A federal judge is giving the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Small Business Administration three additional months to finally comply with two federal environmental laws in properly completing their required environmental reassessment for C&H Hog Farms at Mount Judea.
The agencies sought the extension in late September after being flooded with "an unexpectedly large volume" of public comments (1,858, in fact) on the new draft environmental assessment.
The assessment is an integral part of loan guarantees the agencies made for this factory our state's Department of Environmental Quality (cough) wrongheadedly okayed to operate in Arkansas' Buffalo National River watershed.
The public comments about the second insufficient assessment raised substantive issues including relevant studies and assessments that require review, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. I can attest that those comments contain many relevant issues.
Four environmental and conservation groups sued the federal agencies in 2013, alleging their environmental assessment, needed to guarantee loans to the factory, was woefully incomplete. I always saw that assessment as virtually nonexistent. Federal Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. agreed in 2014 and ordered the agencies to complete a second assessment in compliance with two federal environmental laws. Now Marshall has given them until March 1 to try to get the third attempt completed.
What a needless hog-wild mess our state created, even facilitated, here.
Back on the trail
Speaking of swine, six months and nearly $2 million later, both lanes of Arkansas 23 in Franklin County, otherwise known as the Pig Trail, finally were reopened last week.
Construction workers were still putting the finishing touches on the popular scenic road and will be for the next couple of weeks. But for all intents, it's operational again.
The twisting highway was shut down in May after heavy sustained rains sent a mudslide across and through about 700 feet of both lanes, closing the popular highway to motorists who often chose that alternative scenic route between Interstate 40 and Fayetteville.
I've always enjoyed becoming absorbed in the majesty of the Ozarks when time has allowed me to weave along the Pig Trail, named after all the traffic that once used it to travel to Razorback games. Those were the years when the primary route was the equally winding and very dangerous U.S. 71 through the Boston Mountains.
Now, most folks headed toward Fayetteville naturally opt for the speed and convenience of I-49 between Alma and the Missouri border.
One lane of the Pig Trail opened for four days in June, but heavy rains made short work of the attempt.
It tickles me pink (sorry) to have the state's Pig Trail reopened for business.
Ozarks rustlin'
That rustlin' you may hear in the Ozarks isn't just from changing leaves.
About 100 head of cattle have been stolen from ranches and farms in Boone and Newton Counties during recent months, say sheriffs there.
Boone County Sheriff Mike Moore says nearly 30 head were taken from remote rural pastures around my hometown of Harrison over the past few weeks. As times have grown tougher financially, those with bovine thievery in mind have found it lucrative to snatch and sell cattle at various area auctions. Little wonder when average-sized steers reportedly were going for roughly $992 and heifers for $891 earlier this month.
Ace reporter Bill Bowden also quoted investigators as asking the public to watch for a 30-foot-long rusty red cattle trailer described as being used in one theft. And I doubt most beef bandits have more than one expensive cattle trailer.
Just last month, Shane Joseph Horn of Valley Springs and Aaron W. Sayres of Harrison were charged with stealing what amounted to $67,000 worth of about 50 cattle and peddling them at regional auctions, the story said. Police say Horn was arrested at the livestock auction in Springdale with some stolen cattle. He'll have the opportunity to explain that at trial thanks to the judicial joys of jurisprudential safeguards (sorry).
Bowden also quoted Newton County Sheriff Kenneth Slape saying rustling cattle nowadays is "still easier than stealing copper wiring out of houses." It's just a whole lot harder to quietly hide a dozen cattle than 50 pounds of wire.
Worth listening
Fellow Arkansans who saw the 1993 film Gettysburg aren't likely to forget composer Randy Edelman's heroic and poignant score from that production. Much like composer John Barry's beautiful theme from the 1990 film Dances With Wolves, Gettysburg's sweeping melody is among the most tender yet majestic music I've heard from Hollywood, or anywhere else.
The orchestra's refrains lift my spirits as I write and at other times in the day while stirring deep memories and the penetrating sense of honor and tribute for those who sacrificed their lives in the nation's bloodiest conflict and all others. Thought I'd share today since it's freely available on Google.
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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at [email protected].
Editorial on 10/20/2015