Missouri House Republicans push for sale of Eleven Point State Park

JEFFERSON CITY — A southern Missouri state park on the Eleven Point River could soon be headed for auction.

Republicans still fuming at how former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon went about buying the 4,200 acres in Oregon County gave initial approval Wednesday to a measure that would force its sale.

In a floor speech, Rep. Jeff Pogue, R-Salem — who offered the idea as an amendment to a bill dealing with other land sales — reiterated long-standing complaints that money the state received in a settlement with American Smelting and Refining Company should have stayed in communities affected by lead mining to the north of the planned park.

"We'd like to auction this property off and right this wrong," he said.

He found a welcome audience in the GOP-dominated chamber.

Rep. Cheri Toalson Reisch, R-Hallsville, told newcomers to the chamber the money was "misappropriated in what I would almost deem … as government theft."

Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, refuted that charge, pointing out the settlement money could be spent both to remediate degraded land and purchase new land equivalent to what was lost.

Related:  Frustrated by Nixon, Missouri lawmakers want to stop buying land for state parks

But his statement had little apparent effect before the 105-38 vote to tack on Pogue's amendment.

Other supporters also chimed in with familiar contentions that the state should focus on dealing with the maintenance backlog with parks it already has rather than opening new ones.

"We do have a great system," said Rep. Randy Pietzman, R-Troy, "but the upkeep hasn’t been where it should be in the last decade."

The Department of Natural Resources has abided by that sentiment after Nixon was succeeded by former Gov. Eric Greitens, according to previous reporting.

Jay Nixon State Park in Reynolds County was closed the month after Greitens was inaugurated, and development was halted indefinitely at Eleven Point as well as the 1,011-acre Ozark Mountain State Park northwest of Branson and the 2,917-acre Bryant Creek State Park, near Ava in Douglas County.

An online description of Eleven Point boasting its "six miles of direct river frontage," "expansive views across the Eleven Point valley" and "rugged forest-covered hills, fields, woodlands streams and springs" was taken down and replaced with "Park Closed."

That action has been protested by organizations like the Missouri chapter of the Sierra Club, which is now organizing against Pogue's action.

More: How Chris Gatley's properties became Springfield's 'public menace'

In an interview Friday, Missouri Sierra Club Director John Hickey described the vote as another cynical move from lawmakers governed by anti-public lands ideology.

He said selling the land would be an affront to the 68.4 percent of Oregon County voters who favored extending the sales tax that funds state parks in 2016 and anyone there who stands to benefit from tourism a new park would bring.

Pogue's effort isn't the first seeking to force the park's sale. Rep. Robert Ross, R-Yukon, filed bills targeting the park for auction in each of the past two years.

Oregon County landowners have also sued the state to prevent the state from turning the land into a state park.

The most recent measure needs another vote in the House before it can move to the Senate.

The legislation is House Committee Bill 1.