Commission approves funding partnership with AGFF for enhanced access projects

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission approved a minute order today that will establish a partnership between the agency and the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation to provide improved amenities for access areas across the state.

“We oversee 450-plus boating accesses and we don’t have the resources to keep all of them A-1 top-notch; it’s just too much,” Ben Batten, AGFC deputy director, said, adding that Darrell Bowman in the AGFC Operations Division is overseeing a new approach to developing partnerships with the agency for outdoor recreation.

Batten said the AGFF, led by Deke Whitbeck, will work with AGFC staff to execute future projects. “We’ll have an agreement with the AGFF on how we execute those projects, what parts they’re going to do, what parts we’re going to do, and how we make sure it gets done successfully,” Batten said.

The Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports the activities and goals of the AGFC. The AGFF collaborates with businesses, individuals and other organizations to garner support and resources for conservation efforts and agency initiatives. The organizations work together to conserve Arkansas’s natural resources and promote outdoor enjoyment for all Arkansans.   

The Commission also heard from two AGFC college-age summer interns and one Hutton Scholar from high school about their experiences over the last several weeks at the agency. Peyton Dugger, a senior-to-be at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro; Daniel Franklin, a rising senior at Baptist Preparatory School in Little Rock; and Jackson Brown, a senior-to-be at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, presented  to the Commission about their summer work and how it influenced their plans. All three were closely mentored by agency staff. Commissioners individually noted how taken they were by the presentations.

Director Austin Booth recognized Ericka Maness, the agency’s human resources assistant chief, and Mary Beth Hatch, AGFC chief of education, for the success of the internship program. Hatch said the agency played host to 21 rising junior or senior college students as interns for an eight-week period, whether in office or in the field, from communications and fishing work to trapping wood ducks and banding geese, and more. Franklin was one of three Hutton Scholar interns, a national program for high school students sponsored by the American Fisheries Society.

“We can see the passion in a bunch of young eyes out in the crowd today, but much like you (Hatch) recognize mentors throughout the agency, we have to recognize you and your education team for making sure that this experience serves them well and stays with them for a very long time,” Booth said. [Click for Presentation]

J.D. Neeley of Camden led his first monthly Commission meeting as chairman, succeeding Stan Jones, whose seven-year term on the Commission ended June 30. Anne Marie Doramus of Little Rock moved into the vice-chairman position previously held by Neeley. The Commission and Booth welcomed new commissioner Chris Caldwell of Little Rock to the eight-member group.

In addressing Caldwell’s 10-year-old son, Harley, sitting in the audience, Booth said with some obvious emotion in his voice, “Over the next seven years, we’re glad that (your dad) is here, and I ask that you never forget that your dad is doing this for the same reason that I’m doing this, and that the (other commissioners) are doing it here, and that the agency staff does it. That’s to leave things better than we found it, because that’s what this place is all about.”

No proposed hunting regulations clarifications for 2024-25 were approved, as the 30-day period for public comment in regulations clarifications brought before the Commission last month had not ended. Commissioner Rob Finley of Mountain Home said that commissioners will meet here (or by teleconference) at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 25, to approve those regulations changes. [Click for Presentation]

In other action:

• Booth submitted a minute order that was approved to retire the weapon from the agency inventory of former Chairman Jones.
• The Commission adopted the Arkansas Legislature’s approval last month of a 5 percent raise for Booth.
• Booth recognized the work of more than half of the AGFC Enforcement Division who worked extensively during Operation Dry Water July 4-6. Booth said 121 game wardens and officers worked 2,400 hours for public safety during the three-day period, contacting more than 3,600 boats and about 11,000 boaters on Arkansas waterways. Officers arrested 23 boaters for boating while intoxicated, handed out 188 citations and issued 346 warnings. Booth noted that, most importantly, there were no boating fatalities on Arkansas waterways during Operation Dry Water, a national campaign to raise public awareness about the dangers of boating under the influence. 

A video of the meeting is available at https://www.youtube.com/user/ArkansasGameandFish.

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CUTLINES:

IN CHARGE
J.D. Neeley of Camden (left) leads the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission as its new chairman during July’s monthly meeting in Little Rock, as AGFC Director Austin Booth (left) and vice-chairman Anne Marie Doramus (right) look on.

INTERN AT THE LECTERN
Jackson Brown, a senior-to-be at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, was one of three summer interns at the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission who spoke to commissioners at the July monthly meeting. Each intern, part of a crew of 21 college interns and three Hutton Scholars at the agency this summer, gave a PowerPoint presentation of their work over an eight-week paid internship and how it has changed their understanding of how the agency operates.

FIRST DAY IN THE CHAIR
New AGFC commissioner Chris Caldwell of Little Rock notes his wife and son in attendance Thursday during his first monthly meeting with the Commission. Third-year commissioner Bill Jones is to Caldwell’s right.