Austin Booth

U of O, AGFC join forces to build shooting sports facility

CLARKSVILLE — A recent agreement between University of the Ozarks and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has launched the public phase of a fundraising campaign by the university to build an Olympic-level shooting sports facility in Clarksville.

The memorandum of understanding outlines the construction and operation of the facility and was signed earlier this month in Little Rock by Austin Booth, director of the AGFC, and Richard Dunsworth, president of U of O.

Under the agreement, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will donate $2 million in matching funds to the project and the university will raise the remaining cost of the project. The facility will be open to the public and will be constructed on a 140-acre parcel owned by the university just south of Interstate 40.

According to Dunsworth, with the AGFC’s pledge, a total of $4.5 million has been committed to the project, including $1.5 million from the university and $1 million from the city of Clarksville.

“We are one step closer to having a world-class shooting facility right here in Clarksville,” Dunsworth said. “We have the full support of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the city of Clarksville and Johnson County, and now we’re ready to fully launch the fundraising initiative.”

The AGFC recently devoted an entire division’s focus to recreational shooting, which includes archery, competitive shotgun shooting and shooting range development.

Booth says the matching pledge is a continuation of the AGFC’s commitment to recreational shooting and its role in conservation.

“Aside from many being hunters and anglers and playing active roles in conservation, all recreational shooters contribute to conservation through the purchase of firearms and ammunition, which supports excise taxes earmarked for conservation work throughout the nation,” Booth said. “By increasing ranges in Arkansas, we’re not only helping remove barriers to hunting, but we’re also ensuring all who contribute to conservation are represented in our efforts.”

University officials said construction on the first phase of the project could begin once the university raises an additional $10 million. Dunsworth said the fundraising initiative would include naming-rights opportunities for donors.

The first phase of the complex would include a clubhouse, competition-level sporting clay courses and fields for skeet, trap and bunker as well as a pistol and rifle range. There will also be an archery field. The facility would also include spectator areas, picnic areas and pavilions.

The $5 million second stage would include an RV park and additional support spaces.

According to Dunsworth, the new facility would fill a void of competition-caliber shooting sports complexes in the region. The nearest Olympic-level complex is more than 600 miles away in San Antonio.

“Clay target shooting and archery are among the fastest-growing sports in the country, from youth on up to the collegiate level,” Dunsworth said. “Our research has shown that there are more than 100 junior and senior high and other youth shooting sports programs currently within a 100-mile radius of Clarksville, and we’re excited about providing a premier facility for these young men and women.”

The shooting complex will be adjacent to and easily visible from Interstate 40, the third-longest freeway in the United States. According to the Arkansas Department of Transportation, the Clarksville area of I-40 has an average daily traffic volume of about 30,000 vehicles.

Under the 15-year agreement, the AGFC staff would operate and manage the pistol and rifle range, and U of O will operate other parts of the facility.

The complex would be the home course of the university’s men’s and women’s sports shooting teams as well as local youth and high school shooting programs. Dunsworth said the university plans to create a collegiate archery program once the facility is completed.

The university established the state’s first board-sanctioned, competitive collegiate shooting program in 2010. Since then the teams have won seven individual and team national championships in sporting clay. Dunsworth said the university plans to create a collegiate archery program once the facility is completed.

Legislature adjourns with no funding for Game and Fish

KUAR | By Josie Lenora

The Arkansas House voted again not to fund the Game and Fish Commission on Thursday.

This came right before the House adjourned for the session, an event known as Sine Die. The vote marks the second attempt for the House to pass an appropriation bill for the commission this year. Legislators voted amid discussion of a controversial pay raise for the director.

Game and Fish Commission Director Austin Booth currently makes over $152,638. He asked the legislature for a $40,000 pay raise, which would push his salary to over $190,000.

Legislature adjourns with no funding for Game and Fish

Arkansas Game & Fish Foundation launches corporate partnership program with Greenway, Fiocchi

by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC), through its nonprofit foundation, announced Thursday (March 16) a new corporate partnership program designed for Arkansas companies to support long-term conservation efforts in the state.

The first two corporate partners to participate are Greenway Equipment, a John Deere equipment supplier with locations across Arkansas and southeast Missouri, and Fiocchi Ammunition, which has two ammo manufacturing plants in the Little Rock Port.

“Arkansas is blessed with not only fantastic natural resources, but we also are home to some of the most conservation-minded people and businesses in the country,” AGFC Director Austin Booth said. “Conservation is in the fabric of what makes us Arkansans, and this initiative will enable the many businesses who recognize that importance to contribute to the valuable work of conserving our natural resources for the next generation of Arkansans.”

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/03/arkansas-game-fish-foundation-launches-corporate-partnership-program-with-greenway-fiocchi/

AGFC Taps Veterans Affairs Chief of Staff to Lead Agency

Austin Booth New Director AGFC Courtesy AGFC

Austin Booth New Director AGFC
Courtesy AGFC

Randy Zellers Assistant Chief of Communications

LITTLE ROCK – Commissioners with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission unanimously voted at today’s regularly scheduled meeting to approve Austin Booth, a native of Scott, to become the agency’s 19th director in its 106-year history. He will replace Director Pat Fitts when he retires from the agency June 30.

Booth served as Captain in the United States Marine Corps in multiple capacities from 2011-2019, including a 2015-2016 deployment to Afghanistan. He comes to the AGFC after 18 months as Chief of Staff and Chief Financial Officer at the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs, where he oversaw financial functions as well as internal operations of the department. He is a graduate of The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, and received his Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law.

AGFC Chairman Andrew Parker said the decision to hire Booth was based on his proven track record in leadership and fiscal responsibility. “Booth has a keen understanding and vision for supporting the state’s leading conservation professionals and ensuring they have the means necessary to maintain Arkansas’s natural resources,” Parker explained.

https://www.agfc.com/en/news/2021/05/27/agfc-taps-veterans-affairs-chief-of-staff-to-lead-agency/