As outlined in the cover story of today's Perspective section, agriculture remains the largest sector of the Arkansas economy. That might come as a surprise to residents of this increasingly urbanized state. These are people with no connection to farm life and no understanding of what makes rural Arkansas tick.
At the start of the pandemic, the second-largest economic sector was tourism. Tourism has taken a beating in the past year. But with the pandemic winding down, that sector will bounce back quickly.
That's especially true at a time when many people will be slow to get on airplanes for trips to distant locales and even slower to book cruises. They will instead choose vacation spots they can drive to in a day. Arkansas is in the sweet spot for visitors from the booming metropolitan areas of Texas.
Due to its beauty and abundant natural resources, Arkansas has long attracted visitors.
"Arkansas tourism may have taken root in the 18th century," historian Michael Dougan of Arkansas State University wrote. "The decorated buffalo robes the Quapaw made, which ended up in the Musee de l'Homme in Paris, France, were, in federal Judge Morris Arnold's judgment, tourist souvenirs. Arkansas, which because of John Law's Mississippi Bubble scheme had international recognition, attracted daring tourists.
"While Thomas Nuttall and George William Featherstonhaugh came on business, Washington Irving passed through on his way back from his Western tour. Tourist Albert Pike chose to stay, and Friedrich Gerstacker wrote a book of hunting stories and returned after the Civil War. In the early 19th century, Hot Springs was one of several spa towns offering medicinal tourism. Competing towns after the Civil War included Ravenden Springs in Randolph County and Eureka Springs."
The completion of numerous railroad lines after the Civil War led to additional visitors.
"From the 1870s to about 1920, most tourists arrived by train," Dougan wrote. "Eureka Springs' growth was almost entirely due to construction of a short line that connected to the Frisco Railroad's main line at Seligman, Mo. The transformation of this line into the Missouri & North Arkansas Railroad (the best known of this troubled line's names) then spurred tourism in Gilbert, Heber Springs and other stops.
"William Hope 'Coin' Harvey's resort at Monte Ne in Benton County was nationally famous. It had its own rail line. Tourists headed for Ravenden Springs got off the Frisco at Ravenden in Lawrence County. Resorts typically collected tourists in wagons or hacks and transported them to a hotel or camp. "
Automobiles changed tourism yet again. Harvey helped launch the Ozarks Trails Association in 1913. The association marked more than 6,000 miles of roads in an effort to attract visitors to the region. Tourist courts sprang up in towns across the state.
"Erected often on the outskirts of towns, the courts featured individual bungalows, often in the creek stone and cement style popular at the time," Dougan wrote. "Particularly notable are the cabins at the cave in Cave City. Sometimes owners added a restaurant. As pavement spread, more vehicles came bearing people seeking recreation. Bella Vista, an early Ozark retreat built around an artificial lake and a nightclub in a cave, gave Benton County a taste of the high life.
"When interest in water for medicinal purposes declined, Eureka Springs lured tourists by celebrating the traditional culture of the Ozarks. . . . How to lure tourists into Arkansas and how to get them to spend money became a state issue in the 1920s. The Ozark Playground Association, organized in 1919, pushed the supposed pristine purity of both nature and inhabitants under the slogan 'The Land of a Million Smiles.'"
Gov. Charles Brough pushed for the adoption in 1923 of the Wonder State as Arkansas' nickname. That was changed to Land of Opportunity after World War II and later to the Natural State.
With increasing numbers of tourists, combined with the recreational pursuits of Arkansas residents, there were conflicts with agricultural interests.
"The rapid and extensive disappearance of hardwoods in east Arkansas created controversy," the late C. Fred Williams of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock wrote in a history of Arkansas agriculture. "Game and fish enthusiasts and environmentalists worried that clearing for crops would despoil the region. Critics of clearing practices noted that the hardwood environment provided a unique habitat for certain animals and feared that those species would be lost. Years of public debate and meetings led to a compromise in the 1970s that balanced agricultural and non-agricultural interests."
Meanwhile, the culture of Arkansas was changing as fewer people lived on farms.
"Altering the landscape--whether clearing forests, draining swamps, channeling streams or replacing cotton with rice and soybeans or chicken houses and cattle--transformed rural culture," Williams wrote. "Ironically, while millions of acres were being brought into cultivation, thousands of people were leaving the land. The way of life that had sustained them for generations was rapidly dying. Not only was their occupation gone, but so was the land that served as a source for food, fuel and leisure.
"As demographic shifts occurred, rural Arkansas developed pockets occupied by people without land and dependent on day wages. They were susceptible to the cyclical fluctuations of prosperity and recession and progressively lost economic control of their lives. . . . These former sharecroppers and tenant farmers weren't the source of the new agriculture but rather were reflective of the change."
As Arkansas' urban population grew, conflicts intensified.
"Criticized by sportsmen and environmentalists for misusing the land, polluting streams and altering habitat for wildlife, Arkansas farmers lost debates on public policy issues involving their industry," Williams wrote. "Conflict with non-farm groups reached a climax in the 1996 federal Farm Bill, which defined environmentally sensitive land and restricted farming practices in what was termed wetlands.
"In addition to policy regulations, farmers faced constraints from resource depletion. In many areas of the state, groundwater has been depleted. Rice farmers in particular face difficult choices between replenishing the aquifer and impounding surface water--or even leaving farming."
Here's the thing: In a state of just 3 million residents, there's plenty of land for both economic sectors to thrive. In the years ahead, the agricultural and tourism sectors must learn to work together while making choices that will help Arkansas attract and retain talented, highly educated residents. This will take concessions and compromise.
Agricultural interests, for example, must drop their nonsensical opposition to a permanent ban on commercial hog farming in the Buffalo River watershed. They act under the false premise that it will open the door to assaults on private property rights statewide. A popular Republican governor supports this ban but has been stymied by shortsighted rural legislators from his own party.
Agricultural organizations must learn the art of compromise. By the same token, we must do a better job educating young Arkansans on the importance of agriculture to our economy. In my talks to young Arkansans, I'm amazed by their complete lack of knowledge when it comes to agriculture and this state's rural culture.
A thriving agricultural sector, hunting and fishing opportunities, hiking, cycling, birdwatching, kayaking and canoeing: We can have it all if we're smart. Let's not blow this golden opportunity for Arkansas to prosper in the 21st century.
Rex Nelson is a senior editor at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.