Wild and Scenic Designation

Understanding the Language

Below the Reeve Fork and Big Buffalo Creek near Fallsville, 9.4 miles of the Buffalo River are designated scenic and beyond that 6.4 miles are designated wild. This came about on April 22, 1992 when President Bush signed the Arkansas Wild and Scenic Act. Under the same Act, 16.5 miles of Richland Creek received wild and scenic status. This article explains the background of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

In 1968, the United States Congress passed what is known as the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. This was done in the wake of growing development; people started to realize the need to preserve and protect rivers and streams in the United States. President Lyndon B. Johnson urged Congress to “preserve free flowing stretches of our great scenic rivers.” This was to be achieved by Congress through passage of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, which sought to adjust federal water policy to emphasize river preservation and balanced development. In fact, Congress declared in its Statement of Policy that “the established national policy of dam and other construction... needs to be complemented by a policy that would preserve other selected rivers or sections thereof in their free-flowing condition.”

Congress, therefore, established a system for designation and preservation of rivers with “outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural, or other similar values.” There are two methods for designation of a river under the Act: (1) by congressional designation; or (2) by state action with the approval of the United States Secretary of Interior. The most common means for designation is by congressional designation.

There are three types of designations achieved under the Act:

1. Wild river areas: those rivers or sections of rivers that are free of impoundments and generally inaccessible except by trail, with watersheds or shorelines essentially primitive and waters unpolluted. These represent vestiges of primitive America.

2. Scenic river areas: those rivers that are free of impoundments, with shorelines or watersheds still largely primitive and shorelines largely undeveloped, but accessible in places by roads.

3. Recreational river areas: those rivers that are readily accessible by road or railroad, that may have some development along their shorelines, and that may have undergone some impoundment or diversion in the past.

After designation in one of the three categories by one of the two established methods, the Act then enforces preservation and balanced development in the river area. The designation of the river results in restrictions on water resource projects by federal agencies, particularly the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and federal mining and mineral leasing that affect land within the system.

The river area’s administration must also protect the values that justified the river’s initial designation under the Act. For instance, the Forest Service is required to prepare a management plan for each river area included under the Act’s designation. There has been considerable controversy over what the management plan is to include and how the plan is to be prepared.

There are also limits on federal action. For instance, the Federal Power Commission is prohibited from the construction of any dam, water conduit, reservoir, powerhouse, transmission line, or other project works under the Federal Power Act on or directly affecting any river designated under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. This holds true for any department of the United States; they cannot assist by loan, grant, license, or otherwise in the construction of any water resources project that would directly adversely affect the values for which such river was established.

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act also establishes quarter-mile buffer zones along a designated river. Depending on the classification, the intensity of shoreline development and types of recreational uses allowed inside the corridor will be affected.

Essentially, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act takes steps to ensure that federal action affecting our nation’s rivers are thoughtful and recognize the importance of our waterways. However, that does not necessarily mean that our rivers are protected absolutely. In the Buffalo watershed, 32 miles of river have Wild and Scenic designation — but the Buffalo River itself is 130 miles long and the rest of the river system (tributaries and creeks) comprise hundreds more miles. This is not to say that the law is ineffective, but merely emphasizes the importance of working with private land owners to protect the parts of our river systems not designated wild and scenic.

Jonathan Schneeweiss is the Grant Coordinator for the BRSF. He is a graduate of the George Washington University Law School.