United StatesArkansas would receive Crossett forest if it requests transfer
If passed, the Agriculture Secretary would transfer the Crossett Experimental Forest and related sites to Arkansas if the state requests them within 180 days after enactment.
What it does
If Arkansas requests the forest within 180 days after enactment, the Agriculture Secretary would transfer it without a purchase price. Arkansas would pay transfer costs.
Arkansas would manage the land as a state forest for research and education with university partners. The Agriculture Secretary could take back affected land if Arkansas failed to fix a rule violation within 180 days after notice.
By the transfer date, the Forest Service would give Arkansas copies of research plans, data, and archives it holds from studies at the forest.
Argument forRequired research use and university access could give students and researchers a place to study forests.
Argument againstSurvey and other transfer costs could strain Arkansas’s budget, even though the state would pay no purchase price.
More detail
The Agriculture Secretary would transfer federal ownership to Arkansas. The land includes the Crossett Experimental Forest, the R.R. Reynolds Research Natural Area, and related facilities. The transfer would have no purchase price and would preserve existing rights. Arkansas would pay transfer costs. The secretary could add terms to protect federal interests. Arkansas must request the transfer in writing within 180 days after enactment.
Arkansas would name and manage the transferred land as the Crossett Experimental State Forest. The forest must support research, education, and demonstrations tied to its historic research mission. Arkansas must work with the University of Arkansas at Monticello and the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture and give them reasonable access. If Arkansas breaks the management or use rules, the secretary must send written notice and may take back all or the affected part of the land. Arkansas must name the state forest upon transfer. Land could return to federal ownership only if the state does not fix a violation within 180 days after receiving notice.
The Agriculture Secretary would give Arkansas complete copies of the Forest Service’s research records. The copies cover research plans, data, archives, and related records about studies at the forest that the Forest Service holds or controls. Federal rules for keeping government records would still apply. The secretary must give Arkansas the copies no later than the date the forest transfers.
Where do you stand?
Choose your position
Tell your reps
Take a position to see your representatives and ways to contact them.
Where it stands
- Introduced
- Passed House
- Passed Senate
- To President
- Became Law
Looking ahead
No hearings or votes scheduled.
History
- 2026
- Oct 29Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 119-864.Latest
- Oct 29Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 761.
- Sep 15Subcommittee on Federal Lands Discharged
- Sep 15Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
- Sep 15Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by Unanimous Consent.
- Sep 2Subcommittee Hearings Held
- Aug 26Referred to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands.
- Aug 20Introduced in House
- Aug 20Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.Introduced
Environment & EnergyEducationGovernment & Ethics