Bill on Pine Tree forces UA to keep it open to public

Nonprofit group could still buy land

Action taken by the area legislators to prevent the sale of public land at the Pine Tree Research Station to a private entity has become law.

House Bill 1694 prevents the University of Arkansas from selling 6,300 acres at Pine Tree to Lobo Farms LLC, based in Poinsett County.

Lobo entered into a contract with the university last year to buy the land for $17.6 million, plus a $1 million endowment to wetlands conservation. University officials intended to use $5 million from the sale to match $5 million in grant funding for the construction of a Northeast Rice Research and Extension Center near Jonesboro. Another $6 million was to have been invested in precision agriculture and smart farming programs.

Following public outcry,

Lobo and the university agreed to delay closing on the sale to allow the state Legislature time to try and find $20 million to buy the 6,300 acres.

The move to halt the sale was led by Sen. Ronald Caldwell, RWynne, along with Rep. Steve Hollowell, R-Forrest City, and Rep. Reginald Murdock, D-Marianna.

Although HB1964 prevents the sale of the property to a private entity or individual, it does allow for the land to be sold to a nonprofit group.

According to HB1964, the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees may sell the property to a nonprofit organization organized with the primary mission to keep the land open to the public and available for public use. The law requires that any nonprofit seeking to purchase the land would have had to be in operation for a minimum of five years.

Caldwell said the bill had to be written in this way to prevent the sale from continuing.

"We had to put this language in the bill in this way to keep the buyers from going out and forming their own nonprofit, allowing the university to proceed with the sale," said Caldwell. "The nonprofit would have to be someone like the Nature Conservatory, Ducks Unlimited, Game and Fish or someone like that who has been in business for more than five years and whose primary goal, or mission statement, is to keep the land open for public use."

According to Caldwell, other language was include in the bill to prevent the University of Arkansas from closing the land to the public.

"The other language in this bill is significant,” said Caldwell. “It says the property, commonly known as the Pine Tree Research Station, located in St. Francis County, shall remain open to the public for public use, including without limitation public fishing, hunting, biking, bird watching and hiking," said Caldwell.

"What that does, is that while we leave it in the ownership of the university, they can't come back and say 'well we are just going to shut it down and not let anyone have access to it.’ They can't do that now. The law says it has to remain open to the public,” said Caldwell.

Caldwell also commented on questions regarding a time limit on the law.

"The five-year deal is to stop the buyers from forming their own nonprofit to proceed with the sale," said Caldwell. "We just needed to prevent that from happening. If they want to sell it to a nonprofit, they would have to have been in business for at least five years and their mission statement would have to be to keep the land open to the public. The bill is not a sunset bill, it will not expire."

“The law says it has to remain open to the public.”

– Sen. Ronald Caldwell, R-Wynne