With three members of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ cabinet joining her, Rep. DeAnne Vaught (R-Horatio) amended Senate Bill 290 to exclude existing moratoriums in the Buffalo National River and Lake Maumelle watersheds from the new moratorium protocols the bill seeks to implement. 

In a last-minute attempt to push through a bill that regulates and possibly lifts existing moratoriums for large concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) in Arkansas watersheds — including one on the Buffalo National River — Sen. Blake Johnson (R-Corning) amended a bill he had previously introduced and placed it again on the Senate Committee on Agriculture Forestry and Economic Development Committee’s agenda.

The Madison County Quorum Court approved a resolution expressing opposition to moratoriums in the Buffalo National River watershed at its regular meeting on Monday.

LITTLE ROCK — Sen. Blake Johnson (R-Corning) pulled a bill lifting a moratorium on large swine operations on the Buffalo National River after sensing it did not have the votes to get out of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development. 

Another bill that would lift moratoriums in the State’s watersheds, including the Buffalo National River, remains bogged down in committee after it was placed on the agenda, but its sponsor isn’t bringing it before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development.

Two National Park Service employees assigned to work along the Buffalo National River who were recently terminated during a round of government firings worry the loss of workers will have a negative impact on the river during busy season and cost the Park Service revenue. 

Lawmakers are poised to consider a bill during this legislative session filed last week that would lift moratoriums on large swine operations in the Buffalo National River watershed.

The night before the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Administrative Rules subcommittee was set to hear more testimony and vote on the possibility of making permanent a moratorium on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, known as CAFOs, in the Buffalo National River watershed and to change public notice requirement regarding those farms, the departments asking for the change pulled the subjects from the agenda.

Decisions on whether to continue a moratorium on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, known as CAFOs, in the Buffalo National River watershed and to change public notice requirements pertaining to hog farms was postponed until December after the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Administrative Rules Subcommittee refused to suspend the rules to take action at its meeting on Nov. 14. 

The Alliance for the Buffalo National River (ABNR) released results from a poll taken after a town hall meeting regarding re-designating the Buffalo National River as a national park or preserve. 

The prospect of increasing tourism at Withrow Springs State Park and in Huntsville is on the radar of the Natural State Advisory Council, a group appointed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in January 2023 and tasked with growing the state’s outdoor economy.

The Natural State Advisory Council set a bold agenda for transforming four state parks, hoping Petit Jean State Park becomes a “national climbing destination,” Delta Heritage Trail State Park becomes a “trail town” with a “significant gravel event,” Pinnacle Mountain State Park becomes a destination for a “running, hiking and biking trail along the shoreline” and Queen Wilhelmina State Park becomes a home to a gateway trail concept. 

U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., who represents the 4th Congressional District, visited Jasper on Dec. 4 to listen to constituents’ opinions regarding re-designating land around the Buffalo National River and to alleviate concerns about the effects of the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act (EXPLORE Act) on the area.  

FAYETTEVILLE, WEST VIRGINIA — After New River Gorge National River became America’s newest national park and preserve in a Covid-relief bill passed at the end of 2020, some area businesses saw an economic boom.

FAYETTEVILLE, WEST VIRGINIA — New River Gorge became the nation’s second national river in 1978, its’ designation following the country’s first national river established in 1972: Arkansas’ Buffalo National River.

Tom and Steuart Walton, grandsons of Walmart founders Helen and Sam Walton and heirs of the Walton fortune, founded the Runway Group, LLC, to invest in properties and businesses throughout Northwest Arkansas.

Newton County Quorum Court members passed a resolution at their Nov. 6 meeting opposing “the changing of the name designation or expansion of the Buffalo National River, and any further negative impact on the agricultural lands or infringement on private ownership on the Buffalo National River Watershed.”

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. 

JASPER — Nearly 1,200 people — more than double the town’s population — packed the Jasper High School Auditorium on Thursday night to voice concerns and pose questions regarding a proposal to turn the public lands around the Buffalo National River into the Buffalo River National Park Preserve.

The Runway Group of Bentonville is “retracting” the idea of turning federal land around the Buffalo National River into a national park preserve, according to State Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, who represents District 28, which includes Madison County.