Buffalo National River

Arkansas candidates for state and federal offices begin filing for 2024 election

BY: - November 6, 2023

Arkansas’ first candidates for next year’s elections formally entered their races Monday, kicking off the weeklong candidate filing period and the 2024 election cycle. President Joe Biden’s and Donald Trump’s campaigns registered for the ballot here along with representatives for other Republican presidential candidates: Vivek Ramaswamy, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley. Two of Arkansas’ sitting […]

Part of the crowd of nearly 1,200 that filled the Jasper High School auditorium on Oct. 26, 2023, to discuss a group's efforts to re-designate the Buffalo National River as a national park preserve. (Ellen Kreth/The Madison County Record)

Proponents of Buffalo River re-designation say they’ve halted effort, but opponents remain wary

BY: - November 1, 2023

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This story first appeared in The Madison County Record on Nov. 1, 2023, and is republished here by permission.) 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 […]

Part of overflow crowd at an Oct. 26, 2023, town hall in Jasper, Ark., to discuss the possibility of redesignating the Buffalo National River as a national park preserve. (Kevin Middleton/photo courtesy of Misty Langdon)

Concern over possible Buffalo National River redesignation draws huge crowd to small Arkansas town

BY: - October 27, 2023

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 […]

An upper portion of the Buffalo River with Big Bluff in the background. (National Park Service photo)

Group pulls back on push to change Buffalo National River designation, lawmaker says

BY: - October 26, 2023

(This story appeared first in The Madison County Record and is republished here by permission.) 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, whose District 28 includes Madison County. After meeting last […]

A person paddles a canoe on the Buffalo River as trees display fall colors. (Photo courtesy of National Park Service)

Arkansas group floats idea of Buffalo National River into national park preserve

BY: - October 16, 2023

This article was first published in The Madison County Record in Huntsville, Arkansas, and is republished here by permission. A coalition floating the idea of making federal lands near the Buffalo National River a national park preserve says the designation would make the area the “most active-use National Park in the country for outdoor recreation.” […]