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

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/