The Spotlight

June 20, 2021

Rick Fields
Wildlife Officer, Pulaski County

In each edition of The Green Line, we hope to share a bit about some of the personalities that make up the AGFC’s Enforcement Division. We’re not only law enforcement officers, but members of the communities in which we live. We hunt, fish, attend baseball games with our families just like everyone else, and we love Arkansas’s outdoors so much that we’ve made it our life’s mission to ensure the next generation of Arkansans have the same opportunities we have been blessed with.

This issue’s featured officer is Wildlife Officer Szymanski “Rick” Fields II. Rick has been with the AGFC since 2017 and has been stationed in Pulaski County during his entire career. The variety of cases Rick has been involved with runs the gamut from enforcing wildlife regulations such as deer seasons and limits to working other law-enforcement agencies on everything from manhunts to drug eradication. Enforcement of regulations is only a portion of his job. Rick also is heavily involved with teaching Boating and Hunter Education to youth and adults, working at fishing derbies to introduce new anglers to the outdoors and visiting schools to increase trust between today’s youth and law enforcement officers.

We asked Rick a couple of questions about his experience. Here are a few comments from the man himself:

Question: What advice would you give to someone wanting to be a Wildlife Officer?

Answer: Gain as much hands on hunting/fishing experience as possible. Become an active Hunter Education/Boating Education instructor. Request a “ride along” with local Wildlife Officers.

Question: What’s your favorite thing about being a Wildlife Officer?

Answer: Instant gratification that comes with protecting the state resources from a poacher, sharing in the first hunting/fishing experience with a kid, and working in the great outdoors!

Becoming a Wildlife Officer:

For more information on becoming a Wildlife Officer contact Rick Fields at Rick.fields@agfc.ar.gov