Arrow Rock buffer legislation sought by group

A new organization, founded by people opposed to a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) expansion near Arrow Rock, plans to develop legislation that would prevent such operations from being located within five miles of state parks and historic sites.

The Citizens to Protect State Parks and Historic Sites (CPSPHS) met in Arrow Rock Saturday, Jan. 27, to discuss plans to fight the proposed development of a new CAFO about two miles west of the historic village.

The group's strategy will be statewide in scope -- there currently are CAFOs proposed near two other state parks -- but focused specifically on implementing a protective buffer around state parks and historic sites, according to the organization's spokesman, Whitney Kerr, who with his wife, Day, owns an 800-acre farm adjacent to Dennis Gessling's proposed new CAFO.

"To stop CAFOs or the hog business is not the objective of this group," he said. "We want to create a halo over the head of state parks around the state."

Kerr said lawyers had been retained to help draft legislation and he said potential sponsors of the bill had been contacted. The legislation is expected to be introduced within days, he said.

Sponsors will be from both major political parties, he said, noting that the protection of parks and historic sites was not a partisan issue.

"The people of Missouri love their state parks," he said. "Seventy percent of the electorate supported the soils and parks tax."

The organization resorted to seeking legislation after a response from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources made it apparent that as long as Gessling followed existing regulation there was nothing the agency could do to prevent him from developing a new CAFO about two miles from the village.

"We want to strengthen the law so DNR can do the kind of work we sense they want to do," said David Finke, CPSPHS treasurer.

Though the group's efforts will be narrowly targeted, another speaker at the meeting, Terry Spence of Putnam County, said the situation in Arrow Rock is part of a larger political conflict that is brewing in the state.

Spence, who once raised hogs and still runs a beef cattle operation, said he has been battling CAFOs for more than 12 years.

What worries him, he said, is legislation introduced in the Missouri Senate that would erode local control over land use, SB 364, which he believes would give greater control to agribusiness.

The bill is designed to protect farmers from nuisance lawsuits, claims of trespass or violation of local ordinances that are more limiting than state law, according to a draft on the Senate's Web site.

"There's a disaster ahead of us and it's been building for many years," Spence said. "We have to retain local control."

In his State of the State address, Gov. Matt Blunt offered support for the bill.

"The 100,000 plus Missouri family farms must be protected from abusive lawsuits," he said his the speech Wednesday, Jan. 24. "They should not be burdened with unreasonable ordinances designed to chase them out of farming."

On the Net:

www.senate.mo.gov/07info/BTS_Web/Bill.as...

Contact Eric Crump at

marshallfaith@socket.net