Arkansas Out-of-Doors January-February 2013

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

T H E O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E A R K A N S A S W I L D L I F E F E D E R AT I O N A F F I L I AT E D W I T H T H E N AT I O N A L W I L D L I F E F E D E R AT I O N

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Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Permit 128 Russellville, Ark. 72801

VOL 41

NO 1

Special Length New Years Issue A Focus on Birds Elk Values & Hunts Photo by Ethan Nahté

2 - Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013

AWF 2013 Call for Nominations

By Ethan Nahté

2013 marks 77 years in which Arkansas Wildlife Federation (AWF) has been working to benefit wildlife and the sportsmen. I am very proud to be a part of helping nature and helping people enjoy nature in Arkansas. AWF has been, and still is, a big part of conservation in Arkansas.

In November of 2012 Dr. Charles Logan and his wife Joyce decided to donate 31.62 acres of prime land located off of Interstate 530 at Exit #9 (401 West Bingham Road) to AWF. It will become our future home and future nature-viewing area. AWF bought a pre-constructed building and had it moved onto the property for a temporary office and storage building. We hope to be moved to the new location by March 1, 2013.

In the near future we hope to build a permanent office that everyone can be proud of to represent the organization. In the near fu-

ture AWF will work on the land to make it a place where people can come and visit the natural settings of some of Arkansas’ native wildflowers, wildlife and nature at its finest.

I am so pleased for the generous donation of Joyce and Dr. Logan. This is a very valuable piece of property and a great location for the AWF office. AWF would not be here today if not for Joyce & Dr. Logan and people like them who help AWF promote wildlife conservation. AWF wants to say thank you very much for their support and contribution.

If you would like to remember or honor someone, a memorial or honorarium gift is a great way to do so. Your contributions to AWF are 100% tax-deductible and it all stays in Arkansas.

Thanks for your support.

Wayne Shewmake

The Arkansas Wildlife Federation (AWF) is accepting nominations through June 15, 2013 for a variety of categories in in our annual Governor’s Conservation Achievement Awards. You may nominate in as many or as few categories as you would like. Just send in the form which can be found in this issue and upcoming issues of the AWF newspaper Arkansas Out-of-Doors.

If you are not an AWF member or club, you can find copies of the newspaper online at Issuu.com. Just type Arkansas-Out-of-Doors into the search bar. You will also be able to “follow” us once there. Each time we put out a new issue you will be notified. AWF will also be happy to send you a PDF of each issue if that works better. Just email AWF at arkwf@sbcglobal.net to request a copy.

When you send in your nominations please include supporting documents (i.e. newspaper clippings, photos, biographical information pertaining to the category the nomination is being made, etc.). Nominations can be mailed to the address on the nomination form or can be sent electronically to the email listed in the previous paragraph.

Arkansas Wildlife Federation Mission Statement

To advocate for the sustainable use of Arkansas’ wildlife habitats and natural resources for future generations.

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President - Wayne Shewmake 1st VP - Ellen McNulty 2nd VP - Jerry Crowe Treasurer - Gary Bush Secretary - Lucien Gillham Arkansas Wildlife Federation is a nonprofit 501c(3) organization and AWF (tax# 71-6059226) IRS Requirements: You are receiving $10 in goods for your membership, through AWF bi-monthly newspaper

Arkansas Wildlife Federation P.O. Box 56380 Little Rock, AR 72215

Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013- 3

A Historical Look at YCWF (originally printed 1996)

Yell County Wildlife Federation

by Jim Wood, Vice President – 1996

Immediately following World War II, many Yell County service veterans began returning home eager to resume hunting and fishing. Hunting, fishing and trapping were historically popular sports among county residents, especially rural folks.

Yell County hunters enjoyed productive annual populations of quail, waterfowl, rabbit, squirrel, and furbearers. Bear were totally eliminated shortly after 1900. Old time Yell County turkey hunters, Wayne DePriest and Steve Claypool, born 1903, and Charley Mashek, born 1908, reported wild turkey and whitetail deer barely avoided extinction with no more than a tiny remnant remaining in the mountains south of Fourche La Fave River.

Lake Nimrod was constructed near Plainview in 1942, but Yell County fishing was pretty much limited to local streams and unmanaged natural production. In 1946, Yell County Game & Fish wardens Bob Parker and Bob Campbell, assisted by biologist Gene Rush, organized these returning veterans and others into a thirty member county sportsman conservation club for the primary purpose of improving local game and fish management and an organized local encouragement for Arkansas Game & Fish Commission to re-

stock Yell County with deer and wild turkey. A year later, the club was named Yell County Wildlife Federation and became an affiliate of Arkansas Wildlife Federation. The club has successfully encouraged a partnership approach to wildlife habitat improvement through cooperative local projects with G & F Commission, U.S. Forest Service, Corps of Engineers, Quail Unlimited and others. The Club’s constitution/by-laws function, at the will of the membership, under a five member Executive Board structure that includes a President, Vice President, Secretary/ Treasurer and two Directors that must be past Presidents.

With an active membership often in excess of 100, the original county organization grew to also include numerous Pope County and other River Valley sportsmen that recreate in Yell County. In 1966, the club was recognized as the state’s top Conservation Organization of the Year by the Sears Roebuck Foundation Achievement Awards Program and again in 1995 received this same award. The Yell County Wildlife Federation, to date, is the only two time recipient of this top Arkansas Conservation Organization recognition. .

The club was noted regionally for sponsorship of their Annual Bird Dog Field Trial began in 1965 under Chairman A. B. Cox and first run on Corps of Engineer

lands near Lake Nimrod. A year later the trial was moved to near Pullen Pond on the Arkansas Game & Fish, Petit Jean Wildlife Management Area. The event gained such regional popularity that bird dog entries began exceeding 100 and had to be limited. One of the trials more notable annual competitors was Leon Cantwell from Little Rock who always entered top trained dogs. President Charles Ray later added a popular Quail Dinner to the program.

Upon Corps of Engineers completion of Dardanelle Dam and filling of Lake Dardanelle in 1965, largemouth bass in the lake and cat fishing below the dam in the Arkansas River became popular. The first Lake Dardanelle bass tournament was a 1970 Memorial Day event sponsored by Dardanelle Jaycees. Some contestants in this first bass tournament were Jimmy Houston from Oklahoma, who went on to become a popular TV fishing personality. Tournament bass club fishing has evolved into the top angling activity on Lake Dardanelle.

In 1987, Dardanelle Attorney Kenneth Parsley volunteered to help the club incorporate with the Secretary of State as a non-profit organization. This same year, G &F provided material and club members donated labor and building expertise to construct a 30 x 60 foot modem, mul-

tipurpose, concrete block building near the G & F Pullen Pond Field Trial area.

The structure is named A. B. Cox Lodge, commemorating his long time Chairmanship of 28 Field Trials. Post war efforts to restore deer, bear and turkey to Yell County were highly successful, yet quail production sharply declined, and likewise bird dog interest diminished, to the point the trial was discontinued in 1993 after 28 years. The Annual Quail Dinner

continues to be a popular club fund raising event. The club celebrates their 50th anniversary in 1996.

Past Yell County Wildlife Federation Presidents have included: Bob Parker, Noble Campbell, Ralph Gillham, Fred Burnett, Bob Apple, Charles Ray, Tom McEntyre, Bobby Balloun, John T. Bearden, A. B. Cox, Jim Wood, Dr. Jim Ed McGee, Len Cotton and Danny Bunting.

4 - Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013

New Website to Minimize Bird Collisions with Communication Towers Every year, approximately 7 million birds die from collisions with communication towers in North America. In July, the Federal Aviation Administration proposed changes to tower lights requirements that will reduce impacts on migratory birds. American Bird Conservancy led a coalition of other environmental organizations (including Defenders of Wildlife and National Audubon Society) working for over ten years with communication industry groups (including CTIA - The Wireless Association, National Association of Broadcasters, National Association of Tower Erectors, and PCIA - The Wireless Infrastructure Association) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC – the government agency that licenses towers) to bring this issue to its positive

conclusion. The Federal Aviation Administration has approved these tower light changes: • are very inexpensive • reduce tower energy costs • reduce tower maintenance costs • reduce bird collisions by more than 70%!

You can start protecting birds today! Please visit “Fewer Lights Safer Flights” a Michigan State University website http://fewerlights.anr.msu.edu/and share the address with others. The site includes information about the towers and birds problem, and toolkits for bird enthusiasts and tower operators and engineers. Our thanks to Joelle Gehring for all of her contributions to reduce bird collisions and establishing the new website.

ABC Collisions Website The American Bird Conservancy (ABC) has a program to address the problem of bird mortality caused by collisions with buildings. They have created a new website, http://collisions.abcbirds.org that includes information about bird-friendly design, legislation, and Birdtape, a consumer product for homeowners to make windows safe for birds.

Their publication, Bird-friendly Building Design, published in 2011, explains in straightforward terms why birds hit glass, what features make certain buildings more prone to bird collisions, and the science behind the collision phenomenon. Most importantly, the book provides cost-neutral solutions for new building construction and reasonable ways that existing buildings can be retrofitted to make them bird-friendly.

Download a pdf of Bird Friendly Building Design at http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/collisions/pdf/Bird-friendlyBuildings0112.pdf

ABC Research Project to Reduce Bird Collisions Highlighted on Discovery Channel Last Spring, ABC issued a release highlighting research efforts to reduce bird mortality caused by collisions with windows. The Discovery Channel has produced a five-minute segment about the project. The collisions story starts at about the 6:45 minute mark and ends at about the 12:00 minute mark. ABC’s Dr. Christine Sheppard is featured. View the clip at http:// watch.discoverychannel.ca/#clip820951

Mid-America Science Museum Home School Days

by Al Wolff

The holidays were barely over and school was back in session, yet it wasn’t long before Arkansas students who are home-schooled had the opportunity to enjoy a field trip to Mid-America Science Museum (MASM) in Hot Springs. More than one hundred children plus their parents arrived at MASM to enjoy and experience a variety of training stations which included making insects and arachnids with LED eyes, the importance of water and soil conservation, and at the AWF booth, hot to make pinecone bird feeders.

Various members of AWF’s board collected pine cones for the event. Lola Perritt and Ethan Nahté attended; teaching children of all ages how to make their feeders and explaining the importance of why the birds could use a little help while migrating. Due to the recent snow and ice Arkansas experienced, they also talked about the importance of clearing away a patch in the snow and ice if it lasts more than a day so that the birds can get to pebbles and grit to help them digest the seed. Did you know that birds have been known to starve to death even with a belly full of seed? Without the grit to help them grind the seed up in their gizzard, the seed just sits there and the birds derive no nutrition from their meal.

The children got to make their feeders, place them in a paper bag to prevent getting seed and shortening all over the museum, themselves, and the car. Some children even came back to make a feeder for a little brother or sister who was too small to build one on their own.

“It was great fun and educational for the children and the parents, plus it served a purpose,” said Nahté, “Hopefully they will be able to look out their window and watch the birds and gain a little more interest in the outdoors.”

Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013- 5

Arkansas Science Teacher Selected For Fellowship Program in Prestigious NSTA New Science Teacher Academy LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — December 12, 2012 — The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the largest professional organization in the world promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all, in collaboration with The Dow Chemical Company, the Amgen Foundation; Astellas Pharma US, Inc.; the American Honda Foundation; the Bayer USA Foundation; and Lockheed Martin, today announced that Lundon Pinneo, a science teacher at Maumelle High School in Maumelle, Ark., was chosen from hundreds of applications nationwide to participate as a Dow-NSTA Fellow in the 2012 NSTA New Science Teacher Academy. The only teacher selected from Arkansas, Pinneo will participate with 243 other science teachers from across the country in a year-long professional development program designed to help promote quality science teaching, enhance teacher confidence and classroom excellence and improve teacher content knowledge.

“We are thrilled to provide these teachers with the resources and support needed to help them feel confident and passionate about the critical work they do in inspiring today’s youth to become tomorrow’s

leading STEM professionals,” said Gerry Wheeler, interim executive director, NSTA. “Dow believes the future of successful STEM related careers for our youth is heavily influenced by passionate science teachers who are encouraged and mentored in their profession,” said Bo Miller, president of The Dow Chemical Company Foundation. “The New Science Teacher Academy engages early career teachers in an impactful way and Dow is proud to support them as they develop their teaching skills.”

The 2012 Fellows were selected on the basis of several criteria, including showing evidence of a solid science background and displaying a strong interest in growing as a professional science educator. Each Fellow will receive a comprehensive NSTA membership package, online mentoring with trained mentors who teach in the same discipline, and the opportunity to participate in a variety of web-based professional development activities, including web seminars. In addition, each Fellow will receive financial support to attend and participate in NSTA’s 2013 National Conference on Science Education in San Antonio.

For this academic year, The Dow Chemical Company, the primary sponsor of the

program, will fund the participation of 195 science teachers as Dow-NSTA Fellows.

The American Honda Foundation will support three science teachers as Honda-NSTA Fellows and the Amgen Foundation will support 11 science teachers as Amgen-NSTA Fellows. Astellas Pharma US, Inc. will support 14 science teachers primarily from the Chicago area as Astellas-NSTA Fellows and the Bayer USA Foundation will sponsor six science teachers as Bayer-NSTA Fellows. The remaining 15 science teachers will be supported by Lockheed Martin and named Lockheed Martin-NSTA Fellows.

Launched during the spring of 2007, the NSTA New Science Teacher Academy, co-founded with a grant from the Amgen Foundation, was established to help reduce the high attrition rate in the science teaching profession by providing professional development and mentoring support to early-career science teachers. Since its inception, the Academy has provided highquality professional development to more than 800 science teachers nationwide.

For a list of the 2012-2013 Fellows or to learn more about the NSTA New Science Teacher Academy, please visit www.nsta. org/academy.

AGFC contracts engineer for repairs to Spring River dam

consulting engineering services will be $159,420.

Damage to the gates, and the resulting lack of water pressure, caused the hatchery’s trout production to decline.

The hatchery produces 50 percent of

the state’s rainbow trout with most of the trout going to the Bull Shoals tailwaters in north Arkansas. In fiscal year 2012, the hatchery produced over 924,000 trout weighing in excess of 486,000 pounds.

LITTLE ROCK – Commissioners with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission last week authorized Crist Engineers, Inc. of Little Rock to begin design of repairs to Dam 3 at the Jim Hinkle Spring River State Fish Hatchery. A flood in late April 2011 damaged the dam’s gates, forcing the AGFC to make temporary repairs to the site.

Crist Engineers of Little Rock had already conducted a comprehensive study of the dam. They will now implement the findings and develop construction drawings for the renovation and restoration of the dam. The fee for Crist’s

Out with the Old: Recycling Cell Phones, Laptops, TVs...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - “Out with the old, in with the new”’ takes on a whole new meaning when the topic is electronic gear.

A new national certification program ensures that recyclers properly dispose of items such as laptops, televisions and cell phones. According to the Basel Action Network (BAN), a toxic-waste watchdog group, the oversight is necessary for what’s become an international environmental nightmare.

Mike Enberg, who heads BAN’s “e-Stewards” program, says it’s a challenge for even the most responsible recyclers to keep up with the demand.

“E-waste is the quickest-growing portion of the waste stream and has been for a number of years - 142,000 computers and over 416,000 mobile devices are trashed or recycled every day.”

Too often, Enberg says, electronics aren’t broken down by recyclers for their usable components, and hazardous waste isn’t safely disposed of. It may even be shipped overseas to become another country’s problem. To prevent that, he says, an e-Steward recycler uses only approved waste processors and submits to regular audits.

“Their recycling vendor yearly is audited to a standard that would preclude exporting hazardous waste to developing countries, or using U.S. prison labor to de-manufacture electronic hazardous waste, or dumping hazardous waste in landfills.”

A jury this month convicted top executives of a Colorado company for illegally exporting hazardous e-waste.

Free “e-Stewards” drop-off sites are located in Arkansas and nearly 30 other states so far, where people can be sure their cast-off electronics are recycled safely. Locations are listed at e-Stewards.org.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency says more than 80 percent of ewaste in the United States ends up in landfills or incinerators, where components made of toxic chemicals or metals can leach into groundwater or pollute the air.

More information on BAN is online at ban.org.

6 - Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013

Gordon Bagby AGFC Education Specialist Central Arkansas Nature Center

As we move into late winter, there is great news for Arkansas hunters. The 2012-13 deer season has been a record with over 212,000 reported thus far. Archery season remains open until February 28, so the final number has not yet been totaled.

Duck season ended January 27 with many successful hunts reported, mostly from areas that had water on the ground. Water amounts were low until late in the season and limited the areas available to hunt until mid-January in much of the state. The mid-season waterfowl report showed lower numbers of birds than the average from past seasons.

Spring turkey season opens April 20 in most of the state. Check zones at www. agfc.com for more information. The youth turkey hunt will be April 13-14 for ages 6-15. Arkansas experienced a great hatch in most of the state in 2012, with numerous reports of increased number of poults bringing encouraging news to turkey hunters.

The 2013 Fishing Guidebook and Trout Fishing Guidebook are now available at fishing license dealers and at www.agfc.com. Read below for information on two special events about fishing.

Upcoming Special Events at Central Arkansas Nature Center

February 26, 6:30-8:00 Bringing Back Bobwhites and Cottontails—Clifton Jackson, AGFC small game biologist, will present information on how landowners can provide habitat for quail and rabbits. It will include native forages, escape cover, prescribed fire and cost-share assistance. Space is limited so call the center at 501-907-0636 to register to attend.

March 12, 6:30-8:30 Crappie Fishing in Arkansas—Keith Sutton, one of the most renowned fishing authors in the US, will share information on how to catch crappie throughout the year and in locations statewide. Copies of his latest book, Crappie Fishing Handbook, will be available for purchase at the seminar. Call the center at 501-907-0636 to register and get ready for the spawn!

March 30, 10:00-3:00 Antique Fishing Tackle and Lure Evaluation—Members of the National Fishing Tackle Collectors Club will be available to inspect old fishing equipment, tackle and lures. If you have anything you would like to have appraised by a collector, bring it to the center that day!

Big Buck Classic 2013

by Wayne Shewmake

AWF had a booth at the 2013 Big Buck Classic this year. Our booth was located in the Arts & Crafts Building. We had a 12 gauge Remington 870 pump super mag shotgun to raffle off, and a Tasco Field Camera to give away.

We sold a large number of tickets for the drawings, got some new memberships, and several people who said they would join later.

We handed out our most recent issue of the AOOD newspaper. We also spoke to a lot of people about the work AWF is involved in on Bearcat Hollow, as well as other projects and about wildlife.

I made 25 wood duck boxes and Bobby Hacker cut out 30 blue bird house kits to sale. The boxes that didn’t sell will be used in February when we attend the Arkansas Sportshow in Jonesboro I want to thank both the Russellville & Dardanelle Super Walmarts for their contributions for this event. I also want to thank Bobby Hacker and Lucien Gillham for their help, as

e-Day Festival 2013 Hot Springs - The Hot Springs/Garland County Beautification Commission announces the sixth Annual “e-Day festival”. e-Day Festival, as their ad says, is for energy efficiency, education, entertainment, environment, earth, and excitement. The event aims to showcase one hundred environmentally conscious businesses, non profits, places of worship, and various eco-savvy groups that have something to offer us all: products, advice, and information to make our lives better.

This great free event will take place Sunday, May 19th from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Farmer’s Market, 121 Orange Street, in beautiful downtown Hot Springs.

Admission is completely free and there will

well as six ATU students: Megan, Morgan, Quinn, Josh, Alexa, & Leah for giving their time and helping AWF out for this event. They all said they had a good time and enjoyed meeting and greeting people and talking about Bearcat Hollow volunteer work.

I feel that our attending the Big Buck Classic, for the first time in several years, was a very worthwhile event. W enjoy the opportunity to get the AWF name out there, be seen and talk to the people about our conservation efforts.

be live music, food, a large youth activity area with games, petting zoo, and the Reel Kids casting competition. Of course, there will be all kinds of intriguing vendors with energy saving ideas and earth friendly products to purchase.

To be a part of this great event from as little as $37, or to be the headline sponsor for $1,500, and all the options in between, contact Adam Roberts at adamrobertshsgcbc@msn. com or call (501) 655-2161.

Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013- 7

Arkansans invited to voice comments on proposed 2013-14 hunting season regulations LITTLE ROCK – The annual public meetings concerning the state’s hunting seasons have passed, but there’s still time to send any comments or concerns to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Just visit Regulation Survey to take a quick online survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2013-14HuntRegsComments The following considerations are being surveyed for the 2013-14 season: • Change the checking time from 24 to 12 hours for bear, deer and turkey.

• All cervid carcasses entering the state must follow cervid carcass importation restrictions. This will include all states, Canadian provinces and countries not currently listed in the code.

• Implement 12-inch inside spread or 15-inch main beam length antler restriction on Dr. Lester Sitzes III Bois d’Arc, Hope Upland, McIlroy Madison County, Scott Henderson Gulf Mountain and Shirey Bay Rainey Brake WMAs. • Implement 15-inch inside spread or 18-inch main beam length antler restriction on Dave Donaldson Black River WMA. • Change the WMA deer permit process from two drawings to one and extend the payment period from two to four weeks.

Permits not paid for will be available for purchase online.

• Include deer zone 3 in the private lands antlerless only modern gun deer hunt.

• Modify boundaries of deer zones 11 and 13.

• Allow the harvest of one doe in deer zone 11 for the entire muzzleloader and modern gun seasons.

• Prohibit mentors from carrying firearms for their hunting purposes during any youth hunt.

• Re-instate the bear quota for zone 2 of 150 (125 for October and 25 for November).

• Move the opening day of bear archery season in bear zone 2 from Sept. 15 to Oct. 1.

• Allow squirrel hunting with dogs except for the first nine days of modern gun deer season on Ozark National Forest, Piney Creeks and White Rock WMAs. Written comments may be mailed by Feb. 28 to the AGFC, Attn: Hunting Regulations Proposals, 2 Natural Resources Drive, Little Rock, AR 72205.

In Memorium Bobby Balloun, who served as Yell County Wildlife Federation’s president in the late 1960’s, passed away at age 77, January 6th, 2013. His memorial service was held the morning of January 15th at Methodist Church in Dardanelle.

Balloun served during the heated debates about deer/running dog controversy. Balloun also worked during his term to develop duck areas on Petit Jean WMA. Balloun corresponded for a lengthy amount of time with Andrew Hulsey of AGFC as to the importance and reasons the duck areas were needed and beneficial. AGFC finally decided to build the P. J. Black Land duck area which would include a water supply lake. Since YCWF had battled for the project so long, Hulsey allowed YCWF to name the lake. Balloun submitted Mallard Lake but the name was already taken in Arkansas. The next name submitted was Kingfisher Lake and was accepted. For several years the P. J. Black Land duck area was highly productive.

“A couple years ago I photographed 2 alligators sunning on the Lake shore,” said longtime YCWF & AWF member Jim Wood. “[It’s] something I expect Andrew Hulsey or Bobby Balloun would have never imagined.”

Bobby Balloun

John A. Cooper, Jr. of Bella Vista, chairman of Cooper JOHN A. Communities, Inc., died January 6, 2013. Cooper’s father the retirement communities of both Cherokee Village COOPER, JR. started and Bella Vista Village. Cooper, Jr. expanded upon his father’s

work, took over as president of the company, and was instrumental in developing Hot Springs Village. They eventually created other communities in other states. Anyone who has been to these areas is well aware of how well-maintained they are and the fact that they keep nature a focus with a variety of lakes, trails, natural areas, and minimum signage.

An avid sportsman and hunter, he was also a charter member of the Arkansas Nature Conservancy Board and was instrumental in developing financial support for the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council, which has resulted in tens of thousands of acres of new public lands throughout the state.

In honor of his leadership role with the Arkansas Corporate Council for Conservation, the organization recognized Cooper in 2003 by annually awarding the Cooper Family Conservation Award to a business, organization, or individual who has done outstanding conservation work in Arkansas.

His wife, Pat, does work with The Nature Conservancy, especially for endangered bats in the Bella Vista area and northwest Arkansas.

Arthur Bentley Cox (A.B.), age 94, of Dardanelle died Saturday, December 22, 2012. In addition to co-founding YCWF and his work with them for more than 60 years, Cox was also an active member of several organizations throughout the years.

His greatest passions were quail hunting, dogs and horses. In 2005 he was inducted into the Arkansas Bird Dog Hall of Fame. He organized the Pullen Pond Field Trial and served as field trial chairman for 30 years. He was secretary and treasurer of the Arkansas Field Trial Association (Southwest Championship) in Booneville, Arkansas.

There is quite a bit said about Cox in the variety of articles found in this issue about the history of Yell County Wildlife Federation.

A.B. COX

Jim Holloway, 70, of Hazen, Arkansas, passed away JAMES "JIM" December 18, 2012. Holloway was an avid sportsman and founder of the Bowhunters Association. For many "'CLIFFORD years HollowayWattensaw organized popular archery events in the WatHOLLOWAY tensaw area. He will be missed by his family, friends and AWF members who knew him.

8 - Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013

Trail Tales

By Johnny Sain, Jr.

The Threat that Hides in Plain Sight One of the biggest threats to native ecosystems is non-native species. Some species have been here for so long that we accept them as part of our natural landscape.

Japanese honeysuckle, Mimosa trees, and daylilies come to mind. Heck, these plants were just a part of rural Arkansas as I was growing up.

How many of us have welcomed a warm June morning by taking a deep breath filled with the sweet smell of Japanese honeysuckle? Remember when you lost count of the tiger swallowtails, bumblebees, and hummingbirds flitting around the fuzzy pink mimosa blossoms. And the daylilies, oh the daylilies: clumps of long vibrant green leaves and a slender stalk with that flame of orange atop it. Yes, gentle reader.

All of these are invasive. Though native animals may utilize them, they crowd out the native plants. Don’t be fooled by a

pretty face.

You may ask, “So what?”

Mary Ann King, Owner of Pine Ridge Gardens has an answer. “Some plants and some insects are very specialized. If an invasive species crowds out a particular plant, the pollinator that has evolved to pollinate it may die out.”

Mary Ann said that flowers and bugs aren’t the only things that suffer. “The local birds eat the bugs. I know that they sell birdseed everywhere, but all young birds must have protein and that protein comes in the form of insects. Fewer native plants mean fewer bugs and that means fewer birds. It’s just a big cycle.”

Foreign invaders aren’t limited to plants either. Invasive animals are a problem too. Snakehead fish from Asia have been found in at least seven states including Arkansas. Voracious predators

that feed on anything that moves, snakeheads could upend aquatic ecosystems that have been fine-tuned for balance over millions of years.

Wild hogs have expanded their range across the country. Hogs are now found in 45 states and the numbers show no signs of slowing down. They wreak havoc on farm fields and pond levees. Ground nesting birds are also at risk as pigs root through the forest floor.

This past week another invasive species made headlines in conservation news. It’s a problem that many naturalists have been aware of for years. Many folks were unaware of how big the problem is though. A peer-reviewed study published and authored by scientists from two of the world’s leading science and wildlife organizations - the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - has found that bird and mammal mortality caused by outdoor cats is much higher than has been widely reported. Annual bird mortality is now estimated to be 1.4 to 3.7 billion and mammal mortality likely 6.9 - 20.7 billion individuals.

These cats aren’t bobcats and mountain lions. Nope, these are domestic cats. Cats that have been dumped or abandoned and house cats named Snuggles and Garfield that are allowed outdoors.

Now you may ask, “So what?”

Just like Mary Ann said about the plants, intricate relationships between native predators and prey are being disrupted.

And, let’s be clear, native wildlife – those species not generating financial gains anyway – have had the deck stacked against them for a while. Yet, challenges continue to be added.

There is a common thread among all of these invasive species. I’ll give you a hint: they didn’t get here on their own.

The mimosa didn’t send out roots across the pacific back in the 1700’s. The pigs didn’t sprout wings and fly from state to state. Kitty’s lack of opposable thumbs makes it pretty hard to turn a doorknob.

Nope, they’ve had help and it was the species that most likely came to this continent by way of an ancient land bridge across the Bering Sea. To be clear, none of these of these species were turned loose on American soil with bad intentions. They were brought here for food, for aesthetics, and as companions. But, they were brought here without an understanding of the big picture.

Today, we have access to a broader view.

We have years of research and a better understanding of how nature works. This means we can make changes to fix the problems. It also means that ignorance is no longer an excuse.

Answers about the snow goose conservation order LITTLE ROCK – After a brief halt Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 2-3, for the waterfowl youth hunt, the 2013 Snow Goose Conservation Order will again be in operation in Arkansas.

This is a continent-wide effort to reduce excessive populations of the geese that are prolific breeders in the far north.

They are found in winter in large numbers in parts of Arkansas.

Here are answers to some frequent questions from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission:

• Shotguns may be unplugged, allowing them to hold more than three shells. Rifles of any caliber are not allowed.

• Registration for this special season is required, and it is free. Go online to www.agfc.com or phone toll free to (800) 364-GAME.

• Snow geese can be dressed out in the field, but one wing or the head must remain attached to each bird for species identification.

• Participants must carry current hunting licenses, but they can be from any state.

• Shooting hours are 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. This is a change from regular waterfowl hunting that ends at sunset.

• Federal and state migratory waterfowl hunting stamps (duck stamps) are not required. Harvest Information Program (HIP) registration is not required.

• Steel shot is required.

• Electronic callers and decoys can be used.

• There are no bag limits.

• Hunter education certification must be carried by all hunters born after Dec. 31, 1968.

• To hunt snow geese on certain state wildlife management areas, the free Sweet Sixteen permits are required.

Get them online at www.agfc.com, by toll free phone call to (800) 364-GAME or at any AGFC regional office.

The Snow Goose Conservation order runs through April 25 although nearly all the migrating birds will be gone from Arkansas by then.

Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013- 9

Outdoor Cats: Single Greatest Source of Human-Caused Mortality for Birds and Mammals, Says New Study A new peer-reviewed study authored by scientists from two of the world’s leading science and wildlife organizations – the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) – has found that bird and mammal mortality caused by outdoor cats is much higher than has been widely reported, with annual bird mortality now estimated to be 1.4 to 3.7 billion and mammal mortality likely 6.9 – 20.7 billion individuals.

The study, which offers the most comprehensive analysis of information on the issue of outdoor cat predation, was published in the online research journal Nature Communications and is based on a review of more than 90 previous studies. The study was authored by Dr. Peter Marra and Scott Loss, research scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and by Tom Will from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Division of Migratory Birds. It is available at http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/cats/pdf/Loss_et_al_2013.pdf.

According to Dr. George Fenwick, President of American Bird Conservancy, one of the leading bird conservation organizations in the U.S. and a group that has called for action on this issue for many years, “This study, which employed scientifically rigorous standards for data inclusion, demonstrates that the issue of cat predation on birds and mammals is an even bigger environmental and ecological threat than we thought. No estimates of any other anthropogenic (human-caused) mortality source approach the bird mortality this study calculated for cat predation.”

The study’s estimate of bird mortality far exceeds any previously estimated U.S. figure for cats. In fact, this magnitude of mortality may

exceed all other direct sources of anthropogenic bird and mammal mortality combined. Other bird mortality sources would include collisions with windows, buildings, communication towers, vehicles and pesticide poisoning.

“The very high credibility of this study should finally put to rest the misguided notions that outdoor cats represent some harmless new component to the natural environment. The carnage that outdoor cats inflict is staggering and can no longer be ignored or dismissed. This is a wake-up call for cat owners and communities to get serious about this problem before even more ecological damage occurs,” Fenwick said.

The study estimated that the median number of birds killed by cats annually is 2.4 billion and the median number of mammals killed is 12.3 billion. About 69 percent of the bird mortality from cat predation and 89 percent of the mammal mortality was from un-owned cats.

Un-owned cats are defined to include farm/barn cats, strays that are fed but not granted access to human habitations, cats in subsidized colonies, and cats that are completely feral.

The study charges that “Despite these harmful effects, policies for management of freeranging cat populations and regulation of pet ownership behaviors are dictated by animal welfare issues rather than ecological impacts.

Projects to manage free-ranging cats, such as Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) colonies, are potentially harmful to wildlife populations, but are implemented across the United States without widespread public knowledge, consideration of scientific evidence or the environmental review processes typically required for actions with harmful environmental consequences.”

Location a key to bluebird box nesting success LITTLE ROCK – People in the real estate business talk about the importance of “location, location , location.”

It also applies to bluebird nesting boxes.

You can build or buy a bluebird box readily, but where it is put up is probably more of a factor in getting nesting success than the box itself. Bluebirds choose nesting sites that can benefit and safeguard them and the babies they produce, according to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Bluebirds have made a dramatic comeback in Arkansas and over much of the eastern half of the United States from drastic declines in numbers several decades back. The drop in bluebird populations was largely due to changing habitat. Hollows in trees they once used were scarce because the trees were cleared for agriculture. Then hollows in wooden fence posts disappeared with the use of metal posts.

Man-made nesting boxes accounted for much of the resurgence in bluebird numbers in the last half century.

Where the box is erected is vital, according to Richard B. Fischer, an environmental education professor at Cornell University.

Fischer’s extensive research led to a list of preferences for bluebird box sites: • Short, mowed grass, like a golf course or cemetery.

• Open land, similar to a meadow.

• Utility wires nearby, for bluebirds to perch while hunting insects below.

• No nearby buildings that might harbor house sparrows, which can invade nests and kill the young.

• An expanded front yard with a garden.

• Scattered knee-high bushes, such as those found in old fields.

• Grasses and other low vegetation under the shade of 20-foothigh trees.

• Well-established maturing trees.

Bluebird boxes need to be four to five feet off the ground and in place by early February as the male birds, the nest locators, begin their searches even before winter is over, according to the Game and Fish Commission.

10 - Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013

What Good Are Our Elk?

by Don White, Jr.

its in areas where they are abundant, dictate to a large degree the variety of plant species that may exist. The role that a keystone species plays in its ecosystem is analogous to the role of a keystone in an arch (see figure below).

“In conservation, science tells us what to do; but values tell us why we should do it.”

Reed Noss, Conservation Biologist Recently, I was asked a question, the type of which I have been asked many times: what good are they? What “they” are has varied widely over the years. I have been asked the “what good are they?” question about grizzly bears, timber rattlesnakes, red-headed woodpeckers, even old trees. This time the question was about elk: of what real value are they?

You probably know that wild free-ranging elk have been roaming the Buffalo River country of northwest Arkansas since the early 1980’s. Many Arkansans have experienced the thrill and excitement of seeing a herd of elk in a field or hearing a bull’s more-than-eerie tremulous bugle on a cold, frosty October morning. For years the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) has been educating the public about elk through radio, television, the internet, newspapers, and magazine outlets.

But many people still know very little about our elk herd.

After hearing or reading about elk knocking down fences and eating forage crops intended for cattle, some Arkansans have questioned the value of having elk in our state.

It’s a fair question. I can think of many reasons elk are valuable to us. Here are 6 of them.

Ecological Values It is surprising to some people to hear that elk are na-

tive to Arkansas. Limited historical information indicates that elk went extinct in Arkansas by the 1840s. They disappeared along with bison, black bear, prairie chicken, and ruffed grouse as European settlers immigrated into the state. Although it is impossible to prove conclusively, elk were likely eliminated from Arkansas as a result of over-hunting, habitat destruction, and competition with domestic livestock.

Elk were reintroduced into Arkansas after a 140-year absence for at least a couple of reasons. First, they are part of our native fauna. Elk are as natural to the Natural State as white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, and black bears.

Second, elk were reintroduced so they could resume the role they play in nature. Elk are large herbivores (they eat vegetation) that influence the occurrence and distribution of other animals, such as ground and shrub-nesting birds, and many plant species, especially grasses. One of the ecological roles elk may play in the Ozarks is that of a keystone.

Keystones are species that have a disproportionately large effect on their environment relative to their abundance.

Studies have shown that elk, by their selective feeding hab-

While the keystone is under the least pressure of any of the stones in an arch, the arch still collapses without it. Similarly, an ecosystem may experience a dramatic shift if a keystone species is removed, even though that species was a small part of the ecosystem by measures of biomass or productivity.

Scientific Values Humans are curious beasts, we always have been. We have an unquenchable desire to know. We think, we ponder, we ask, we discover, we act. What roles do wildlife play in maintaining the health of our natural environments? How do elk influence the occurrence and distribution of vegetation, ground and shrub-nesting birds, and small mammals such as rodents? Do elk influence wild turkey and white-tailed deer populations? If so, how? How does timber harvesting influence elk populations? Seeking answers to such questions is a natural, intuitive thing for humans to do. Elk provide Arkansans with an opportunity to ask fundamental questions about nature and how we and other living organisms relate to one another and how we can live more sustainably on earth together.

Educational Values I could use many different examples of the educational value of elk. But I have chosen to share a true story of a young boy and how elk opened up a world of educational opportunities for him. A few years ago I was invited by a 3rd grade public school teacher, Carol, to visit her classroom and talk to her students about elk. Eight-year-old young people are not known for long attention spans. Thus, my typical PowerPoint slide presentation was not going to cut it with this crowd. To make my presentation more “handson,” I pulled out elk skulls, antlers, teeth, skins, and even elk pellets (feces) to give the children something to look at and touch. You can imagine the reception Petri dishes full of elk poop received! The children loved learning and talking about elk, and I enjoyed teaching them.

About four months later Carol contacted me. She said she had a boy in her class named Hunter that was not making much academic progress. She was worried about him.

Hunter was falling further and further behind the rest of the children. Although not illiterate, Hunter was a poor reader; he found it burdensome and boring. Carol told me that af-

ter my elk presentation four months earlier Hunter showed an interest in learning more about elk. She encouraged his interest by making several books on elk available to him.

He consumed them with relish. Hunter so enjoyed them he checked out other books on elk and other wildlife from the school library and read them as well. Carol said in only about three months Hunter’s ability to read improved dramatically. Hunter caught up with the rest of the class by the end of the school year. Hunter’s parents also noticed the difference in their son and contacted Carol to ask what she did to get their son so excited about reading and learning. Carol told Hunter’s parents she was not responsible for Hunter’s transformation. Nor am I. Elk get all the credit.

Recreational Hunting and Viewing Values For thousands of years humans have intensively hunted elk for their trophy value and for their meat for food, hides for clothes or rugs, antlers for tools, and teeth to adorn clothing. In most of the states and Canadian provinces currently occupied by elk, elk are treated as game animals, subject to regulated hunting. Thousands of elk are legally harvested annually in North America, generating millions of dollars in license revenues and elk hunting-related spending.

Elk were reintroduced to Arkansas, in part, because of their incredible recreational value. If you have ever spent time in the Buffalo River country in autumn, you know what I am talking about. The sights and sounds created by Arkansas’ largest deer species are awe inspiring.

Elk hunting in Arkansas is not a large industry involving thousands of hunters like it is in Colorado or Montana, but we do have a hunting season. Every fall since 1998, a few fortunate Arkansans have received permits to hunt elk.

Permits are obtained by random draw for hunting on public land and by written permission from landowners for hunting on private land. To date, 378 elk have been harvested, including several magnificent bulls. The graph below summarizes the number of bulls, cows and calves, and total number of elk harvested in Arkansas since 1998. In 2012, a record number of elk (44) were harvested, including 20 bulls and 24 cows and calves.

Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013- 11 The value of elk as captivating subjects to observe or photograph is a more recent development that is increasing rapidly. In late September and October thousands of Arkansans and guests visit the Boxley Valley on highway 43 just south of Ponca in Newton county to view and photograph the elk herd that lives there. The number of visitors to the Ponca Elk Education Center, a facility operated by the Education Division of the AGFC in Ponca, has increased substantially every year since the education center opened its doors in 2002.

One reason our elk attract so much public attention during the rutting season is because the AGFC manages to maintain 40-45 bulls for every 100 cows in the population. That many bulls assures an intense (and noisy!) rutting season. An 800-pound rutting bull actively defending the 5-15 cows in his harem from other bulls in the area is a spectacle to behold.

Economic Values The economic value (in terms of dollars) of elk in Arkansas has not been studied. Positive economic benefits occur from visitors seeking to observe and experience elk for themselves. Undoubtedly, however, there is a negative side to elk. Elk damage to forage crops (eating and trampling) have been an important management issue since elk were reintroduced into the Buffalo River watershed in the early 1980s. Supplemental feeding of hay to cattle in winter is critical to the success of many ranching operations and reduction of hay crops due to elk depredation may cause economic losses. Beginning in spring 2013, a 3-year study will be conducted by wildlife biologists from the University of Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station (me) and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (including Wes Wright, Mark Baron, and Brad Miller) to assess the impact of elk on farming and ranching operations. The data from this study will place AGFC elk biologists and habitat managers in a position to deal objectively and fairly with questions and concerns from the public and cattle ranchers about elk depredation of standing forage crops. These data are also needed in evaluating elk habitat suitability, and planning and evaluating habitat improvement and elk damage mitigation programs in the Buffalo River watershed.

Spiritual Values For thousands of years, elk have held a spiritual significance for many Native American cultures. Generally, many cultures spiritually held that bull elk represented strength, courage, protectiveness, gallantry, masculinity, tenacity, sexual prowess, and virility. Elk are closely associated with the idea of love and passion. It’s easy to see why. Adult bull elk attract and maintain a harem of cows during the rutting season by acting aggressively toward other bulls and bugling loudly. Here is an example from Newton (1994:88-89) as quoted by McCabe (2002:191): “Early in the 19th century, a Crow named Travels went into the mountains to fast after being rejected by the woman he wished to marry. On the fifth day of the fast, he had a vision in which an elk-man wearing a painted elk-skin robe spoke to him. When you go home make a robe like that which I am wearing now, ‘ the elk-man told him. ‘Paint it as this one is painted. Put it on and walk in front of the girl you love. Sing my songs and whistle. She will not refuse you again.’ Travels did as instructed. He killed a large bull elk and fashioned its skin into a replica of the robe he had seen in his vision. He wore the robe for a single day. The following morning, Travels related, the woman who had spurned him came to his tipi and said she would be his wife.”

For the most part, only Native American cultures have a historically strong spiritual affinity to elk. But that doesn’t mean that elk play no role in the spiritual lives of people of other cultures. Many non-Native Americans respect and revere elk for their size, strength, beauty, and dignity.

At the very least we need elk for the ecological roles they play in nature, for their scientific value, for what they teach us and inspire us to do, for their recreational value, for their contributions to our economy, and for their spiritual significance. But we also need elk . . . as we need grasses, wildflowers, streams, mountains, smallmouth bass, and clear sky . . . because they are part of our nature, our forests . . . because they are regal and majestic. We need them to teach us humility.

Don White, Jr., Ph.D., Wildlife Ecologist, University of Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Arkansas Forest Resources Center, University of Arkansas-Monticello; whited@uamont.edu. For more information or to see more of Mr. White’s elk images, please visit http://www.afrc.uamont.edu/whited/

AWF to Auction Off Youth Elk Hunting Permit

by Ethan Nahté

LITTLE ROCK – January, 2013, commissioners from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission approved grants of youth elk hunting permits (either sex) for the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation and the Arkansas Wildlife Federation (AWF).

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation also received an either sex permit. The permits are for fundraising purposes and will be used during the October 2013 hunt.

AWF will once again present their permit in a live auction at this year’s annual Conservation Achievement Awards Banquet to be held Saturday, August 24th at The Center of Bryant. The permit is one of several interesting items available during the live auction, as well as the silent auction. 2012’s live auction included an African safari, a dove hunt in Argentina, weekend getaways to both Iron Mountain (Lake Degray) and Mountain Harbor (Lake Ouachita) resorts, a trip with AGFC to visit a bear den and the opportunity to hold the bear cubs, a guided deer hunt, and more.

See accompanying article this issue on Shane Easterling’s, 2012’s auction winner, elk hunt.

Check out The Huntin’ Show and their website for broadcast dates following the hunt.

12 - Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013

Hunter’s Elk Hunt

by Shane Easterling & Ethan Nahté

On a very hot Saturday in August, Shane Easterling –Field Producer/Pro Staff for the TV program The Huntin’ Show received a call from Nathan Ogden, his lifelong friend and host of the show. Ogden was driving to the Arkansas Wildlife Federation Banquet in Bryant, Arkansas. Nathan wanted to talk to Shane’s 10-year-old son Hunter. They visited about hunting and how Hunter was ready for bow season to start in a few months.

Shane had walked into the garage, when suddenly he heard Hunter say, “Dad, guess what I might get to do in October?”

Not knowing what his son and buddy were up to, Shane asked his son what he was going to do. Hunter said his dad “…should expect a call from Nathan later tonight!” Now Shane was really confused but was assured

by Nathan that all was going to be great and that he would be in touch!

As it turns out, Nathan and Hunter had decided that since Hunter and his father were not at the auction to bid, Nathan would try to bid for the Arkansas elk youth tag donated to AWF by AGFC. A few short hours later the phone rings and it is Nathan. Shane handed the phone to Hunter, who began jumping around the house telling me he was going to be one of the Arkansas youth that would get a chance of a lifetime to hunt elk in the Gene Rush Wildlife Management Area in Newton County and the Richland Valley District in Searcy County.

The youth tag is a great way to get Arkansas youth involved in hunting and conservation, and a great way to further the mission of AWF while also supporting the AGFC. Hunter has been hunting with his father since he was big enough to carry his BB gun. The first successful deer hunt for Hunter was at the age of 8 when he harvested a nice eight-point buck as his first wildlife trophy. Shane had the head mounted, just as his own father had done for his first deer, which was also an eight-point buck. The mount is displayed proudly in Hunter’s bedroom.

Neither Hunter nor Shane had ever been hunting in the Gene Rush WMA. Shane pulled up the AGFC website and was able to view the elk hunting zone map, showing boundary areas and zones.

They proceeded to get in touch with Wesley Wright, the Elk Program Coordinator with AGFC’s Wildlife Management Division. Wes was very helpful with providing the Easterlings with various maps of the Gene Rush Management Area and maps of the Buffalo National River (BNR). The maps were very detailed showing all boundary lines, food plots, creeks, roads, trails, etc… that would allow the Easterlings to get acquainted with the new hunting area.

Hunter’s granddad, Clifton Flud, lives in Piercetown, just a few miles from the BNR and Gene Rush WMA. Clifton had hunted Gene Rush in years past, and considering he has lived in the area his whole life, he was ready to help them develop an action plan for Gene Rush.

For the next eight weekends Hunter, Clifton and Shane would drive to Gene Rush WMA to scout the various food plots looking for signs and trails that would lead out of the different plots. Around noon, the clan would drive back to Clifton’s house, to eat and Hunter would practice shooting his gun.

He would use the same gun he used to harvest the eight-point a few years before, a Ruger M77 chambered in .280 Remington with a Nikon 3x9x40 scope with the BDC reticle. Hunter would shoot five to ten shots ranging from 75 to 225 yards every weekend, trying different shooting positions and varying angles to get ready for anything he might encounter on the elk hunt.

Sunday, October 28th was the mandatory orientation day for all elk hunters who had public land tags for the October 29th – November 2nd season. After introductions of the AGFC personnel, listening to all rules and receiving their elk tag; hunters were invited to ask questions and to visit with the AGFC game wardens with any questions concerning all rules and regulations.

Hunter and Shane headed to their campsite deep in the Gene Rush WMA to scout around the camper, get some supper going and prepare for the opening day! Brandon Karn, Field Producer/Pro Staff of The Huntin’ Show, camped with the father-son team.

Karn agreed to take time off work to not only film the experience of a lifetime, but to also provide some much valuable knowledge as an elk hunter himself. Karn has harvested elk in Colorado.

“Hunter was so excited to be camping in the elk woods” said Shane. “I have to say, I was as excited to be there with my son!

There is something about sitting around a campfire and listening in the distance to the elk bugle and to actually hear Elk walking around the camper in the middle of the night!”

During their many scouting trips, Hunter and Shane had found several shooter bulls that would have been great trophies for any hunter, especially one who was 10-yearsold. “The one bull that we wanted to harvest was a massive 7x7 that we had filmed on three different occasions while scouting,” said Shane. “This was the bull we were going after the first morning. We all barely slept and we were up at 4 AM for a quick breakfast and headed to our honey hole where we had seen the 7x7 the last three weekends in a row.”

The first two days were a bust. After seeing numerous elk while scouting, they expected to harvest a great bull on the first morning, but no such luck.

Shane said, “Where had they gone? What happened to the schedule the herds had been on? We had two different herds somewhat patterned with five shooter bulls in the herds, but now they were nowhere to be found?”

They were puzzled to say the least after eight weekends of scouting, walking several

miles and pouring over the maps. The trio were not able to find either the monster 7x7 or any of the other bulls.

Karn called one of the other The Huntin’ Show Field Producer/Pro Staffers, Ben Milburn, another accomplished elk hunter, for ideas and assistance. Milburn would not only help us try to get in front of a bull, but to work the camera as well since Karn had to return to work Karn assured Hunter that Ben and his father would “…make his dream come true… not to worry!”

The Easterlings met with Milburn on the third morning. They spotted a few bulls early in the morning and were trying to get ahead of the moving herd, but none of them were the large 7x7.

“I can’t say enough about Ben’s willingness to get Hunter in front of a massive bull,” said Shane. “He was scanning the area, running ahead of us to scout, running back and cow-calling, all in one motion!

Hunter, to say the least, was having the time of his life.”

They eventually decided to change locations, seeking their “monster.” They pulled up in front of an AGFC field gate.

Hunter got his gun and they made our way to the tree line, making it about 100 yards into the woods when they caught the first sight of a massive bull with a drop tine.

Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013- 13 It was not the same 7x7 they had scouted, but a 5x8. As luck would have it, the bull didn’t know they were anywhere around, so Milburn decided they would stalk the bull to get Hunter a little closer due to the thick brush surrounding them. Milburn was hopeful the thick brush would allow them to get another 40-50 yards closer to the bull.

They were able to close the distance and get Hunter set up on his shooting stick. “A tool that I would recommend for anyone to carry while hunting,” said Shane.

The bull was standing broadside at 52 yards and was very alert. “I am sure he had noticed the commotion of the ‘moving camouflaged trees’ getting closer to him,” said Shane.

Hunter told them he was ready and had the cross hairs on the bull. He eased the safety off and placed his finger on the trigger. His father was standing behind him, softly talking to him to remind him to breath and to make sure he didn’t hit the tree that was between the elk and the hunters.

Probably a bit impatient as well as anxious, Hunter said, “Dad, I am ready.” Before his father could reply the gun reported with a “kaboom!”

“Wow,” exclaimed Shane. “I was not as ready as Hunter was, but was paying enough attention to see the bark fly and the massive bull elk run off! Ben was watching the shot and knew that Hunter had hit the tree, but just to make sure we went to see if there was any blood or hair that might let us know that Hunter had actually hit the elk. Sure as the world, the bark was gone and there was not a single drop of blood or hair anywhere! Ben knew, if we would give the elk a little time, we would be able to pick him up again and make another shot. Hunter was devastated that he missed but, with the kidding of Ben and Dad telling of many shots that had ended the same way, he was soon ready to give chase to the monster bull with the drop tine again.

“I swear, Ben has the nose of a Walker coon hound because within a few short minutes we were back on the trail that lead out of the creek bottom and back into the fields, as Ben thought the bull would go toward the fields for comfort.”

Milburn led them out of the creek bed and up the bank on the trail the elk had used to escape.

Father and son stopped so that Milburn could crawl up to the edge of the bank to get a better look into the field. He was soon motioning them to ease up the bank as he had the bull in view.

The bull had actually met up with two other

small spike bulls and was grazing in the field.

Again, Hunter and Shane set up the shooting sticks and adjusted them so Hunter could take another shot. The shot was going to be a farther shot, but was a clear shot with nothing in between Hunter and the elk. The bull was standing at a quartering-away angle that would allow for a perfect shot.

Shane ranged the bull at 206 yards, informing Hunter to make the adjustment in the BDC reticle and told him to squeeze the trigger. “True to form, Hunter let out all of his breath and made a perfect shot on the bull. The bull staggered a couple of steps but was still standing. So I told Hunter to chamber another round, but Ben assured Hunter that he had made a perfect shot and just to watch. Within about 10 seconds the bull fell over!”

The excited trio exchanged high-fives, whooped and hollered about what a great shot on a trophy of a lifetime, a bull elk with a 15inch drop tine. Hunter looked up at his father, no sooner than the bull hit the ground and said, “Dad, didn’t you say if I shot a big bull you would have it mounted?”

“Yes, I did son. Yes, I did,” his father replied.

“We will take it to the taxidermist and have it mounted.”

Shane said, “As I sit here writing this, I am still smiling looking at my sons 5x8 bull elk with a 15” drop tine (294 5/8” Gross) and knowing that I had shared one of the greatest moments that a father could have with his child in the wild outdoors. The adventures with my son will be burnt into my mind and will be told by both of us, as long as someone is willing to listen! I encourage everyone to get out into the outdoors and to find a youth to share the adventure with. As my father had done with me, I plan to continue to take my son hunting, scouting, hiking, fishing, canoeing, shooting, anything outside, till I am too old to move!

“I want to thank the Arkansas Wildlife Federation and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission for the opportunity to get youth involved in the great sport of hunting and conservation. I would also like to give a special thanks to Wesley Wright, Brandon Karn and Ben Milburn for making my son’s dream come true with the harvest of an Arkansas bull elk!

Hunter and I want to give a special thanks to his grandparents Clifton and Lisa Flud for helping us scout the eight weekends prior to our hunt and for the use of their camper during our hunt of a lifetime!”

Visit http://www.huntinshow.com/ for air dates of the hunt.

Winter project: Build a home for friendly, perky wrens LITTLE ROCK – Wrens are seen in suburban yards and around rural homes all over Arkansas. In general they are people friendly. Perky and energetic, wrens are busy bug eaters too.

Wrens will make use of most anything for nests – pocket of a hanging gardening apron, empty flower pot, you name it. A shed with a small opening can be inviting to a wren. By putting up a few nesting boxes, you can encourage the small, colorful birds to hang around and multiply at your place, according to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Wrens will roost in nest boxes on cold winter nights.

Several varieties of wrens live in Arkansas, and Carolina wrens appear to be the most common. These are the birds with a song bigger than they are – “tea kettle, tea kettle, tea kettle” or “cherry, cherry, cherry” is sung by the males, and sometimes two or even three wrens will sing and answer for minutes at a time.

House wrens and the very rare Bewick’s (pronounce it like the automobile) wrens are also residents of Arkansas. Some other varieties spend winters in the state.

Carolina wrens readily make use of bird boxes near houses. They’ll use them on porches and under the eaves of homes where other birds won’t take up residence. A nesting box you have for bluebirds will work for wrens as well.

Bluebird boxes commonly have holes an inch and a half in diameter. For wrens, reduce this to an inch and a quarter. This will keep out other species, especially nuisance house or English sparrows. Some wren plans call for holes just an inch and an eighth in diameter. This is fine for house wrens but a little tight for the slightly larger Carolina wrens.

The birds aren’t choosy at all in their residential requirements. Nail or screw together six pieces of wood – front with the entrance hole, back, two sides, top and bottom. You’ve got a wren house.

Almost any type of wood will work, but cedar, cypress and redwood will hold up the longest in the weather. Yellow pine, spruce and fir are common and obtainable at any lumberyard in Arkansas. But these won’t last more than a couple of years, sometimes less, outdoors.

Cedar pickets used for fences can make adequate and long-lived material for bird houses up to six inches wide.

Leftover cedar shakes from a roofing project are good for wren house building. They are lighter and thinner than common one-inch lumber, but they work well.

No painting or staining is needed or recommended for wren houses.

Natural weathering of the wood is a plus.

Bird experts recommend putting up several wren boxes around a house or yard. The little birds may try several spots before nesting, and they may use a different nest after one brood is raised for a second next in a season.

14 - Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013

Arkansas Adventure Programming Conference The 2nd annual meeting for the Arkansas Adventure Programming Conference will be Friday-Sunday, April 5 - 7, 2013 at the Horseshoe Canyon Ranch located in the Jasper, Arkansas area. The event is hosted by Ozarks Outdoors | University of the Ozarks, Henderson State University, Lyon College & University of Arkansas Contributing.

The event will include a combination of informal hands-on presentations for students and by students. Last year topics included: “Bike Maintenance Workshop”, “Why Outdoor Ethics?”, “Building Natural Climbing Anchors”, “Trip Leader Dynamics in the Backcountry”, “Arkansas Wilderness Areas” and “Making a Positive Impact on Your Participants” To Register for a Space or to Attend please visit http://outdoors.ozarks.edu/ARAP.aspx for more details. Earlybird Deadline is March 1, 2013. Final deadline is April 1, 2013.

Historical Information In the past few years, colleges and universities in the state of Arkansas have created and implemented outdoor recreation programs through their campus recreation or academic departments. In addition, outdoor programs from the state of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Kentucky, and Missouri conduct outdoor recreational trips to Arkansas to climb, paddle, cycle, and hike. With so many new programs starting and existing outdoor programs visiting the state, the need to bring programmers together was a necessity.

The outdoor directors of Lyon College and The University of Arkansas met with the managers of Horseshoe Canyon Ranch to plan an educational conference at one of the premier climbing destinations in the United States. The Arkansas Adventure Programming conference is a student oriented programming weekend for individuals that want to connect with other outdoor educational enthusiasts. Conference attendees

2012 Conference Schedule: This is a tentative schedule based on last year’s conference. Final schedule will published online in March.

Friday, April 5

Pre-Conference Workshops (Canoeing, Climbing, Disc Golf, etc.)

3:00 - 6:00 PM Registration and Check-In from the state of Arkansas can share ideas 6:00 PM Conference Welcome and practices while attendees from neigh- 6:30 - 8:00 PM Dinner boring states can learn about what Arkansas

8:00 - 10:30 PM Social and Live Music has to offer.

Saturday, April 6 Registration Information:

6:30 - 7:30 AM Yoga or Trail Run Early bird registration deadline is March 1, 7:45 - 8:45 AM Breakfast 2013.

8:30 - 9:30 AM AR Programming Roundtable Professional Registration $55

9:45 - 10:30 AM Conference Sessions Student Registration $40

10:45 - 11:30 AM Conference Sessions

12:00 - 1:00 PM Lunch After March 1…

1:30 - 4:30 PM Skills Clinics Professional Registration $65

5:00 - 7:00 PM Dutch oven Cook-off and dinner Student Registration $50

7:30 PM Film Tour – Prize Raffle

10:00 PM Closing Remarks Pre and Post-Conference workshops have ad Sunday, April 7 ditional but nominal fees. Spots are limited.

Post-Conference Workshops (Canoeing, Climbing, Disc Golf, etc.)

Canoeing $20 Climbing $10 Contact Us: Bouldering Free For any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact conference host: Disc Golf Free Jamie Lewis Hedges ~ 479-647-1100 ~ jhedges@ozarks.edu Hiking Free Cycling $10 (note cycling occurs in Fayetteville) General registration includes catered dinner on Friday and breakfast Saturday morning; camping fees for Friday and Saturday; Climbing fees for Friday and Saturday; conference sessions, film tour, opportunity to win prizes, and live music, and T-shirt if registered by March 1, 2013.

1807 East 23rd Street, Little Rock, AR will acDescription of the Area: cept these materials from Pulaski County busi Horseshoe Canyon Ranch has over 300 nesses, schools, churches and non-profits: combolted climbing routes and over 130 boulderputers, copiers, DVD players, paper shredders, ing problems. The Buffalo National River is printers, televisions, VCRs, telephones, stereos, one of the few free flowing rivers in the United radios, fax machines, and microwave ovens.

States. The Buffalo River is 135 miles in length In order to better serve Pulaski County’s Please call at least 24 hours ahead to and winds through massive limestone bluffs business electronics recycling, two per- schedule bringing materials to either site. and historical sites that have created Ozark traditions. Buffalo River Trail and Ozark High- manent locations will now accept e-waste Call Fred Wizer at eSCO (479-466-1768) or lands Trail have over 250 miles of scenic day (electronic waste) Monday through Friday 8 L & W at 501-888-1844.

For additional information regarding elechikes and extended backpacking trips. Please a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

L & W Environmental located at 9611 Irontronic recycling in Pulaski County, check visit www.horseshoecanyonduderanch.com ton Road, Little Rock, AR and eSCO, located at the website at www.regionalrecycling.org for more information.

Pulaski County Business Electronic Recycling

Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013 - 15

Natural Lakes in Arkansas?

by Bob Morgan

Did you know that Arkansas has more than 2,400 named lakes and reservoirs larger than 5 acres and covering more than 600,000 acres? That is according to the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission’s 1981 Stat Water Plan. Most of the lakes are privately owned reservoirs. But there are also plenty of publicly owned lakes to go around. The largest lake by both surface area and volume is Bull Shoals, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir on the White River. Bull Shoals, however, is shared with Missouri. The largest lake entirely within the boundaries of Arkansas by surface area is Dardanelle, another Corps lake on the Arkansas River. It measures 34,300 acres at full conservation pool. However, a case could be made that Millwood, on the Little River, is the largest. That’s because at full flood pool, it can cover 95,200 acres. But flood pool storage is usually temporary.

The vast majority of lakes in Arkansas are actually manmade reservoirs created by placing a dam across a stream or river. A lake “purist” would say that these are not actually lakes at all and that the only real lakes are those created by nature. Natural lakes in

Arkansas are not as abundant as reservoirs, but we do have one particular class of natural lakes worth exploring. That’s the oxbows. An oxbow is a U-shaped collar that goes around an ox’s neck to hold the ox’s yoke in place.

The ox’s yoke can then be hitched to a plow or cart. Oxbow lakes are typically formed when a large bend in a river is cut off, leaving a big U-shaped lake that looks like an oxbow.

They also are referred to as floodplain lakes.

Lake Chicot near Lake Village, Arkansas, is the archetypal oxbow lake. It spans 5,300 acres and is just over 21 miles long, making it the largest oxbow lake in North America.

According to information published in Arkansas’ 1981 State Water Plan, the Game and Fish Commission owned at the time 28 oxbow lakes. As it turns out, there are many of these oxbow lakes along the lower White, Arkansas and Mississippi rivers.

A map of Arkansas showing the southeast corner reveals a big green blob called the White River National Wildlife Refuge.

As a lover of maps and open spaces, I have been fascinated by that blob on the map for years. In my mind, I envisioned a vast impenetrable swamp. Anyone who dared enter the refuge would certainly be lost and die from snake bite while alligators chewed on their legs and mosquitoes sucked them dry.

Nevertheless, I resolved that I would someday explore the area.

In early November, I finally got my chance. We had a long weekend, so my wife, Sharon, and I loaded the green canoe on the red truck and took off. We arrived at the Visitors Center in St. Charles a little after 10 a.m. I went in to buy a map. They must not have been expecting me as I had to search the office area to find someone to take my money. I did eventually purchase a really large map from a very helpful ranger.

Among other things, she told us how to get to the state champion bald cypress tree. We then drove a little further south and entered the refuge at Ethel.

I was amazed that the refuge actually had roads! Not wide roads, but good ones. My initial thought was I wish we had brought the mountain bikes. Instead of being an impenetrable swamp, the forest was actually fairly open, and nothing like the woods in the Ozarks to which I am accustomed. And, there were few bugs. We rolled the windows down and wound our way north to the

Horseshoe Lake Campground. I unloaded the canoe, and then we sat on the tailgate of the truck and had our lunch. After lunch, we got busy and launched the canoe, heading north up Horseshoe Lake. Horseshoe Lake is an oxbow off of the White River. Not surprisingly, the lake was about the same width as the White River, and long with sweeping bends. The banks were steep and a few feet high. Likely the water level was low because of the persistent drought. The only other people on the lake were a couple of guys fishing from a johnboat. The alligators were probably there, but I didn’t see them.

Maybe they just weren’t hungry.

We saw a lakeshore lined with huge, bald cypress in its fall color, a shimmery copper.

At the waterline, the trees measured several feet in diameter. Forests of cypress knees surrounded the trees. There was wildlife, but not a lot, mostly birds. I photographed one great blue heron. Several woodpeckers that I couldn’t identify flew across the lake.

One raccoon couldn’t resist watching us slowly paddle by. Around every bend, it was more of the same, but up close the details were always changing.

We paddled likely a couple of miles to the end of the lake, then back to the camp. Since a couple of hours of daylight remained, we decided we’d go take a look at that champion tree I mentioned earlier. So we made our

way back to Ethel and turned south. After a few miles we found the trailhead.

We walked about a mile from the trailhead back to the tree. As we approached it, I was surprised to see a red truck. After all, the sign at the trailhead said foot traffic only. Even more surprising someone yelled out “Doctor Morgan.” Just my luck, I thought! I’m in the middle of 165,000 acres of wilderness and I run into someone I know illegally driving in the roadless area. As it turned out, all was on the up and up. Mark Wilcken, a producer for AETN whom I had worked with a couple years ago on a show about water, was in the area with permission to shoot some video for an upcoming documentary. (To find out more about the documentary I worked with him on in 2008, “Troubled Water,” visit www.aetn. org/programs/water.)

The tree, to say the least, was huge! Imagine standing 6 foot, four inches (that’s me) and finding yourself behind a cypress knee that you can’t see over! It would take several environmentalists standing arm to arm to give this tree a good hug.

My trip to the refuge was over. I had seen maybe all of one percent, no more. I will be back. Arkansans are fortunate to have huge tracts of public land. When you see your great grandparents, tell them thanks for thinking ahead. To find out more about the refuge, visit http://www.fws.gov/whiteriver/.

arkansas post Photos by Ethan NahtĂŠ

mAsm Photos by Ethan NahtĂŠ

18 - Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013

Purple Martins - How To Attract Them To Your Martin House

By Tim Mangan It won’t be long before the cold temperatures of winter gradually give way to the warm southerly breezes of spring here in Arkansas. With the warmer weather comes the budding of leaves on trees and the subtle shades of brown blades of grass turning to a luscious green. Many residents in the Natural State welcome the early spring as it signifies the return of one of the most familiar species of songbirds to the region. It is time for the return of the Purple Martin, a magnificent songbird who winters in the area of and surrounding Brazil in South America. During the early spring the Purple Martin, affectionately referred to as “America’s Most Wanted Bird”, makes the long migration from its wintering grounds to the United States and

regions in southern Canada to set up housekeeping and raise its young. Once the martins arrive at your site, you can expect them to stay between five and six months before they, along with their offspring, start the arduous journey back to South America.

Purple Martins are almost 100% dependent on humans to take care of them when they return to the states to nest. This dependency is based on the fact they need landowners to provide adequate housing for them to raise their young. If a pair of martins are successful in raising their young during the nesting season, that same pair will return to the same martin house to nest the following year.

A resident who hosts martins annually is called a martin “landlord”. During February thousands of martin landlords will be making sure their martin houses are ready for the first returning martins. In Arkansas, the first returning martins, called “scouts”, will return to their previous years nesting sites starting in late February. These are the older martins who have been successful in making the long migration for several years and are anxious to get back to their nesting site to claim territory for this year’s breeding season. The sub adult martins, those born last year, return to Arkansas starting in early to mid-April and will continue to arrive well into May. The majority of sub adult martins do not return to their natal birth site. Banding studies have shown that sub adult martins returning to the states for the first time will nest within a 50 mile radius of their natal birth site. These are the martins looking for new nesting sites and provide the best chance for a beginner to start a martin colony.

Many of the older early returning martins are lost each year after they return to their nesting sites due to late winter storms, lengthy cold spells and prolonged periods of rain. Martins feed on insects while flying. They do not go to bird feeders, eat berries or insects off of trees and bushes. If the temperatures turn cold, below 50 degrees, or there are prolonged periods of rain, then there are no flying insects up high in the sky for the martins to feed on. A martin can sustain itself by feeding on its own body fat for about three to four days before succumbing to the harsh weather conditions.

Many martin landlords will have a supply of frozen crickets in their freezers just in case they are hit with a cold spell after their martins have returned. Martins, when they become hungry enough, can be trained to eat crickets and scrambled eggs “flipped” to them by the martin landlord. Sometimes it will take 15, 20, 30 or even more attempts to get that first martin to chase a cricket flipped in the air. After about the second day of not being able to feed, a martin is hungry enough to streak after one of the tiny morsels being offered to it by the landlord.

Once one martin takes the cricket, the others will quickly join in and you have suc-

cessfully trained your martins to perform an unnatural act while at the same time helping to keep them from perishing due to the harsh weather conditions.

LOCATION For the resident wanting to attract Purple Martins, there are several things they can do before the martins arrive to help establish a martin colony in their yard.

As a general rule, if you have an area in your yard that is free from trees and tall bushes, about 40’ in all directions, you have a chance of attracting martins. Martins prefer being around humans and human activity. In you have a sufficient open area, place your martin house about 20’ to 40’ from your house versus at the back of your acreage if you have a lot of open property.

Having your martin pole close to your own house affords you the opportunity to not only enjoy your martins but also helps you to keep an eye out for any potential predator problems.

HOUSING There are several national suppliers who specialize in manufacturing houses, poles and misc. equipment for Purple Martins.

Erecting a quality martin house on a quality pole can run several hundred dollars. For the beginner, it is probably more economical to purchase one of the less expensive houses and poles. If you are successful in attracting martins to your site and enjoy having and taking care of them, you can always upgrade to better housing in subsequent years. A lot

of manufacturers no longer make a martin house with round holes. Instead, they are now making them with various types of crescent and oblong shaped holes. By making this modification, it has eliminated most starlings from being able to enter a martin house. The nesting area in your martin house should be 6” high, 6” in depth and 12” wide. However, just because you erect a martin house does not mean you will be able to attract martins to your yard. It is not uncommon to wait many years before you are successful in attracting a pair of martins to your new housing. Some residents, even if they are doing everything right, may never attract a pair of martins.

For years, established martin landlords have known Purple Martins love to nest

Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013- 19 in gourds. These can be either naturally grown or plastic gourds, which can be purchased from various suppliers. The Wild Bird Center located in the Cornerstone shopping center in Hot Springs offers a selection of quality purple martin houses, plastic gourds and poles.

When trying to establish a new martin colony, it is best to offer a martin house with a couple of gourds mounted under the house. Let any visiting martins checking out your housing as a potential nest site make the decision if they want to nest in a house or a gourd.

MOUNTING POLE The pole you use for your martin house is the most important part of your housing. A new landlord does not want to invest the time and finances to attract martins and then have an inferior pole bend in half due to high winds. The pole for your martin house/gourds should be 12’ to 14’ high after allowing for the bottom two feet to be buried in the ground with cement. Purchase a pole that can be lowered enabling you to perform “nest checks”. Conducting routine nest checks every four or five days during the nesting season is important. Nest checks alert the landlord to any potential problems such as starlings or sparrow nests being built and checking for any mites within the nest.

Checking a martin’s nest does NOT bother the adult martins.

ATTRACTANTS A resident wanting to start a martin colony can do several things to help “persuade” any visiting martins to select their site for nesting. (As a rule, in Arkansas, you can attract martins to your site to nest from early March to mid-May.) One helpful attractant is to mount a couple of perching rods to the top of your housing.

These can be 4’ to 6’ in length and ¼” to 3/8” in diameter. A lot of landlords purchase tomato stakes from garden centers and cut them to the length they want. Martins like to have extra perching space outside of their nest.

Purchase a couple of Purple Martin decoys. The decoys serve two purposes. First, they act as a visual attractant to any martins in the area. Secondly, and possibly more important, they help your real martins to escape when your martin house is attacked by a hawk. A hawk attacking a martin colony will go after the slowest martin. There is nothing slower than a martin decoy.

Attach a bowl to a small rod and mount the rod to the bottom of your house. Fill the bowl with either oyster shells or crushed eggshells. Oyster shells are fairly cheap and most farm and feed stores keep them in stock. Martins love the oyster shells and eggshells as a source of calcium, especially when they have young to feed.

A lot of the established martin landlords purchased a martin “dawnsong” or “daytime chatter” recording to get started. These can be purchased in a self-contained housing where you just plug it in or you can purchase a CD and play it through your CD player. This tool does work to bring martins down to look at your site. It doesn’t mean they will stay and nest but getting them to investigate your site is the first step.

Whether you use a martin house or gourds, build a nest in each compartment before the martins arrive in your area. Most martin landlords use white pine needles for the martin nest. Put a couple of handfuls in each nesting compartment. When placing pine needles in your martin house put in a half teaspoon of 5% Seven powder. This will help keep your nest free of mites throughout the nesting season.

If you have a nest already prepared for any visiting martins, this is one step in the nesting process they will not have to do themselves.

These few additional steps mentioned above to help attract martins to a new site could be just the difference between a martin deciding to nest at your site versus looking elsewhere.

PREDATORS Purple Martins, like most creatures in the world, have natural predators. We can break these predators down into two categories, aerial and ground.

Aerial predators include the hawk and owl. Here in Arkansas, the most common species of hawk attacks on martin colonies comes from either the Coopers or Sharpshinned hawk. They can make an attack if you only have one martin investigating your site or if you have many pair at an established site. However, as your martin colony grows, you can expect numerous attacks.

When a martin sees a hawk, he will emit a shrill warning call alerting the other martins of the impending danger and all the martins will flush the housing taking to the sky. The hawk’s main weapon is surprise. Once the martins have flown high into the sky, there is little chance of them being caught by either a Coopers or Sharp-shinned hawk.

Little can be done to ward off a hawk attack on a martin colony other than physical presence by the landlord out in the yard.

As you would expect, owl attacks on martin colonies normally take place at night while the landlord is sound asleep. For a martin landlord, there is nothing worse than an owl attack. If an owl is successful in capturing one of your martins from their housing during the night, they will return every night till your colony is wiped out. Most established martin landlords who have experienced owl attacks install owl guards on their housing. Some will even construct wire mesh cages with 2”x4” openings around their housing to keep owls from being able

to reach in and grab one of their martins.

There are several ground predators the martin landlord should be aware of and take preventative measures to control. Ground predators include snakes, cats, raccoons and even squirrels. Do not adopt a mindset that just because you live in a city, you don’t have snakes in your neighborhood. The most common species of snake to attack your martins is the black/rat snake. Many pictures have been posted depicting a snake going up a 14’ smooth aluminum pole to get to a martin house. This is also true of raccoons. They are prolific climbers and again, there are many pictures showing a raccoon sitting atop a martin house. Cats and squirrels are not as much a threat as snakes and raccoons but many instances have been reported of these two animals climbing a pole to get to martins. It is important not to place your martin pole within 4’ to 6’ of a fence allowing a ground predator to jump onto your pole from the top of the fence.

Continued on page 21

20 - Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013

Felsenthal NWR feral hogs infected with swine brucellosis and pseudorabies CROSSETT – Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge officials, in cooperation with officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services Disease Program, collected biological samples from 46 feral swine during spring and summer 2012.

Of the 46 pigs tested, 10 tested positive for swine brucellosis and 16 tested positive for pseudorabies.

Refuge officials encourage the hunting public to educate themselves on the diseases and take the appropriate precautions when handling feral hogs. We definitely don’t want these findings to deter hunters from harvesting feral hogs on the refuge, says refuge biologist Rick Eastridge. “Utilizing the proper precautions while handling feral hogs is the best safety measure,” he said.

Feral hogs may be killed on the refuge by hunters incidental to any daytime refuge hunt and with legal hunting equipment and ammunition allowed for that hunt. Hunters are not allowed to pursue or kill feral hogs with the use of dogs. Live hogs may not be transported or possessed on the refuge.

Facts about Swine Brucellosis: Swine brucellosis is transmissible to humans. Humans with this disease typically have flu-like symptoms including intermittent fever, chills, sweating, headaches, muscle and joint soreness, and weakness.

Although few human fatalities occur as a result of infection, the disease is often chronic and debilitating. Hunters should be advised to wear rubber gloves and to wash with soap and hot water as soon as possible after handling a feral pig carcass and to ensure that the meat is cooked thoroughly before consumption.

Swine brucellosis is caused by a bacterium and should not be confused with bovine brucellosis, or the disease found in goats and dogs caused by other Brucella bacteria.

Swine are considered the natural host for swine brucellosis and the disease can be harbored in swine without signs of illness. Swine brucellosis is primarily a reproductive tract disease, so when field dressing hogs, hunters should be especially careful when handling

the reproductive tracts of either sex of pig.

Swine brucellosis has not been documented to occur in any wildlife species found in the Southeastern U.S., therefore native species should not be affected.

Facts about Pseudorabies: Despite its name, pseudorabies is caused by a herpes virus and is not related to rabies and does not affect humans. Pseudorabies is a fatal disease to farm animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats, and in dogs and cats. Wildlife including raccoons, skunks, foxes, opossums, and small rodents, also can be fatally infected. In non-swine hosts, the pseudorabies virus attacks the central nervous system and results in loss of appetite, depression, staggering, spasms, convulsions, paralysis and death. Self-mutilation by persistent scratching, biting, or rubbing frequently occurs and has caused pseudorabies to be called “mad itch”. Although humans are not directly at risk, hunters should know that their dogs could become fatally infected through exposure to feral swine that harbor pseudorabies.

Psudorabies is a concern to domestic swine producers because it can weaken domestic pigs leaving them susceptible to other problems, and causes abortions and stillbirths in domestic swine. In feral swine, pseudorabies infection varies from in apparent to fatal depending primarily on the age of the pig. Young pigs are most severely affected and a high death rate occurs in pigs less than four weeks old. Adult swine rarely die from pseudorabies infection and can carry the disease while appearing normal and healthy.

While visiting the Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge, tune your radio to 1620 AM or follow on Facebook at South Arkansas Refuge Complex for refuge information.

For additional information or to speak with staff, contact Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge at 870-364-3167.

There is additional information on the AGFC website at http://www.agfc.com/ species/Pages/SpeciesNuisanceWildlifeResources.aspx.

AGFC contracts engineer for repairs to Spring River dam LITTLE ROCK – Commissioners with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission last week authorized Crist Engineers, Inc. of Little Rock to begin design of repairs to Dam 3 at the Jim Hinkle Spring River State Fish Hatchery. A flood in late April 2011 damaged the dam’s gates, forcing the AGFC to make temporary repairs to the site.

Crist Engineers of Little Rock had already conducted a comprehensive study of the dam. They will now implement the findings and develop construction draw-

ings for the renovation and restoration of the dam. The fee for Crist’s consulting engineering services will be $159,420.

Damage to the gates, and the resulting lack of water pressure, caused the hatchery’s trout production to decline.

The hatchery produces 50 percent of the state’s rainbow trout with most of the trout going to the Bull Shoals tailwaters in north Arkansas. In fiscal year 2012, the hatchery produced over 924,000 trout weighing in excess of 486,000 pounds.

Young Reporters for the Environment Competition The National Wildlife Federation is running the first-ever Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) competition in the United States in 2013. YRE is an international program with more than 25 participating countries. Students between the ages of 13-18 are invited to participate in YRE-USA by reporting on environmental issues in their communities in writing, photos, or video. National winners in each category will earn rec-

ognition, great prizes and the chance to advance to the international competition.

All participants have a chance to make a real difference in their communities by shedding light on an important environmental issue, provoking discussion around it, and sparking progress toward a solution. Students may participate as individuals or as part of a class or group.

Submissions due by March 15, 2013.

Find all the details at www.yre-usa.org.

Prescribed fire workshop DAMASCUS – The Arkansas Prescribed Fire Council is sponsoring a workshop for private landowners on March 2.

The workshop will be held at the Camp Rockefeller Gus Blass Scout Reservation in Damascus beginning at 9 a.m.

Fire in Arkansas’s forests has been an important process in the state’s ecology and landscape. Today, prescribed fire, or controlled burning, is an indispensable tool used to accomplish management objectives. The workshop will help woodland owners understand the factors that influence effective and safe burns.

Classroom time will address the following topics:

• Fire objectives and burn planning • Forest management • Cost share programs • Legal considerations • Weather and smoke • Using fire for quail management

If weather allows, there will be a prescribed burn demonstration.

Space is limited. A $20 registration fee covers workshop materials, refreshment breaks and lunch. Participants should dress appropriately for the field exercise. For more information call (501) 374-2441 or email info@arkforests.org.

Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013- 21

Storm-clogged boat lanes cleared with tree eaters

PEACH ORCHARD – Hard-hit Dave Donaldson Black River Wildlife Management Area is getting back on its feet, helped by some intensive and innovative restoration work.

A large scale, multi-year hydrologic renovation and restoration project began on seven miles of natural sloughs and other waterways used by sportsmen to access the WMA during waterfowl season. These sloughs and boat lanes were filled and clogged with downed trees and debris from years of flooding and storm damage.

These waterways are open again for use by hunters, fishermen and other visitors to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission facility in northeast Arkansas near the towns of Pocahontas and Corning.

A major ice storm in 2009 and a tornado hit the area after devastating flooding from dam releases upstream killed thousands of large oak trees.

The AGFC spent over $260,000 to restore slough topography and hydrology by removing sediment deposits and unwanted dense woody vegetation. The end result is clean, open sloughs that can flow unimpeded and naturally reduce sedimentation. Another benefit of the operation is access throughout the place.

Hydrology restoration is difficult and specialized mulching machines were used to grind the vegetation into small chunks similar to landscape mulch, although slightly larger. These machines effectively “dispose” of all waste on site and reduce windrowed timber traditionally left as a result of projects with similar goals. The mulch will soon decay under the water and provide some invertebrate habitat structure which benefit migrating waterfowl.

The management area suffered a severe blow when prolonged warm-weather flooding during the mid-to-late 1990s killed tens of thousands of oak, hickory and other hardwood trees, the backbone of the area’s appeal to wintering waterfowl. This led to a lawsuit by the Game and Fish Commission against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and a recent positive U.S Supreme Court decision has sent the case back to an appellate court for review of the $5.8 million trial judgment awarded in favor of AGFC. Dave Donaldson Black River WMA covers 25,482 acres in Clay, Randolph and Greene counties. It was acquired as a wildlife management area in 1957 with several later additions. Wildlife management on the WMA focuses primarily on providing wintering waterfowl habitat for ducks and geese. White-tailed deer, squirrels, cottontail and swamp rabbits, raccoons, beaver and other furbearers, along with resident and migrant shorebirds, songbirds and raptors comprise the remainder of the management practices.

The area bears the name of a wildlife biologist who was in the forefront of the development of many Arkansas strategies and projects focusing on waterfowl.

The late Donaldson was the chief waterfowl biologist for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission for about 30 years before his retirement in 1977. He lived near the wildlife management area.

Donaldson also was well known outside Arkansas for his waterfowl work and knowledge. He was an effective voice in the planning sessions of the Mississippi Flyway Council that hammers out long-range management avenues as well as annual season and hunting regulations for duck and goose hunters.

Continued from page 19 A conscientious martin landlord can make appropriate modifications to his martin pole to alleviate attack on his martins from ground predators. Probably the most effective way to keep ground predators off your pole is to “hot wire” it. Many long time landlords use this method and have never had a breach by ground predators. Obviously, the main concern is if the landlord were to lose power, his housing would be defenseless.

The most common method being used to protect martins from ground predators is to place your pole inside a 4’ piece of 6” diameter PVC pipe. This must be done at the time you mount your pole in the ground. If you cut the PVC to place it around your pole after your pole has been cemented into the ground, the splice from the cut will create a point of adhesion for a snake to climb up the PVC pipe. In addition to the PVC pipe, most landlords will also wrap bird netting at the top of the PVC pipe forming it in the shape of an open umbrella. In the event a snake can make it to the top of the PVC pipe, it will become entangled in the mesh netting.

The PVC pipe and mesh netting are normally sufficient modifications to keep ground predators from climbing up your pole to get to your martins.

The worst thing a potential landlord can do is, purchase a martin house, mount it on a pole, stick it in the ground and forget about it. All this accomplishes is providing housing for starlings and the Eurasian Sparrow, which compete with martins for their housing. Starlings and the Eurasian Sparrow are not native to America and threaten many of our neo-tropical songbirds. These two species of birds were brought to America in the late 1800’s via ship from Europe. Since being released in America their numbers have grown to a point where most state wildlife agencies recommend the elimination of both

species. Starlings, with their long hard beaks, kill the martins when the two of them meet within a martin house. The Eurasian Sparrow will kill baby martins and peck holes in unhatched martin eggs. A resident wanting to attract martins to their yard will not be successful if they allow starlings and sparrows to build a nest in their martin house.

There is one point to remember regarding predators. If your martin colony is repeatedly attacked by predators, your martins will eventually abandon the site. Once your martins abandon the site, they will not return, even in subsequent years, as they know it is an unsafe location.

RESOURCE Anyone planning on trying to attract Purple Martins to their site should first check the Purple Martin Conservation Association (PMCA) website. This website is dedicated to Purple Martin landlords and has thousands of members. It offers a forum for beginners to ask questions, research engines and the PMCA store where you can purchase martin houses, gourds, poles and misc. equipment needed to help the beginner get started.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tim Mangan is an active member of the Purple Martin Conservation Association and the Association of Field Ornithologists. He has authored several articles published by the Purple Martin Conservation Association’s national magazine and he holds a Master Bander Permit from the federal government to band Purple Martins. While living on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs he started and maintained a Purple Martin colony ranging from 45 to 50 pairs. He currently bands between 800 and 900 martin nestlings annually in Arkansas and Louisiana. Mr. Mangan asks if anyone sees a banded Purple Martin to contact him at tpmangan@sbcglobal.net

22 - Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013

Controversial frac sand mining comes to Arkansas

by Cheree Franco.

Reprinted from Arkansas Times by permission.

Five years into the exploration for natural gas in the Fayetteville Shale, most Arkansans know about the hydraulic fracturing process and its links to environmental havoc, including poisoned wells and radioactive wastewater in various parts of the United States and increased earthquakes here in Arkansas. Now, a mushrooming side industry is beginning to attract national attention to farming communities in Wisconsin and Minnesota. This industry drains waterways and creates hundred-acre gashes where there once was forest, hills and pasture, and it can pollute the air and water with invisible toxic particles. It’s called frac sand mining, and on a quieter scale, it’s also happening — and on the verge of expanding — in North Arkansas.

The process, which environmentalists have compared to mountain-top removal coal mining, involves scraping or blasting a hole about 50 to 100 feet in width and depth to access high-purity silica. During the fracking process, the silica is added to a mixture of water and chemicals and pumped, at high pressure, into natural gas mines to open cracks in shale plates. This type of silica is only found in a few states.

Wisconsin and Minnesota have larger deposits than Arkansas, but Minnesota’s regulatory system is complex enough to deter many corporations. Neither state has Arkansas’s home field advantage, since frac sand

from the Ozarks only has to travel about 100 miles to reach the Fayetteville Shale.

Thomas Woletz, with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, estimates that there are more than 75 active frac sand mines in his state, and there could be as many as 100. Fewer than three years ago, there were only five, and some of those were decades old. There have been a couple of large sand and water spills in Wisconsin, and a Chippewa Falls group, Chippewa Concerned Citizens, sued the city in an attempt to stop a frac sand processing plant that was eventually constructed inside city limits.

Frac sand mining in Arkansas looks nothing like it does in Wisconsin. Only one company, Guion’s Unimin, is actively mining frac sand. But in the past three years, despite low natural gas prices, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality has issued frac sand mining permits to 10 companies, largely concentrated in Izard and Independence counties. Locals say there are other companies that have yet to apply for permits. Last year, the Batesville City Council approved plans for a Florida-based company, American Silica, to lay railroad track for a $15 million frac sand processing plant at the north end of a public park. About 15 residents from the Spring Valley neighborhood, near the proposed plant, showed up at the council meeting to oppose the decision.

In a setup similar to that of Chippewa Falls, the plant would handle sand mined 14 miles away in Cave City.

Because of oversupply, natural gas prices

Spotlighting case leads to 4 arrests for murder LITTLE ROCK – Wildlife officer Ross Spurlock unpeeled only the first layer of an onion when he arrested a Jacksonville man for killing a deer out of season and at night.

Other layers removed by Cpl. Spurlock of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and by Pulaski County sheriff’s deputies ended with four people arrested for murder.

It all took place within a few days in late October, and the case covered events in northern Pulaski County and northwestern Lonoke County.

Spurlock said he received a call from Pulaski County Deputy Brooks Robertson about two men he had caught using a spotlight. They threw out a .308-caliber rifle when he stopped them, Robertson said, and he arrested one of them for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Spurlock’s investigation revealed a 12-point buck killed illegally with a muzzleloader several weeks earlier and also a redtailed hawk killed in violation of state and federal protection. He issued two citations for

began to drop in 2008, hitting the lowest point of $1.91 per 1,000 cubic square feet (mcf) in April 2012. But by early January, prices had already risen to $3.46 per mcf.

According to Bill Holland, an editor with Platts, which publishes energy news for McGraw Hill, recovering prices don’t always translate into increased fracking. In documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Southwestern Energy, the largest presence in the Fayetteville Shale, announced plans to cut spending in Arkansas by 19 percent in 2013.

But as Sheffield Nelson, a former gas executive who spearheaded Arkansas’s natural gas severance tax drive, has reiterated in press conferences, fracking operations represent billions in investment dollars. Huge corporations are looking to ride the waves rather than get out, to the point that they’re often willing to drill new wells even when they’re not fracking, in order to maintain active leases, he said.

This may explain why U.S. Silica, which owns 13 mines, including a frac sand mine in Sparta, Wis., recently purchased 477 acres in Izard County. The company has an active permit on file at ADEQ, but according to company spokesperson Michael Lawson, there are no specific plans to begin mining. “I would say that we are holding the property for future development,” he wrote in an email.

In April 2012, the U.S. Department of Energy gave the green light to a Louisiana plant to transform natural gas to liquid, paving the way to pipe U.S. surplus to Europe and Asia. It’s a process that’s likely several years off, according to Holland. But Nelson thinks it’s a crucial first step in stabilizing the industry long-term. “What we’re seeing now is just a dead period, something that the business understands. They have peaks and valleys. And it looks to me like ... we won’t see things even out until liquefied natural gas plants are functional,” Nelson said.

night hunting, two citations for taking deer out of season, one citation for possession of a red tailed hawk, one citation for fleeing, one citation for no hunting license and one citation for aiding and abetting a violation.

Spurlock, Robertson and other Pulaski County Deputies probed deeper. A woman found with one of the men involved in the illegal deer kill was a “person of interest” in an investigation into a missing Cabot man, the Pulaski deputies said.

A Cabot Police Department investigator joined in the work, and after more apprehensions, they were led to a residence near Cabot where Pulaski County Deputies found a body.

The man had been missing for five weeks.

Seven people wound up under arrest, including the two that Spurlock cited for hunting violations. Four were charged with murder and with abuse of a corpse.

In a letter of commendation for Spurlock, fellow officer Sgt. Matt Flowers wrote, “Due to Cpl. Spurlock’s hard work, dedication and professionalism, he was able to make extraordinary cases in regards to violations of AGFC regulations with limited information, and his investigation skills and experience were key in assisting the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office make four capital murder arrests.”

Spurlock joined the Game and Fish Commission is 1989 as a wildlife officer.

Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013- 23

2013 Teacher Conservation Tour The 2013 Teacher Conservation Tour - sponsored by the Arkansas Forestry Association Education Foundation (AFAEF) - has set its dates for June 17-21, 2013 in Monticello.

The focus of this 5-day workshop is on the environmental and economic benefits of Arkansas’s forestlands.

This educational workshop and tour provides educators with a lot of time in the woods, learning about the interaction between forests, the environment, and the economy.

Participants will tour forest product manufacturing facilities, view wildlife conservation efforts, and harvesting and replanting operations all while learning valuable information about our forest communities. Participants will also meet and learn from natural resource professionals who are in the field conducting the work on a daily basis.

“This is not your typical 8-4 classroom workshop,” stresses Rob Beadel, AFAEF Education Director. “Our days are long and packed full of field activities keeping the participants engaged throughout the week.” Teachers will earn 30 professional development hours including 6 technology hours and 2 hours of Arkansas History approved by the Arkansas Department of Education.

Although the 5-day workshop provides teachers of grades K through 12 with professional development, any formal or non-formal educator may apply for the tour. The AFAEF covers all food, lodging and tour costs. A $125 registration fee is required at the time of application and will be refunded if you are not selected to attend.

The workshop will be based at the School of Forest Resources at the University of Arkansas - Monticello campus in Monticello. Lodging will be provided at the Holiday Inn Express in Monticello. The $125 registration fee covers all lodging, meals, materials and transportation during the workshop. Participants must provide their own transportation to and from Monticello. Space is limited to 25 participants and selected on a first-received first-reserved basis.

A downloadable application form is available at: http:// arkforests.org/teachers-students-tct.html.

Applications must be mailed in and include the $125 registration fee.

If you have questions, please contact Rob Beadel at (501) 374-2441 or rbeadel@arkforests.org.

“Wildlife of Arkansas” 2013 Student Art Contest presented by

AR Wildlife Federation and Creative Ideas This exciting visual art contest offers K-12 students in the State of Arkansas the chance to display their creativity. As stated in the title we are continuing with the theme “Wildlife of Arkansas.” The beauty of the wildlife in our state will provide inspiration as the children of Arkansas explore their artistic abilities. The term Wildlife in not limited to animals, but can also include wildflowers, landscapes, lakes, etc. This year we are excited to announce the exhibit will travel throughout the state. Exhibit travel schedule TBA. Guidelines for Art (painting, drawing or collage) • This category is offered to K – 12th grade students.

• One entry per student accepted.

• Artwork must be student’s original work completed in the 2012-2013 school year.

• Entry must be on canvas, wood, paper or poster board.

• Medium can be oil, acrylic, charcoal, pastel, watercolor, graphite, ink, mixed media.

• Dimensions no larger than 30”x 40”.

• Artwork done on paper or poster must be affixed to a foam board backing.

• Students must fill out the attached form and tape it to the back of their entry.

• There are no exceptions to the rules.

Judging Submitted artwork is judged on creativity, skill and interpretation of the theme. A panel of professional artists will

choose the winners. There will be a 1st, 2nd, 3rd place and Honorable Mention for each grade. The winning pieces exhibit will begin at the Witt Stephens, Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center (602 President Clinton Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72201-1732) and travel throughout the state. Exhibit travel schedule TBA. Awards are as follows: 1st Place Winner - $100.00, award and certificate 2nd Place Winner - $ 50.00 and certificate 3rd Place Winner - $ 25.00 and certificate Honorable Mention - $ 15.00 and certificate Event Disclaimer • Judges decisions are final.

• Creative Ideas and Arkansas Wildlife Federation reserve the right to reproduce the • artwork for promotional purposes (e.g. Arkansas Wildlife Calendar). Students receive full • credit for any artwork reproduced.

• Not responsible for lost or damaged art.

Deadline and Criteria for Submission of Art Teachers are to collect the art, provide a list that includes their school name, students’ names and the titles of their artwork.

1. Submission deadline is March 16, 2013.

2. Shipped art must be post marked by March 16, 2013.

3. Request an Official Entry Form: Contact Sharon Hacker 501-837-0462 or skhacker@sbcglobal.net

AR Wildlife Federation and Creative Ideas Student Artwork Contest Form

“Wildlife of Arkansas”

* Please Print

Name_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ School___________________________________________________________________________ Grade_ ___________________ Teacher ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Teacher’s Email ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Title of Artwork__________________________________________________________ Medium__________________________________ Note* Please tape this form to the back of the artwork. Do not forget to sign your artwork. Entries are due by March 16, 2013.

24 - Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013

JANUARY/FEBRUARY UPCOMING EVENTS

their on-going water planning activities, including the importance of in-stream flows.

More information coming soon.

Exploring Nature and the Arts Spring Break Camp

Bearcat Hollow Tree Planting

Saturday, February 23, 2103 Bearcat Hollow (meet @ Round Hill) Volunteers will be planting 1500 plum trees at Bearcat Hollow. There may be some volunteers picking up litter, as needed, along the roadsides if time permits.

Project Learning Tree, Project WET, and Project WILD Workshop

Tuesday, February 19, 2013 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Fred Berry Conservation Education Center on Crooked Creek 851 Conservation Lane Yellville, AR 72687 FREE - but you must pre-register TO REGISTER: Contact Ken Forman at kcforman@agfc. state.ar.us. Please provide: • Name of workshop you plan to attend • Your name • School or organization • Email address • Phone number Please bring a sack lunch.

Participants must stay for the full 8 hour training in order to receive the curriculum guides and the 8 hours of PD. No partial credit will be given.

Space is limited and registrations are taken on a first-received first reserved basis so register TODAY!!!

PLT’s Environmental Experiences for Early Childhood workshop Saturday, February 23, 2013 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

DeGray Lake Resort State Park 2027 State Park Entrance Road Bismarck, AR 71929

Exploring nature is a complete sensory experience, and early experiences with the natural world excite children’s imaginations and foster their inborn sense of wonder and curiosity-important motivators for lifelong learning.

PLT’s Early Childhood Guide integrates nature-based exploration, art, literature, math, music and movement, and outdoor

play into early childhood education programs. The guide contains eleven activities that encourage young children to explore the senses, the seasons, and neighborhood trees.

The activities highlight the importance of kinetic learning and engagement by incorporating music and movement using an accompanying music CD. PLT’s Environmental Experiences for Early Childhood encourages children to explore, discover, and communicate in expressive ways, and provides an introduction to environmental education at a key developmental period in children’s lives.

FREE- but you must pre-register TO REGISTER: Contact Janet Massey by email at jmassey@coto.edu. Please provide: • Name of workshop you plan to attend • Your name • School or organization • Email address • Phone number Materials are correlated to the Arkansas Early Childhood Education Frameworks, the National Head Start Program and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) frameworks.

Space is limited to 30. Please bring a sack lunch.

Participants will receive a curriculum guide and music CD valued at over $20 plus 6 hours of ADE-approved Professional Development. This workshop also qualifies for TAPP credit through the TAPP Registry.

Participants must stay for the entire workshop in order to receive the curriculum guide and professional development credit.

No exceptions!

PLT’s Places We Live secondary workshop Saturday, February 23, 2013 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

ASU-Heber Springs Campus 101 River Crest Drive Heber Springs, AR 72543

FREE- but you must pre-register TO REGISTER: Contact Jody Rath by email at jlrath@hebersprings.asub.edu. Please provide: • Name of workshop you plan to attend • Your name

• School or organization • Email address • Phone number Materials are correlated to the Arkansas Education Frameworks and can be found online at: www.arkforests.org/PDFs/Places_ We_Live_August_2009.pdf Space is limited to 20. Please bring a sack lunch.

Participants will receive 6 hours of ADEapproved Professional Development.

Participants must stay for the entire workshop in order to receive the curriculum guide and professional development credit.

No exceptions!

25th Annual Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame Awards Luncheon Friday, March 8, 2013 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Embassy Suites Hotel – Ambassador Ballroom 11301 Financial Center Pkwy.

Little Rock, AR

The Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame (AAHF) recognizes outstanding agricultural leaders as well as the importance of Arkansas agriculture. Come help celebrate and recognize this year’s Hall of Fame honorees. Table sponsorship is $350 (deadline Feb. 22). Tickets to the luncheon are $35 each.

For tickets or to receive a sponsorship form contact AAHF, P.O. Box 31, Little Rock, AR 72203

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation-Westark Banquet

Saturday, March 9, 2013 Fort Smith, AR Contact information: Louis Schluterman @ 479-965-1425 Poteau Valley Watershed Symposium Friday, March 15, 2013 Poteau, OK The results of the recent water quality monitoring in the Poteau River watershed and Lake Wister by the USGS, the Arkansas Water Resources Center, and PVIA will be highlighted. Learn more about current efforts and upcoming activities to water ecology and quality of watershed streams and lakes. The Choctaw Nation will describe

Monday-Friday, March 18-22, 2013 Little Rock, AR Age Range 7-11 years

Enrich your child’s spring break with wildwood’s junior naturalist camp. Enrich your child’s spring break and join Wildwood for the first ever spring break camp led by the Central Arkansas Master Naturalists.

The Park has teamed up with Bill Toland, Central Arkansas Master Naturalist’s liaison, to create a week-long nature adventure with outdoor projects and artistic experiences.

The camp is every day from March 18th22nd from 9a.m.-5p.m. Campers will enjoy a week of fun hiking Wildwood’s winding trails, playing outdoor ga.m.es, and helping construct a wildlife observation area. Students will delight in hands-on instruction of lake ecology, trees, reptiles and insects native to Arkansas. Upon completion of the camp, students will attain Wildwood Junior Naturalist status and be eligible for future naturalist projects at Wildwood. Students should wear clothing appropriate for the outdoors and bring a small snack and a lunch every day of the camp. Come ready to get your hands dirty and enjoy everything that nature has to offer!

The camp fee is $180 for the full week paid in advance, or $45 per day the week of the camp. For more information visit www.wildwoodpark.org or contact Sheridan Posey, Education Coordinator at Wildwood, at 501-821-7275 ext. 253 or email at sheridan@wildwoodpark.org.

2nd Annual Adventure Programming Conference Friday-Sunday, April 5-7, 2013 Horseshoe Canyon Ranch

Hosted by Ozarks Outdoors | University of the Ozarks, Henderson State University, Lyon College, & University of Arkansas Contributing Informal Hands-On Presentations for Students & by Students. 2012 Topics Included: “Bike Maintenance Workshop”, “Why Outdoor Ethics?”, “Building Natural Climbing Anchors”, “Trip Leader Dynamics in the Backcountry” “Arkansas Wilderness Areas”, “Making a Positive Impact on Your Participants”

Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013- 25 Earlybird deadline to present: March 1, 2013. Registration deadline: April 1, 2103 For any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact conference host: Jamie Lewis Hedges 479-647-1100 or jhedges@ozarks.edu

YCWF 49th Annual Quail Banquet Saturday, April 6, 2013 6p.m. – 11p.m.

YCWF Building, Hwy 22 & Wildlife Lane Dardanelle, AR

YCWF’s annual fundraiser. There will be door prizes, raffles, food and drinks. Please check yellcountywildlife.org for details.

AWF Quarterly Meeting

Saturday, April 13, 2013 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Willie Hinton Neighborhood Resource Center 3805 W. 12th Street, Room #207 Little Rock, AR 72204 The quarterly meeting agenda will include discussions about the upcoming AWF banquet, nominations for conservation awards, progress of the building and property on Bingham Road, Bearcat Hollow progress report, and more. If you have an item you would like to have placed on the agenda please contact the AWF office no later than April 1.

The quarterly meeting is open to the public. A working lunch will be served. Please R.S.V.P. so we can have an accurate count on how much food to provide.

Contact info: Ethan Nahté (501) 224-9200 or arkwf@sbcglobal.net

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation – Twin Lakes Banquet

Saturday, April 20, 2013 Mountain Home, AR Contact information: Gary Goeckerman @ 870-405-4099

10th Anniversary for the ARKANSAS EARTH DAY FESTIVAL

Arkansas Wildlife Federation P.O. Box 56380, Little Rock, AR 72215

Saturday, April 20, 2013 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Heifer International Grounds Little Rock, AR A

This coming Earth Day’s exciting and educational festival will mark the 10th anniversary of the Arkansas Earth Day Foundation as our efforts increase awareness among Arkansans.

The Arkansas Earth Day Foundation (AEDF) is a non-profit coalition engaging Arkansans to provide growing awareness, and encouraging action for a clean, healthy, and sustainable natural state through an annual festival and year round community initiatives through the Arkansas Earth Day Foundation.

Contact: info@arkansasearthday.org.

E-Day Festival

Sunday, May 19, 2013 Rain or Shine 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

New Farmer’s Market area in Historic Downtown Hot Springs AR e-day Festival is an environmental event hosting almost one hundred environmentally conscious businesses, non profits, schools, places of worship, and various eco-savvy groups. The event is full of family fun, food, entertainment, and kids’ activities all focused on earth friendly practices. This is a great green day out for the entire family.

The best part about the event… admission is completely free! Whether you’re “green” and want to see the latest in environmentally sound practices and new ideas (and meet other people like you) or whether you just want to learn some new “green” tips and practices, this is the event for you. You will discover all kinds of intriguing exhibitors with eco friendly products to purchase and green practices to start implementing in your daily routine.

Telephone: (501) 224-9200

“Your voice for hunting, fishing and conservation since 1936”

Arkansas Out-Of-Doors Advertising Agreement Arkansas Out-Of-Doors is the official publication of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation established in 1936, a non-profit, hunting, fishing, and conservation organization dedicated to promoting the wise stewardship of our natural resources. It is a newsprint tabloid publication that is published 6 times per year for the following issues: Jan.-Feb., March-April, May-June, July-Aug., Sept.-Oct., Nov.-Dec. The publication contains information about hunting, fishing and other outdoororiented activities. It also contains articles about conservation. It is mailed near the end of the first month of each issue date to approximately 4500 AWF members and it has an estimated readership of 13,500 to 17,500 people each issue. Those who read this publication enjoy the great outdoor, and they are interested in conservation.

Circle the issue in which the ad is to run: January – February issue, reserve space

by Jan. 1. Camera-ready art due Jan. 5. Mailing date near the end of January. March – April issue, reserve space by March 1, Camera-ready due by

Size

Centerfold Full pg 1/2 pg Horizontal 1/2 pg Vertical 1/3 pg Horizontal 1/3 pg Vertical 1/4 pg 1/8 pg

Dimensions

21.5"x11" 10.25"x10.125" 10.25"x4.75" 5.0556"x9.5625" 10.25"x3.125" 3.375"x9.5625" 5.0621"x4.75" 5.0621"x2.3125"

March 5. Mailing date near the end of March. MayJune issue, reserve space by May 1. Cameraready art due by May 5. Mailing date near the end of May. July-August issue, reserve space by July 1. Camera-ready art due by July 5. Mailing date near the end of July. September-October issue, reserve space by Sept. 1, Camera-ready are due by Sept. 5. Mailing date near the end of September. November-December issue, reserve space by Nov. 1. Camera-ready art due

by November 5. Mailing date near the end of November.

Advertising layout and space: Advertising may send a slick or a black and white copy of a previous ad, a negative for black and white ads, a color key and four-color separations for color ads, or ads may be sent on a disk on CD (PDF, JPEG or EPS) to the Arkansas Wildlife Federation. We utilize 90-line screen, right reading, emulsion down. The AWF can assist in making the ad for the client. Depending on amount of time to layout ad, there may be additional fees for this.

1-2 ads

3-5 ads (5% off)

6 ads (10%off)

-$400 $225 $225 $165 $165 $145 $35

-$380 $215 $215 $156.75 $156.75 $137.75 $33.25

-$360 $205 $205 $148.50 $148.50 $130.50 $31.50

Color Include One spot color, additional Four color, additional

$$50 $100

$47.50 $95

$45 $90

Charges for covers: Inside front, additional Inside back, additional Back cover, additional

$75 $50 $100

$71.25 $47.50 $95

$67.50 $45 $90

(all sizes listed as Width x Height)

Name of business ���������������������������������������������������������������� Mailing address ������������������������������������������������������������������ Ad confirmed by (print and signature) ������������������������������������������������� Telephone_________________________________Fax �����������������������������������

26 - Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013

AGFC Enforcement Division Activity Report For December 2012 Provided by Stephanie Weatherington Captain/Boating Law Administrator/Disaster Response Coordinator

As you will see, officers ended 2012 on a high note. Aside from all the great cases made, officers throughout the state took time to be true servants of their communities by participating in Shop with a Cop programs, serving food and handing out toys to those less fortunate in their communities and even in one case becoming Santa Clause and making a special visit to a local Head Start program!

Statewide Officer Violator Contacts

Statewide Officer Activity Hours

Hunting:

1,054

Honor Guard:

78

Boating:

63

Public Relations:

351.75

Fishing:

Criminal Other:

42 17 46

District A-1 Major cases this month included: 6 Hunting Out of Season arrests with 1 being a Turkey case and another resulting in the arrest of a convicted Felon in possession of a firearm, 1 Night Hunting arrest, 2 Road Hunting arrests and 1 DWI arrest. Several decoy operations were conducted with an interesting twist in Carroll Co.; Cpls. Bawcom and Gustavus watched a subject illegally enter property from their vantage point and it became apparent he was not hunting but rather there to commit theft so they were able to apprehend him in the act. Once again officers are assisting Kansas Dept. of Parks with ongoing investigations. Officers assisted with a man hunt after a subject was shot at his place of business. The new Benton Co. Sheriff has requested our officers to provide boating law training to his field deputies, as they have a Lake Patrol division. PR events included: Hunter Ed. classes, a Boating Ed. class, various school programs and assisting a Gravette High School class with information and statistics for the filming of their own Hunter Ed. video. Lt. Ruby successfully graduated from the 4-week School of Law Enforcement Supervision.

District A-2 Officers worked 133 hours of Night Hunting Enforcement, 263.5 hours of Enforcement on area WMAs and 118.5 hours of Waterfowl Enforcement within this month.

Sgt. Sisk responded to a call from a landowner who witnessed a Road Hunting vio-

Dive Team:

Assisting Other Agencies:

Assisting Other Divisions:

65

297.25 41.75

lation and was holding the suspects on site; Sgt. Sisk issued citations, seized the weapon used and donated the deer to someone in need. Officers Gray and Fletcher worked a non-injury boat accident on the Arkansas River. Officer Beavers located 2 commercial fishing nets with dead game fish; he tracked down the owner issued citations for Wasting Game. Officer Basham investigated a case of Failure to Tag/Check which resulted in citations to a juvenile and a Felony arrest warrant affidavit for the adult involved. A special operation was conducted on the Asian Food Markets in Sebastian Co. A complaint had been filed that they were selling trout caught out of Wells Lake; the markets were inspected but no violations were discovered during the inspection but the investigation is ongoing. Officers assisted various agencies with checkpoints, apprehending suspects and the rescue of a stranded boater. Officers Fletcher and Gray did a walk-through of the public schools in Greenwood with Greenwood PD in order to become more familiar with the infrastructure of the campuses and better prepared for any incidents. Sgt. Tucker performed Honor Guard duties at the funeral service for a retired AGFC Wildlife Officer. PR events included: a Waterfowl Hunting class, various Shop with a Cop programs, a Women’s Defensive Tactics class, a Veteran’s Handicap Hunt and the Greenwood Holiday Parade. Sgt. Sisk graduated #1 in the class of the 4-week School of Law Enforcement Supervision.

District A-3 Officers worked 254 hours of Night Hunting Enforcement and 288.5 hours of Enforcement on area WMAs within this month. Officers J. Smith and Whiley apprehended 4 subjects for utilizing dogs during muzzle loading season. Officer Paul made a Slot Fish case while working duck hunters on De Gray Lake; the subject had 9 largemouth bass including one slot fish. Officers Taylor and Paul resolved a Trapping w/o Permission case which included baiting the traps with whole ducks that had been wasted. They were able to track the suspect’s ATV on foot over 2 miles back to his residence after dark. Cpl. Carpenter worked a Night Hunting case that resulted in the arrest of 4 subjects for Night Hunting, Aiding/ Abetting, DWI and Public Intoxication. Lt. Carmack is currently working a Hunting w/o Permission complaint involving a Garland Co. Deputy. Officers assisted various agencies with vehicle/ATV/Hit & Run accidents, checkpoints, serving warrants, man hunts, an investigation of a Triple Homicide and the rescue of individuals stranded by the snowstorm in the Albert Pike area. Officer Taylor captured an individual that fled into a wooded area at night after shooting multiple times at four individuals during a domestic altercation. PR events included: school programs, shadow programs, Shop with a Cop and Cpl. Johnson as Santa Claus visited children at the Blanche Lincoln Head Start program. Officer Paul successfully passed the 8 hour written final exam and received his National Certification as a Drug Recognition Expert.

District A-4 Officers worked 200.50 hours of Night Hunting Enforcement and 124 hours of Waterfowl Enforcement within this month.

Major cases included: 1 Night Hunting, 1 Road Hunting, 2 Hunting Out of Season, Aiding/Abetting, DWI, Felon in Possession of Firearm, Over Limit of Waterfowl, Wasting Game and Possession of a Controlled Substance. Officers worked a Fatality hunting accident where a 38 yr. old man was shot in the neck by a 17 yr. old accidentally while hunting feral hogs. Another accident was worked where an individual shot himself in the foot with a 44 magnum. Officers received a report of yet another hunting accident which was later determined by officers to have been faked so the injured sub-

ject could get pain medication. A night flight operation was conducted within the district.

PR events included: Shop with a Cop and the Wounded Warriors Hunt assisting disable Veterans. Officer Partain performed Honor Guard duties during the funeral service of a retired AGFC Wildlife Officer.

District B-1 Officers worked 86.75 hours of Night Hunting Enforcement, 78.50 hours of Fishing Enforcement and 43.75 hours of Boating Enforcement within this month. Several Road Hunting cases were made this month.

Cpl. Small apprehended 2 Night Hunters.

Officers Cruce and Smith caught a suspect Hunting Out of Season (deer) and Hunting w/o a License a few days after the close of modern gun season. Sgt. Leek is investigating damage to an AGFC building on Loafers Glory WMA. Cpl. Warner apprehended 2 suspects who killed a deer Out of Season.

Other violations included Turkey Hunting Out of Season and Firearm Restrictions. Officer Cowan initiated a traffic stop that resulted in 2 drug arrests. Cpls. Crisman and Cruce assisted local fire departments with a wildfire and structure (house) fire. Officers also assisted other agencies with calls during the aftermath of the snowstorm. Cpl. Purdom assisted with the search for an attempted murder suspect. PR events included: Shop with a Cop and a Waterfowl education program.

District B-2 Officers worked 150 hours of Night Hunting Enforcement and 554 hours working Waterfowl Enforcement within this month. Cpl. King made 4 Night Hunting cases, 3 deer Tagging/Checking cases, 1 Road Hunting case, 1 Shooting Hour Restriction case and 1 Hunting While Suspended case. Cpl. Williams made a night hunting stop where two subjects fled on foot; one subject has since been found and issued a citation for Fleeing along with the driver being cited for Aiding/Abetting.

Cpl. Rogers investigated a subject carrying multiple deer heads and horns in his truck which led to 3 arrests and 1 warning being issued. He is also investigating a dead Bald Eagle that was found. Officers Stout, Rogers and Jackson investigated a complaint and issued citations to 3 individuals in the killing of a Trumpeter Swan on Ed Gordon WMA. Officers Pratt and Jackson worked a deer carcass dumping complaint in Rus-

Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013- 27 sellville resulting in citations being issued for Night Hunting, Road Hunting, Wasting Edible Portions of Wildlife, and Aiding and Abetting in a Violation. Cpl. Spurlock assisted Maumelle PD with complaints about hunters hunting inside the city limits. Officers Spurlock and Gilliam assisted the Pulaski County SO with a jumper on the I-430 bridge. Officer Kirkpatrick assisted the Faulkner Co. SO with a subject who was suicidal and intoxicated. Officer King assisted the ASP with a fight that was in progress and the White County SO with locating stolen property while investigating a night hunting complaint. PR included the Trout Fishing Derby at Shilo Park.

District B-3 Officers worked 286.25 hours of Night Hunting Enforcement and 410.75 hours of Waterfowl Enforcement within this month.

Officers assisted District C-4 and USFWS with Waterfowl enforcement on Felsenthal NWR. Officer L. Brown apprehended 3 late shooters. Cpl. Owen assisted Columbia Co. SO capture suspected armed robbers of the Walker Water Office. Officer L. Brown assisted WMD with site inspections on Beryl Anthony WMA and he had a young man interested in becoming a Wildlife Officer ridea-long with him for a day.

District C-1 Officers worked 416 hours of Waterfowl Enforcement and 177 hours of Boating Enforcement within this month. They conducted a saturation on Shirey Bay/ Rainey Brake WMA. Officers assisted ASP with a sobriety checkpoint during the muzzle load season which resulted in 4 game violations. Sgt. Pearce assisted Independence Co. SO recover stolen merchandise and Officer Coats located and helped recover a stolen ATV.

District C-2 Officers worked 596.50 hours of Waterfowl Enforcement and 128.50 hours of Boating Enforcement within this month.

Major cases this month included: Over Limit of Ducks, 11 Shooting Hour Restrictions, Leaving Decoys Out on Black River WMA, Hunting Ducks Over Bait, Hunting in Closed Season, Wasting Edible Portions of Wildlife, Turtle License and Permit Requirements and numerous other boating and hunting violations. Sgt. Aston conducted a special operation on Black River WMA resulting in 26 OVCs. Officers also worked hunter harassment complaints on the area.

PR activities included: school programs, Hunter Ed. classes, a safety presentation at the Wounded Warrior Duck Hunt in Randolph Co. and 2 job shadows.

District C-3 Officers worked 121 hours of Night Hunting Enforcement and 421 hours of Waterfowl Enforcement within this month. Officers worked several special operations on Bayou Meto including regulating the “Boat Race”; resulting in 119 Waterfowl related OVCs being issued.

District C-4 Officers worked 200.25 hours of Night Hunting Enforcement and 133.75 hours of Waterfowl Enforcement within this month.

Both Sergeants conducted a total of 8 special operations targeting Night Hunting (including1 Night Flight), Road Hunting and Waterfowl Hunting; all resulting in success. Cpl. Young worked a Hunting Accident where a subject shot his brother with a muzzleloader; the victim is not expected to survive. Cpl. Greer worked a CWD case involving a deer from Kansas; the deer was taken to a processor and taxidermist to be mounted. Officer Byrd investigated a subject who killed an Ille-

gal 4-pt deer; Officer Byrd seized the deer and took it to a needy family. He also made a drug arrest on Casey Jones WMA where he discovered a female driver and male passenger smoking marijuana and had 2 small baggies on their person. Officers assisted ASP with a DWI and a Felon in Possession case. Major cases this month included: 14 Tagging/Checking Deer, 8 Road Hunting, 1 Lending License, 3 Illegal Buck Deer, 1 Hunting in Closed Season (Deer), 4 Night Hunting, 1 Non-Resident Hunting License, 1 Baiting on WMA, 3 Use of Artificial Lights, 3 Possession of Controlled Substance, 1 Commercial Net Tagging Requirement and 1 Duck Daily Bag Limit.

District D-1 Officers worked 568.50 hours of Waterfowl Hunting Enforcement and 260.75 hours of Night Hunting Enforcement within this month. Officers Sexton and Smith investigated a case involving a large 10pt that led to citations for Tagging and Lending a License. Officer Smith worked a hunting accident involving the accidental discharge of an 8 yr. old’s shotgun in a duck pit that struck an adult in the head causing nonlife threatening injuries. Officers Sexton and Whitehead each investigated hunting accidents also that were tree stand related.

Officer Meyer worked a night hunting complaint that uncovered a homemade silencer.

He also made a DUI arrest while working night hunters where a 10 yr. old was sitting in the lap of the subject and driving with several other children in the back seat. Other major cases included: Deer Checking/Tagging violations, 3 Road Hunting cases and Felony Possession of a Firearm. Several special operations were conducted throughout the district including a decoy operation, various waterfowl operations, a Wildlife Checkpoint (resulting in 18 OVCs) and night hunting operations; 1 of which uti-

lized a Night Flight that resulted in a deadly force incident. Officers assisted several SOs with felony arrests, a meth lab, a search for a missing hunter, disturbance calls and DWIs. PR events included: school programs including an “Eat Lunch with a Local Public Servant Day”, a youth duck calling contest, presenting EAYS with an AWOA Christmas Charity check, the Elaine Winter Festival, Tri-County Farmers Annual Dinner, handing out food/toys to over 200 families at the Food Pantry in Marvell, duck hunt club meetings and Youth Waterfowl Hunts. Officer Faughn completed the final 8 hour written exam and is now a nationally certified Drug Recognition Expert.

Dive Team The Dive Team conducted interviews and skills tests to fill a vacant position on the team.

Training Center Conducted maintenance and preparing for upcoming 2013 Training Classes.

Radio Shop Technicians worked tirelessly to keep things up and running through lightning strikes, power outages and the snow storm.

On Christmas day the power went off at the Mayflower office and the generator failed to switch to emergency power; thankfully Lt. Carman and Technician Mark Phillips made the switch manually on Christmas evening and got everything going again.

Radio Room (Dispatch) There were 10,924 unit checks this month and 779 messages dispatched which included: 430 Violation reports; 24 WATTS Line numbers assigned; 174 animal traffic (nuisance, injured, endangered, etc.); 121 general information calls; etc. There were 10,729 phone calls fielded by the operators this month.

28 - Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013

AWF ANNUAL CONSERVATION ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS NOMINATIONS For more than 50 years the Arkansas Wildlife Federation has honored Arkansas’ greatest conservationists and most passionate wildlife advocates at its annual Conservation Achievement Awards program. These Conservation Awards are presented to individuals and organizations who have made outstanding contributions to protecting wildlife through education, advocacy, communication and on-the-ground conservation.

The categories listed below are open for nomination by the general public. Please note that AWF, along with AGFC, presents some awards at the annual banquet that are not open to public nominations. Not all categories may be awarded each year.

HAROLD ALEXANDER CONSERVATION of the YEAR AWARD The highest conservation achievement award presented by the Arkansas Wildlife Federation is given in memory of Harold Alexander - one of the foremost authorities and experts in Arkansas on conservation activities. Requirements for nominees to be considered: • A conservationist, professional or volunteer, whose contribution to an environmental field has been sustained over a period of several years • A person whose contribution to conservation is of such significance as to be known statewide, or nationally • A conservationist whose contributions are not necessarily related to a single issue or effort, but who has, over a period of time become known as a person whose activities and influence bring about positive changes in matters affecting the environment • A conservationist who, by this recognition, would serve to create a broader interest in conservation and by example, encourage others to outstanding accomplishments on behalf of our state’s natural resources REX HANCOCK WILDLIFE CONSERVATIONIST of the YEAR AWARD Rex Hancock was one of Arkansas’s premier wildlife conservationists who worked tirelessly on behalf of wildlife and wildlife habitats in the White River and Grand Prairie region of Eastern Arkansas. The Arkansas Wildlife Federation has named this special award in memory of Dr. Rex Hancock for his outstanding contributions to wildlife conservation in Arkansas. This award is for outstanding contributions to the management, enhancement and restoration of wildlife resources in Arkansas.

Dr. JOHN L. GRAY FORESTRY CONSERVATIONIST of the YEAR AWARD In June 2007, Arkansas lost a giant in the forestry field with the death of Dr. John L. Gray.

Dr. Gray served on the Arkansas Wildlife Federation Board of Directors for many years and chaired the Forestry Committee. At the July 2007 AWF Board meeting, the Forestry of the Year Award was renamed in memory of Dr. Gray. This award is for demonstrating outstanding leadership in the management of our state’s forest resources. Fish and wildlife management and best management practices must be a major component.

CAROL GRIFFEE CONSERVATION COMMUNICATOR of the YEAR AWARD Any environmental conservation organization understands the importance of publicity and media support to educate the general public about important issues regarding the environment. This award was renamed in 2011 in honor of Carol Griffee for all of her remarkable work as a journalist and conservationist. The Arkansas Wildlife Federation selects annually an individual or organization that has provided outstanding media news articles or programs that keep the general public informed of environmental issues and needs that impact The Natural State. This may include radio, TV, social media/internet, or print – including cartoonists.

CORPORATE CONSERVATIONIST of the YEAR AWARD This is awarded for significant efforts by an Arkansas business or corporation toward environmental restoration/habitat stewardship, including providing lands for wildlife conservation and public recreation; conservation education/awareness; wildlife and fisheries management or other natural resource programs; or pollution abatement. Efforts must be voluntary, involve employees and go above and beyond compliance with mandatory programs.

For significant achievement by a business in (This category is to honor a company, not an individual person.)

CONSERVATIONIST ORGANIZATION of the YEAR AWARD This award is for outstanding conservation achievement by a state or local organization, including but not limited to civic organizations, environmental groups, sportsmen’s clubs, garden clubs, etc., in addressing significant natural resource management and environmental quality challenges. Arkansas Wildlife Federation affiliates and nonaffiliates are both eligible.

CONSERVATION EDUCATOR of the YEAR AWARD This award is for outstanding performance in conservation education by a professional or volunteer. Those eligible in this category include individual teachers of the natural sciences; schools with a class or focus dedicated to science, nature or conservation; instructors on fish and wildlife management or environmental design and management; facilities/museums with a focus on various aspects of environmental education. Emphasis should be on teaching and working with students or the public rather than on research or administration. Instructors of boating or hunter safety are not eligible for this award as they are recognized by the AGFC at this event.

WATER CONSERVATIONIST of the YEAR AWARD This award is for outstanding contributions to the management, enhancement and restoration of fisheries resources; or for outstanding efforts toward improvement of water quality or conservation in Arkansas.

STUDENT CONSERVATIONIST of the YEAR AWARD This award is for a young Arkansan who has demonstrated a personal commitment to conserving the state’s resources and protecting the environment and by demonstrating leadership and accomplishment in conservation. The nominee must have been enrolled in a school (including university or college, or home-school), as recognized by the state of Arkansas within the nomination time period. Youth groups qualify.

AWF Awards Program Rules and Procedures 1) Winners may not be named in every category. Recognition will be based primarily on accomplishments from July 2012 – June 2013. Prior records may be considered, but this will be left up to the judges. Immediate past winners are not eligible to succeed themselves in the same category of accomplishment for which they were recognized the previous year.

2) Nominations may be hand-delivered, sent by USPS mail or other delivery service, or via e-mail to the Ar-

and worthy of recognition. The essay is required and should not exceed 3 single-spaced typed pages. Information such as past recognition, organization memberships, etc. may be appended to the essay. Documentation of accomplishments such as newspaper clippings, letters of support, photos, etc. should be included as a supplement to the essay. If a nomination is submitted for more than one category, a separate nomination form and complete essay must be submitted for each category entered. Non-electronically submitted essays and supporting documentation can be delivered as a

kansas Wildlife Federation at the address on the nomination form or to arkwf@sbcglobal.net. They must be postmarked on or before midnight June 15, 2013 or received electronically by 11:59 PM CST on June 15, 2013. Any nominations not meeting the deadline will not be considered.

3) Attach the Nomination Form to the nominee's essay of achievements. The essay should be a narrative description of the nominee's accomplishments, including an explanation of their significance or impact and why the nominee's accomplishments are important

paper hard copy or in a digital format (i.e. flash drive or CD-Rom). Please provide a contact name, number and/or e-mail for nominee so that we may notify them if they are selected.

4) Nominations that do not meet all standards and criteria will be held until sender can be notified to obtain the information required. Please be certain to include your contact information if we have further questions. Program judges may declare any nomination ineligible if proper documentation and supportive materials are not included. The decision of the judging committees will be final.

Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013- 29

AWF ANNUAL CONSERVATION ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS NOMINATION FORM: NAME OF NOMINEE: ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

AWARD: ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

NOMINEE'S ADDRESS: �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

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PHONE:_ _________________________________________________________ EMAIL: �����������������������������������������������������������������

NOMINATED BY: ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

ADDRESS: ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

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PHONE:_ _________________________________________________________ EMAIL: �����������������������������������������������������������������

All nominations must be mailed to AWF by June 15, 2013 to be considered. AWF, P.O. Box 56380, Little Rock, AR. 72215, 501-224-9200

MEMORIAL GIFTS & HONORARIUM Remember Loved Ones "Forever"

You can remember a loved one with a memorial gift or honorarium to the Arkansas Wildlife Federation.

Memorial gifts: If you would like to remember someone who loved wildlife, and the great outdoors of Arkansas, you can make a gift in that person’s name. What a beautiful tribute to their memory. Your memorial gift will continue the work of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation and keep a loved one’s spirit alive through wildlife conservation.

Honorarium Gift: Are you puzzled what to give friends or family members who “have everything?” Will an ordinary gift just not be enough? Then, consider making a donation to the Arkansas Wildlife Federation in their honor and acknowledge their special day, birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, or whatever they are celebrating.

Your gift is a special recognition to this individual or family in support of wildlife conservation programs. Gifts of $ 100 or more will receive wildlife print. All donations will receive a tax deductible receipt.

Make a Difference “Forever Memorials or Honorariums” Right Now by Completing this Information Below: Name of honoree_____________________________________________________________ Name of donor______________________________________________________________ Address____________________________________________________________________ Address_ __________________________________________________________________ City_________________________________State_____________ Zip Code_ _____________

City_ _______________________________ State_____________ Zip Code______________

Visa_________ Master Card_ ___________ Credit Card #_____________________________________________________________ Expiration Date______________________________ Memorial______ Honorarium_ ____________ Amount of Gift $_ _____________________ *The Arkansas Wildlife Federation can accept checks, and Master Charge or VISA Credit Cards *

Designation of Gift____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ We now accept MC/Visa/AMEX/Discover

Thank you for supporting wildlife conservation! Send to: Arkansas Wildlife Federation, P.O. Box 56380, Little Rock, AR 72215; or call 501-224-9200

30 - Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013

January/February 2013 POSTMASTER: Send form 3579 to: P.O. Box 56380, Little Rock, AR 72215

ISSN0884-9145

Arkansas Wildlife Federation Officers and Board of Directors October, 2012 to September, 2013

Arkansas Out-of-Doors

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE ARKANSAS WILDLIFE FEDERATION Arkansas Out-of-Doors is published 6 times per year by Arkansas Wildlife Federation, P.O. Box 56380, Little Rock, AR 72215. Third Class postage paid at Russellville, AR and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address change to Arkansas Outof-Doors, P.O. Box 56830, Little Rock, AR 72215, or call 501-224-9200.

This is the official publication of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation. Printed matter includes hunting and fishing news, sporting information, articles on pertinent legislation, with special emphasis on environment and pollution problems. All Arkansas Wildlife Federation members are entitled to receive one copy of each issue of AOOD for one year.

Permission is granted to reprint any news article or item printed in Arkansas Out-Of-Doors with credit, please.

Executive Director �������������������������������������������� Ethan Nahté Editor in Chief ����������������������������������������� Wayne Shewmake Layout/Design ������������������������������������������Chris Zimmerman ZimCreative Views and opinions, unless specifically stated, do not necessarily represent the positions of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation.

Deadline Information: Unless other arrangements are made with the editor, copy for club news, features, columns and advertising must be in the Arkansas Wildlife Federation office by the close of business (noon) on the 20th of the month preceding publication. Thank you for your cooperation.

Executive Committee President: Wayne Shewmake, Dardanelle 1st Vice President: Ellen McNulty, Pine Bluff 2nd Vice President: Jerry Crowe, Dardanelle Treasurer: Gary W. Bush, Marion Secretary: Lucien Gillham, Sherwood Executive Director: Ethan Nahté

Cane Creek Hometowner’s Association Jessica Thompson, Sec./Treasurer – Scranton, AR

Board of Directors At Large Clay Spikes, Benton Charles W. Logan, M.D., Little Rock Lola Perritt, Little Rock Odies Wilson III, Little Rock Jimmie Wood, Dardanelle Larry Hillyard, Dardanelle Gayne Schmidt, Augusta Bobby Hacker, Little Rock Mike Armstrong, Little Rock Chrystola Tullos, Rison

Friends of Bigelow Park

Regional Directors District 1: --vacant- District 2: Patti Dell-Duchene, Augusta District 2 Alternate: Linda Cooper, Augusta District 3: --vacant- District 4: --vacant- District 5: Mary Lou Lane, Dardanelle NWF Region: David Carruth, Clarendon NWF Special Projects: Ellen McNulty, Pine Bluff NWF Regional Representative: Geralyn Hoey, Austin, TX

University of the Ozarks - Clarksville Jamie L. Hedges, Director of Outdoor & Evironmental Experiences

President Emeritus and First Lady Emeritus: Bob and Rae Apple, Dardanelle National Wildlife Federation Delegates: Wayne Shewmake, Dardanelle Ellen McNulty, Pine Bluff ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT Ralph Oldegard, Mt. Home Larry Hedrick, Hot Springs Charles McLemore Jr., Bryant Affiliate Clubs: ATU Fisheries & Wildlife Society Jared Schluterman, President - Russellville, AR Arkansas Chapter of American Fisheries Arkansas Trappers Association Gary Helms, President - Texarkana, AR

Creative Ideas President: Sharon Hacker - Little Rock, AR Friends of Pontoon Park

Friends of Delaware Park Greene County Wildlife Club Rick Woolridge, President - Paragould Little River Bottoms Chapter, Arkansas Wildlife Federation Vickers Fuqua, President Mike Young, Secretary & Treasurer

Westark Wildlife G. David Matlock, Fort Smith White River Conservancy Gayne Preller Schmidt, Augusta Yell County Wildlife Federation James Manatt, President – Dardanelle Yell County Youth Conservation Club Randy Cole, Dardanelle, AR Arkansas Wildlife Federation Staff Executive Director - Ethan Nahté Editor in Chief - Wayne Shewmake Contributing Writers – Wayne Shewmake, Gordon Bagby, Dr. Robert Morgan, Johnny, Sain, Jr., Ethan Nahté, Al Wolff, Cheree Franco,Tim Mangan, Don White, Jr., Shane Easterling, Jim Wood, AGFC, ADEQ, NWF, ABC Contributing Photographers – Dr. Robert Morgan, Mike Wintroath, Ethan Nahté, Shane Easterling, Tim Mangan, YCWF, Don White, Jr. Arkansas Wildlife Federation Address: 9108 Rodney Parham Road, Suite 101 Little Rock, Arkansas 72205 Office: 501-224-9200 // Cell: 501-414-2845

Arkansas Out-of-Doors • January/February 2013 - 31

ADEQ Seeks Environmental Award Nominations

The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is now accepting entries for its annual Environmental Stewardship Award to recognize citizens or organizations for their efforts to protect and enhance the state’s environment. Nomination packets must be postmarked by March 15, 2013, in order to be considered for the award, which will be presented at the April, 2013, regular meeting of the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology commission.

The “ENVY Award” was established in 2005 to honor a major contribution by an individual or organization involving environmental stewardship activities in Arkansas.

The award recipient will be selected from among the entries in five different categories of environmental-related activities or concepts: Innovation, Green Government, Environmental Education and Outreach, Environmental Improvement or Enhancement, and Sustainability.

The Innovation category concerns environmental management efforts which break new ground in protecting resources, particularly involving new or unique programs or activities which utilize methods, technologies, materials, or implementations that go beyond “traditional” environmental control measures.

Efforts by state or local government employees or agencies to improve their own operations or benefit their stakeholders will be the focus of the Green Government category.

The Environmental Education and Outreach category is for programs and special projects which promote effective environmental education and outreach efforts aimed at citizens, schools, civic groups, and communities as a whole.

Activities which have had a positive impact on the quality of the environment in Arkansas are included in the Environmental Improvement or Enhancement category.

Watershed improvements, mine reclamations, wetlands construction, Brownfields projects, and industrial site redevelopment and reuse are among the types of activities to be considered for nominations.

The Sustainability category concerns projects or programs which minimize the environmental impact of various activities through efforts such as recycling or reuse programs, pollution prevention, energy conservation, or waste minimization.

ADEQ Director Teresa Marks will appoint a panel of judges to narrow the entries to a group of finalists from which the ENVY Award winner will then be chosen. Each finalist will also receive recognition by the ADEQ at the Commission meeting.

Nomination packets should be addressed to: ENVY Award Packet, Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, 5301 Northshore Drive, North Little Rock, AR 72118.

More information on the criteria for the award and a paper nomination packet can be obtained by contacting Andrea Hopkins in the ADEQ’s Public Outreach and Assistance (POA) Division, telephone, 501-682-0820; e-mail, hopkins@adeq.state.ar.us, or by accessing the ENVY Award link in the “Hot Topics” box on the agency’s web site at http://www.adeq.state.ar.us/. An electronic copy of the nomination packet for the award is available on the web site.

ADEQ employees and programs are not eligible for the award.

17 cadets complete wildlife officer training MAYFLOWER – Seventeen cadets have completed more than 700 hours of intensive training to become wildlife officers with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

The group studied at the H.C. “Red” Morris Training Center east of Mayflower on Lake Conway. Graduation ceremonies for the 2012 cadet class were held Oct. 26 at the State Capitol.

Major Jason Parker directs the cadettraining program, with many AGFC enforcement officers and staff members serving as instructors. Other experts participate in the teaching of specialized topics. The 17 cadets were chosen from several hundred applicants. Requirements for wildlife officer cadets include college degrees or law enforcement experience.

The 16-week training course includes police fundamentals related to wildlife work, training in proficiency with a variety of firearms, first aid and rescue basics, drug enforcement procedures and physical conditioning.

The new wildlife officers have state commissions as officers with full police authority, as do the other wildlife officers of the AGFC.

Assignment of the new officers will fill several existing vacancies in the AGFC’s enforcement ranks. They will be assigned to wildlife officer positions across the state, working at first under experienced officers. The 2012 graduates and their county assignments are: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Brady Baker – Ouachita County Scott Basham – Logan County Logan Camden – Ashley County Sean Canino – Poinsett County Jonathon Coats – Jackson County Jeff Dalton – Randolph County Tim Gossett – Crawford County Wade Grayson – Boone County Jamie Jackson – Pope County Landon Mills – Lincoln County Jason Phillips – Jefferson County Andy Smith – Crittenden County Stephen Speer – Greene County Keith Teague – Howard County Robert Tibbit – Miller County Tyler Webb – Yell County Billy Williams – Franklin County