Committee passes bill aimed at keeping 6,300-acre “Pine Tree” property in public hands

Senator Caldwell, presenting House Bill 16 94, told the Senate Education Committee the measure is designed to stop the University of Arkansas from selling roughly 6,300 acres in San Francis County to a private buyer and to encourage a sale to a public entity that would preserve public use.

The bill matters because, Caldwell said, the deed to the property — which the sponsor traced to purchases made during the Depression era — includes a condition that the land must be used for public purposes and that title would revert to the U.S. Forest Service if it ceases to be so used. "This land was accumulated during the depression era ... in that deed, it states very clearly that all the land ... shall be used for public purposes," Caldwell said.

Witnesses urged the committee to block a private sale. James Brandenburg, chair of the Arkansas chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, said more than 2,100 people signed a petition to keep Pine Tree public and argued the university and prospective private buyers had not shown how public uses would be maintained. "We are asking you now to stand up for what's right for all the people of this state," Brandenburg said. He cited the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act language in the deed and said the act lists public purposes — including recreation — and expressly prohibits private industrial or commercial uses.

Stacy Shafer, a disabled U.S. Marine Corps veteran, told the committee that Pine Tree provides rare mobility-impaired access for outdoors activities and for educational uses she and her children have relied on. "Without places like this, there's a lot of people like myself ... that can't ... have the outdoors at our disposal," Shafer said. Local residents Steve Brown and Tim Fisher described lifelong family use, youth hunting opportunities and the prospect that a private sale would remove nearby public access.

Committee members noted the University of Arkansas opposes the bill but did not send a representative to testify in committee. Senator Caldwell closed by saying the bill can allow the university to meet its needs while keeping the land open for public use, and the committee voted by voice to pass the bill.

The transcript does not record specific roll-call tallies or any immediate next procedural step beyond the committee vote.