AGFC Advisory Council increases connection with avid outdoorsmen and women 

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Director Austin Booth has  initiated the second Arkansas Game and Fish Advisory Council, a project he envisioned to more broadly connect the agency with the many communities that make up the conservation world in Arkansas.

Members of the council met with Booth in mid-September to flesh out a plan to reinstate some of the organized cleanups and work days on wildlife management areas that were suspended more than a decade ago.

“We’ve been approached by the public on multiple occasions to bring back volunteer work days to help open up some of the boat lanes before the season opens on some of our waterfowl-focused WMAs,” Booth said. “We have a lot of hunters who want to help and want to make access better. We hope to channel that energy, which frees up our staff’s time to focus on habitat.”

Booth says the role of the advisory council in this effort is to gather and organize the volunteers to make the most of the effort and ensure everyone working remains on the same page.

“In the past some people took advantage of the work days to cut new holes or clear out areas they would later stake a claim to,” Booth said. “As we move forward, we want to avoid those missteps so that everyone’s work benefits all users of the WMA. With more focus offered through the advisory council members, a lot more meaningful work is completed and everyone has more buy-in to taking care of the WMAs where they hunt.”

Introduced in 2023, Booth’s concept of the advisory council was to have a stable of volunteers to increase communication between the agency and the public and be advocates for the science-based conservation practices critical to continuing Arkansas’s standing as one of the most conservation-minded states in the nation. The council members are available to offer feedback on day-to-day activities of the agency and to help explain to the public some of the rationale behind some of the more complex efforts the AGFC is undertaking.

During the last year, Booth has taken recommendations from staff, Commissioners and outside organizations to develop a list of Arkansans who consistently demonstrate leadership roles in conservation communities throughout the state.  Advisory council members chosen for Fiscal Year 2025 include Brent Birch (Little Rock), Cason Short (Hunter), James Brandenberg (Bentonville), Jordan Case (Conway), Hunter Johnson (Des Arc), Doug Moore (Little Rock), Brent Reaves (Cabot), Jason Smith (Pea Ridge), Whitt Hartz (Stuttgart), T.L. Lauerman (Mountain Home), Levi Pillow (Paragould), Blake Williamson (Paragould), Pocahontas Mayor Keith Futrell (Pocahontas), Chuck Long (Marmaduke) and Brian Kelso (Jonesboro). Each of these individuals has exhibited true leadership qualities in the conservation arena for many years and is influential on local and regional levels.

“The idea behind the council is increasing that two-way communication between the agency and its active users,” Booth said. “These men and women are the conduit to help the AGFC better serve the many user groups who enjoy the outdoors. It’s not enough for us to just go about our daily work and expect the public to ‘fall in line.’”

Brent Birch has been on the previous advisory council as well as this one, and he says the grassroots clean-up effort is a big step forward in improving the relationship between hunters and the agency.

“A lot of people still remember the old cleanups and wanted to bring them back,” Birch said. “Bringing them back lets those hunters play an active role in the habitat that they hunt.”

Birch said that many of the names on the council belong to people who have a passion in duck hunting, but it is not solely a public land duck hunting council.

“We want to serve as a conduit between the general hunting public and the director on all sorts of matters, not just duck hunting and not just public land,” Birch said. “We’ve been charged with brainstorming things like how the hunting experience can be improved for a variety of species and we’re looking to reconvene in November to keep this momentum going.”

Cason Short also is serving his second year on the council. While it has been slow to start, he witnessed a lot of positive energy at their October meeting and has seen an excellent response to the calls to action for the WMA cleanups.

“It’s a good starting point, but I hope it goes well beyond the cleanups,” Short said. “Ultimately we want to help with two-way communication between the public and Commission and help offer insight on some of the issues that come up. People need to know that we’re here and how to reach out to us and I’m hoping that we’re working on that. Of course the cleanups are a great way to get that attention we need to build on the momentum.”

Booth says the feedback from the council will only enhance the comments derived from surveys and other ways the AGFC is reaching out to its constituents.

“People expect and deserve to be informed about the “why” behind the agency’s actions, and some of that is best served through interpersonal communication,” Booth said. “If we break down some of the initial ‘us against them’ barriers, we usually find out that we have the same common goal, and once we identify that goal, we can work arm-in-arm to achieve it. I’ve always said that conservation is only as good as its people, and this is a great opportunity to draw the people of conservation in Arkansas together and build a level of trust commensurate with the challenges we face.”

####

CUTLINES:

IN BOATS
Organized efforts with volunteers will help AGFC build a stronger bond with the hunters who use the WMAs. AGFC photo.

CLEARING TREE OFF TRAIL
The first few efforts of the advisory council will revolve around organizing volunteers to help remove trees and other obstacles to access on many of the AGFC’s WMAs. AGFC photo.

TRAIL
This trail at Long Bell Access on George H. Dunklin Bayou Meto was opened with the help of volunteers in early October. AGFC photo.