Arkansas church's federal land swap OK'd; congregation has sought deal for decades

Church deacon Trey Bassett and U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman stand together  Tuesday July 17, 2018, on Capitol Hill after Bassett appeared before a House Natural Resources Committee subcommittee.
Church deacon Trey Bassett and U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman stand together Tuesday July 17, 2018, on Capitol Hill after Bassett appeared before a House Natural Resources Committee subcommittee.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate gave an early Christmas gift to an Arkansas church this week, backing legislation that would help the congregation solve a decades-old real estate problem.

Lawmakers on Wednesday approved the Walnut Grove Land Exchange Act, which authorizes a land swap between the U.S. Forest Service and Walnut Grove Community Church in Garland County.

The congregation's place of worship currently sits on federal property.

The bill, which passed the House 379-3 in September, had stalled in the Senate during the final days of the session. Time, some feared, had run out. Last-minute prodding from Sen. John Boozman, a Republican from Rogers, helped the bill finally gain traction, supporters said.

"Sen. Boozman was able to help us out. ... It got fast-tracked. They got it passed, so it's on to the president's desk," said the bill's sponsor, U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, a Republican from Hot Springs.

The church, which sits beside a small cemetery, was placed on federal land in 1938 and has been there ever since.

The congregation has offered to trade roughly 6 acres along the Ouachita National Forest for the 4-acre plot where it worships and buries its dead.

The graveyard predates creation of the Park Service.

Walnut Grove members have tried, for more than two decades, to obtain the property, which sits along Arkansas 298. Each year since 2002, they've been required to request and obtain a special-use permit to continue worshipping at the site, north of Lake Ouachita 12 miles west of Jessieville.

The congregation is now required to make annual payments to the Forest Service -- roughly $4,000 over the next decade if the arrangement continues, the Congressional Budget Office said. In addition, any changes to the property must be approved by federal officials.

If President Donald Trump signs the bill into law, the secretary of the Agriculture Department will be required to trade the land. Costs associated with the conveyance are the congregation's responsibility.

Among other things, the church must pay for the two properties to be appraised and surveyed. If the government's 4-acre tract is more valuable than the 6-acre tract, then the congregation will have to cough up an "equalization payment." If the church-owned land is more valuable, no money will change hands.

The change will enable the congregation to use the land as it sees fit, free of federal restrictions or eviction fears, supporters said.

Trey Bassett, one of the church's deacons, said he learned of the legislation's passage after returning home from the congregation's live Nativity display Wednesday evening.

Word of the vote spread quickly on social media, he said.

"Everyone's all excited," he said. "It's kind of a Christmas gift, I guess, for our congregation."

The congregation had sought a land swap, without success, for more than a quarter century, he said.

Having Westerman on board made all the difference, Bassett added.

Westerman said the congregation's perseverance paid off.

"They had as much skin in the game on it as I did, and we worked together to get something done that will make a difference up there," he said.

Boozman portrayed the vote as a victory for rural Arkansans.

Once the land swap happens, "the church can go ahead and do the things that it's so good at doing and focus on its mission," Boozman said. "They don't have this burden on them anymore."

Boozman said Westerman deserved credit for guiding the legislation through Congress, calling him "the guy that really made it happen."

Metro on 12/21/2018

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