The Remnants Project invited Runway to the town hall, but Runway did not attend. Runway’s founders are Steuart Walton and Tom Walton, grandsons of Walmart founder Sam Walton.
Runway also confirmed that it approached U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman in July 2022 to discuss the possibility of redesignating the river to a national park preserve — a move that would require congressional approval.
“We wanted to get the congressman’s thoughts, first because part of the BNR is within his district, and because he holds a position on the Natural Resources Committee,” Runway said. “Congressman Westerman made it clear to us that the idea needed support from various groups, state and local officials and the local community.”
Debra Hale-Shelton
Debra Hale-Shelton is a reporter for the Arkansas Times. She has previously worked for The Associated Press and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
by Bill Bowden | October 26, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. | Updated October 27, 2023 at 7:06 a.m.
JASPER — An overflow crowd of 1,135 people packed the Jasper School District cafeteria Thursday night to hear speakers talk about the Buffalo National River.
One entity that wasn’t there was Runway Group, the Bentonville-based firm that has floated the idea of getting the Buffalo redesignated as a national park and preserve.
Their absence did not go unnoticed.
“Thank you, Runway Group, for being here — I mean, Remnants group,” said Jacque Alexander with Backcountry Horsemen. The town-hall meeting was organized by the Remnants Project, a historical and cultural heritage preservation project founded by Misty Langdon.
Langdon said Runway Group had agreed to come to the meeting, then backed out after it became apparent there would be a big crowd.
“Unfortunately, last week Runway told me they would no longer participate in the meeting,” Langdon told the crowd on Thursday night. “It would have provided an opportunity for transparency and an opportunity to meet the community that they’ve been researching. I did receive a call this morning from Runway wishing us well and asking me to make a comment on their behalf. However, I feel that any statement would be better coming from their team.”
Her comment drew applause.
Landon said that in addition to the crowd at the school, another 500 people watched the meeting via Zoom, and more than 1,400 people watched it on Facebook.
Jasper has a population of 547.
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.
“Change of this type needs to be considered by all who are affected,” said Alexander. “All classes of citizens need to be considered, not just people with a lot of money”
Billy Bell of Newton County hit a similar note, referring to the song “Rich Men North of Richmond.”
“But in this situation, the name of the song should be ‘Rich Men Not From Here,’” said Bell. “Today it appears rich men not from here are pushing to change our way of life once again. … We do not need their redesignation, and we definitely do not need them deciding how to change our Buffalo River.”
Jared Phillips, a farmer who teaches Ozarks history at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, also spoke Thursday.
“At the end of the day, what the Runway Group proposal has done here … is tell us we regular folks in the Ozarks are in the way of what rich folks who want to have a playground are trying to do,” said Phillips, who is also the author of the book “Hipbillies: Deep Revolution in the Arkansas Ozarks.”
Several speakers said Runway Group should have talked to area residents first.
“It’s great to throw out some ideas. That’s where planning starts,” said Gordon Watkins, president of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance. “But they started from the top down instead of the bottom up.”
In July 2022, Runway Group staff met with U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., about the redesignation idea.
Westerman is chair of the House Natural Resources Committee. A bill to change the designation would have to go through his 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.
Westerman said such a change would require much public input before anything is done, and it’s just in the early discussion phase right now.
Locals found out about the idea when a Runway-funded poll was conducted in September. The poll included 412 voters from Baxter, Madison, Marion, Newton, and Searcy counties.
According to the poll results, 64% of respondents said "for" when asked, "If there were a vote in Congress to designate the river as the Buffalo River National Park & Preserve, would you want your member of Congress to vote for or against it?"
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.
“When do we as people from the hills get to sit at the table and have a say in what happens to us?” Phillips asked. “This stuff is personal for us.”
“We need to be a part of these decisions so they don’t make decisions about our lives without us,” Wendy Finn of Fayetteville, who grew up in Newton County, told the crowd on Thursday night.
She went through the poll line by line and talked about two flyers distributed in the area by the Coalition for Buffalo River National Park Preserve, of which Runway Group is a member.
“The Runway Group drew conclusions and put them on something they called fact sheets,” she said, getting a laugh from the crowd.
She noted that only 7% of the survey respondents were from Newton County.
Jack Stewart, former president of the Arkansas Audubon Society, said part of the problem was that “we lack an agreed-upon vision for the future.”
“Without an agreed-upon vision, it will be easy for some group to divide us and conquer,” he said.
Brinkley Cook-Campbell, who is from Mt. Judea, said “I feel like we were the last to know.”
“We’ve got a pretty good status quo going on right now,” he said. “And if it’s not broke, don’t try to fix it.”
If the national river and preserve idea were implemented, Cook-Campbell said, the area would be overrun with tourists.
State Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, said 14% of the Buffalo River watershed is in Baxter County, but 47% of the respondents to the Runway poll were from Baxter County.
King said that only people who live in the Buffalo River watershed should have been included in the poll.
“Is this an accurate representation tonight of the poll?” he asked, referring to the crowd in the school cafeteria. “I don’t think so.”
Runway has been issuing statements about its interest in the Buffalo National River on its website at runwaynwa.com.
“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,” according to a statement that Runway posted Wednesday.
Runway researched preserve status because it’s the only national park status that can maintain hunting and other public recreation access, according to the website.
Runway said it got valuable information from the survey it conducted: “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.
It’s time for a fight: Ozarkers bite back at town hall over Buffalo River proposal
by Jared Phillips
Last night in Jasper, Ozarkers finally got to have their say, though the folks who needed to hear what was said couldn’t be bothered to come.
Nearly 1,200 angry people packed the high school cafeteria in Jasper on Thursday to protest proposed changes to the Buffalo National River and the broader region. The anger was palpable — and it should be. Once again, hill folks are being ignored in discussions about their fate. And this time they’re ready for the fight.
Locals first heard about plans to change the Buffalo’s designation from a national river to a “national park preserve” when Runway Group, a Northwest Arkansas investment company backed by third-generation Walmart heirs Tom Walton and Steuart Walton, began surveying residents in the Buffalo River area about the proposal. First Gentleman Bryan Sanders, the governor’s husband, has been involved in the hush-hush planning process, according to state legislators.
During Thursday’s meeting, the crowd listened as speakers cleared up confusion surrounding the survey and what the designation change would mean. As former Newton County resident Wendy Finn outlined just how skewed the Runway Group survey was, the room erupted in outrage and laughter. Misty Langdon, the meeting’s organizer, explained what the increase in tourism would mean for daily life in the impacted counties. The real moments of impact were when local Billy Bell and state Sen. Bryan King outlined how hard it was to get a straight answer from the Waltons and Bryan Sanders. When they and others (including myself) pointed out that nobody impacted was at the table but should be, the cafeteria erupted in angry shouts and clapping.
This anger makes sense. For the last several generations, residents haven’t had a seat at the table when big changes have come to the Ozarks. Agriculture regulations, zoning laws, redistricting, economic development, and the creation of state and national reserves and parks all occur without any meaningful input from local communities most directly impacted. The proposed redesignation of the Buffalo is more of the same. And it’s part of a broader pattern by Runway Group, the Walton family and some politicians in Little Rock to remove Ozarkers from the Ozarks.
What does that look like? Well, it starts slow. A museum was built in 2011, proclaiming the arrival of culture and arts into the region. Then came an effort to build not just a commuter bike trail, but to take over gravel roads and rocky hillsides with bikes that cost more than most people’s mortgages. From there, a rebranding effort appeared. No longer are we the Ozarks, we are “Oz,” full of exciting, crafted adventures by groups like 37 North, who are as out of place in the hills as the Walton boys are throwing hay bales. All of this has been supported by a gradual taking control of the land itself as thousands of acres throughout the region have been bought up by the Walton family and an ever-shifting landscape of LLCs and environmental nonprofits.
These kinds of activities have real consequences. As a historian, I spend a lot of time looking at the changes in North and Central Arkansas over the last 100 or so years. Of particular interest to me are the small towns and small farms that once populated our landscape. As a rule, that story is not a happy one. Farms fold and are lost. Families leave, schools close and towns shrink and fade. A vacuum is left, and where once the rhythm of Ozark life thrived, only outsiders interested in the next adventure are found.
Right now, nobody is being burned out or forced by the sheriff to leave, like when Beaver Lake or Bull Shoals Lake were built (or when the Buffalo River was nationalized). But if a family can’t afford their property taxes because absentee landowners and tourism drives property values sky high, what choice do they have? Sell to somebody and come out ahead, or watch the family farm sell on the courthouse steps.
For those who want to stay — like the folks in Jasper Thursday night —neither is a choice they want. It’s still removal, even if it pretends to offer a choice.
We’ve been overrun with progress, and it’s reweaving the very fabric of hill life. The changes of the last decade or so, though, cut deeper than the shifts of the past. Its masters assume we won’t question anything — that we’ll accept the bulldozers and the end of rural life and the loss of ourselves. Be quiet, take the money, things are good. After all, we’ve got festivals, bike trails, fancy places to eat. Culture has arrived in the hills. Don’t bite the hand, they say.
Last night it was clear, though, that this has gone far enough. People from across the Ozarks voiced their anger and support for pushing back against an idle class’s efforts to turn our homes into a playground for the rich.
Last night, the Ozarks decided to bite back.
AR Democrat Gazette
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.
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.
Print Headline: W. Virginia gorge held as example for Buffalo