Bill to Expand Arkansas Flatside Wilderness Passes US House

At the top of Flatside Pinnacle, Rep. Hill speaks at an event overlooking the Flatside Wilderness Area. (Photo provided)

The Flatside Wilderness Additions Act, a bill created by U.S. Rep. French Hill to expand the Flatside Wilderness Area in central Arkansas by about 2,200 acres, passed the U.S. House of Representatives on May 13.

The bill designates an additional 2,212 acres as part of the Flatside Wilderness Area, which contains sections of the Ouachita National Forest. The land is currently a 9,507-acre protected area.

“Expanding this wilderness area has been a passion project for me since arriving in Washington,” Hill said in his weekly newsletter. He previously passed a different Flatside expansion bill, which added 640 acres to the wilderness area and was signed into law in 2019.

That same year, Congress directed the U.S. Forest Service to study surrounding lands for potential inclusion. The recommendations from that study are the basis of the new legislation.

“I am confident we will get this new expansion across the finish line as well,” he said in the newsletter.

The bill still has to pass in the Senate, where it has been referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and be signed into law by President Donald Trump.

The bill expands on the 1984 Arkansas Wilderness Act, and has received support from Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

“This thoughtful, commonsense bill balances conservation with access, ensuring that this extraordinary landscape remains available for generations to come,” Hill said in the newsletter. “For over 40 years, Arkansas leaders have worked to secure the future of the Flatside Wilderness. My legislation completes that vision. It maintains what is best about The Natural State and conserves a place of cultural, ecological and personal significance for Arkansans and visitors alike.”