AGFC director stepping down

Oct. 10, 2017

Keith Stephens

Chief of Communications

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Director Jeff Crow will be stepping down effective Feb. 28, 2018. Crow made the announcement this afternoon during a staff meeting. He has been the agency’s director since July 1, 2016. He replaced Mike Knoedl.

Crow is the agency’s 17th director in its 102-year history.

Commission Chairman Steve Cook said Crow continued to build on Knoedl’s foundation. “He was able take what Mike did and develop it. He was instrumental in the agency’s response and public outreach to the announcement that chronic wasting disease had been found in Arkansas’s elk and deer herds,” Cook said. “His leadership during the agency’s efforts to upgrade the AGFC’s pay plan were invaluable,” he added.

Commission Vice Chairman Ford Overton reiterated Cook’s remarks. “The contributions Jeff has made will be hard to replicate. He’s done an outstanding job for the AGFC,” Overton said.

As he talked with AGFC staff today, Crow said it was a bittersweet moment in his career. “While it is with a sense of sadness that I share this news, it is also tempered by a feeling of profound gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve alongside each of you over the last six years,” he said. “Without question, this has been the most rewarding time of my career, both personally and professionally.”

The search for Crow’s replacement will begin immediately, Cook said. “We’re going to do a very diligent search for the new director. The AGFC is staffed with a lot of intelligent and dedicated professionals. I want to make sure we listen to our staff and pick someone everyone believes can guide us into the future,” he said. “We look forward to this new chapter and see it as an opportunity to take the Commission to even greater heights.”

Before becoming director, Crow worked as an AGFC wildlife officer from 1986 to 1996. He then accepted a position with the Arkansas State Police, where he worked until his retirement from law enforcement in 2011. He returned to the AGFC in 2012 as colonel of the Enforcement Division, was promoted to deputy director in 2013 and AGFC chief of staff in 2014.

Crow also served 25 years in the Marine Corps, both active and reserve. He is a combat veteran of Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom II. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in organizational management from John Brown University and a master’s in public administration from Arkansas State University.