Council holds on governor’s money appeal

Hutchinson sought transfer of $1 million for watershed

A committee of lawmakers on Tuesday skipped a recommendation to the Legislative Council on a request by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to transfer $1 million to the Department of Agriculture for grants and projects in the Buffalo National River watershed.

At the behest of Sen. Terry Rice, R-Waldron, the council’s Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Committee forwarded the governor’s request without suggesting the council approve or reject the transfer of so-called “rainy-day” money.

This way, there will be more lawmakers on hand for further discussion during Friday’s meeting, Rice said before the committee approved his motion.

In an Oct. 1 letter to the council’s co-chairmen, Hutchinson said the rainyday money “will be used to support grants and projects within the Buffalo River Watershed, including but not limited to the following — voluntary best management practices for farmers and land owners, improvements to wastewater and septic systems for cities and counties within the watershed, and reduction of sediment runoff from unpaved roads within the watershed.”

The newly formed Buffalo River Conservation Committee and its subcommittees will identify projects and distribute money with the aim of improving water quality and promoting conservation practices, the governor wrote to co-chairmen, Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, R-Rogers, and Rep. Jeff Wardlaw, R-Hermitage.

The Nature Conservancy

and the Buffalo River Foundation have collectively pledged $1 million toward the Buffalo River Conservation Committee.

Hutchinson’s creation of the committee last month is the latest endeavor from his office regarding the Buffalo River, which has been the subject of heated debate in recent years on how best to protect it.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Rice referred to the governor’s letter, and said, “We have got a lot of young ag people that are concerned about their future that they may become litigants in their livelihood simply doing what they know as the best practices because of the C&H Hog [Farms] case, which this Legislature agreed to and I supported, a buyout of a private business that had no violations that technically had not done anything wrong, but raised concerns with a lot of people,” he said.

Rice asked state Budget Administrator Jake Bleed to elaborate on the funding request.

“This is an opportunity, we hope, for folks in the watershed to take advantage of the funding, which has been requested today to get ahead of some potential issues that might cause a water quality problem later on down the road,” Bleed said.

The intent of this program “is not to create litigation obviously,” he said. “It is not to create regulations. It is not to impose anything on anybody.”

But Rice told Bleed, “You understand the reason for concerns throughout this process. It’s not just one thing. It’s the culmination of many things. I don’t blame

people being concerned about their future.”

On June 21, the council granted conditional authority to Bledsoe and Wardlaw to approve Hutchinson’s request to use up to $6.2 million in rainy-day money to obtain a conservation easement to close the hog farm, which is in the watershed.

But the council asked the co-chairmen to first be satisfied the state has a first-lien position on the easement, meaning the state would be superior to any lien holder regarding land use.

Hutchinson’s assurances to Bledsoe and Wardlaw his office is checking for any liens on the hog farm prompted the duo to sign off on the funding request a few weeks later.

C&H Hog Farms will be paid at the closing of escrow when all swine have been removed and money will be concurrently exchanged for a conservative easement, also held in escrow, said Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism spokeswoman Melissa Whitfield after Tuesday’s meeting.

C&H Hog Farms will be paid $6.2 million, plus interest and less escrow expenses, probably no earlier than January, she said. The money includes $3.7 million from the rainy-day fund, $1.5 million from the department and $1 million from the Nature Conservancy, Whitfield said.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Rice said he questioned state forestry officials in a recent month about a $1.4 million purchase of 420 acres from the Nature Conservancy in the Hot Springs area

and “was told [it’s ] totally different and it doesn’t have anything to do with it.

“The timing of it was a concern to me,” he said. “In a little bit further checking, there was another $800,000 in 2018.”

Afterward, Department of Agriculture Secretary Wes Ward said the department’s Forestry Division is in the process of purchasing 408 acres in the Hot Springs Recharge Area in Garland County from the Nature Conservancy using money from a U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Legacy grant.

The expected price is $1,459,180, he said.

The Forestry Division purchased 360 acres in the same area in Garland County from the conservancy in May 2018 for $822,000, Ward said. That purchase used money from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council, he said.

Both items are associated with preserving the Hot Springs Recharge Area, he said.

“All properties acquired in the Hot Springs Recharge Area are voluntary purchases with willing buyers and willing sellers,” Ward said in a written statement. “No funds used within the Hot Springs Recharge Area have been used within the Buffalo River Watershed.”