Senator Irvin files map to place Buffalo National River in one congressional district; committee hears public comment

Senator Irvin spoke to the Senate State Agencies & Govt'l Affairs Committee about a congressional map she filed that would consolidate the Buffalo National River area into a single congressional district.

The senator said the Buffalo National River is currently divided among three congressional districts and argued placing the river and its watershed into one district would help coordinate an expensive national river plan. "I filed it this morning," she told the committee, adding she moved the area into the First District in part because "our congressman, Rick Crawford, has done a tremendous job working with our fish hatcheries," and because he is familiar with federal- and state-level park and hatchery issues.

The map also includes several county adjustments, Senator Irvin said: an amendment addressing a split school district in Sebastian County, moving Cleburne County back into the First District, placing Lonoke County in the Second District, and reducing Pulaski County’s split from three districts to two. Because she filed the map the same morning, she said she did not expect the committee to act immediately.

Jackie Martin of Heber Springs, Cleburne County, was the only public commenter on the proposal. Martin said her family has lived in the county since 1867 and argued that moving Cleburne into the Second District would reduce the county’s influence and misalign it with the community’s rural, tourism-oriented economy. "We do not want to lose that influence," Martin said, asking the committee to consider local ties and long-standing community identity.

The chair and Senator Irvin thanked Martin for speaking and reiterated that staff filing procedures and the bill’s morning filing time made immediate action on the map unlikely. The committee recessed pending the arrival of a House companion bill.