Landowners speak, state and feds back off

Back in January the federal Department of the Interior designated Arkansas’ White River a Blueway river. Interior had the backing of state commissions representing Game and Fish, Waterways, Natural Resources, Forestry and Natural Heritage, as well as the private Nature Conservancy and Ozarks Water Watch.

All that support from state commissions and two environmental groups was fine, but Interior sort of forgot about other groups – people who own land the White River flows across and people who use the river.

Apparently, the state commissions also forgot to take those groups into consideration.

Wednesday, July 3, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell pulled back the Blueway designation. The secretary ended Blueway for the White River based on two letters, one from the state commissions, the other from Nature Conservancy and Ozarks Water Watch.

The state said: “While this is a great honor for the state of Arkansas, the conflicts and controversy surrounding the designation are such that we must respectfully request that you remove the National Blueway designation from the White River.”

http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2013/jul/04/river-blueway-no-more-20130704/

Landowners and others concerned about federal encroachment have spoken.

Blueway designation also includes a river’s watershed. “The watershed encompasses about one-third of the land in Arkansas and one-fifth of Missouri.” (Same citation as above.)