LITTLE ROCK — A proposed amendment to the Arkansas constitution could enable voters to elect members of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
Senate Joint Resolution 3, sponsored by Sen. David Burnett of Osceola and Jeremy Hutchinson of Little Rock, would amend the portions of Amendment 35 and Amendment 42 that provide for the selection of Game and Fish commissioners and members of the state highway commission. One provision would repeal the portion of Amendment 35 that authorizes the governor to appoint commissioners for seven-year terms.
The amendment would call for two members to be elected from each congressional district for a total of eight members. Initially, two members would serve two-year terms, two would serve fouryear terms, two would serve six-year terms, and two would serve eight-year terms. Each successive member would be elected to an eight-year term.Also, one member would be elected statewide for a fouryear term and would serve as chairman.
The first elections would take place during the Nov. 2016 general election. Commissioners would begin their terms Jan. 1, 2017. Commissioners would be limited to one term.
We were unable to reach Burnett for comment, and Hutchinson said he’s more concerned about the portion of the proposed amendment that affects highway commission. However, Hutchinson said Burnett is frustrated with the way he believes the AGFC treats his constituents in eastern Arkansas. He saidthe proposal is not a shot across the bow to get the AGFC’s attention.
“He’s serious,” Hutchinson said. “I think he’s real serious.”
Essentially, this proposal is a response to the AGFC’s decision to ban private duck blinds and leaving decoys overnight at three wildlife management areas in northeast Arkansas.
Rep. Andrea Lea of Russellville filed a new bill Monday, HJR 1003, that separated the Amendment 42 proposal from SJR3. The Amendment 35 (AGFC) proposal will have to stand on its own merits.Only three proposed amendments can make it to the ballot. Mike Knoedl, the AGFC’s director, said a stand-alone bill directed at the AGFC probably isn’t strong enough to make the cut.
Hunters and anglers have always criticized Game and Fish Commission appointments, believing them to be plums rewarded to wealthy campaign donors who havelittle in common with average sportsmen. Even so, the process has generally functioned well. On the occasions when the commission has gotten off track, governors have generally corrected its course by appointing better commissioners. Still, that system is linked to a time when hunters and anglers provided sole funding for the commission.
Amendment 75, which established the statewide sales tax that provides additional funding for the AGFC, Parks and Tourism and the Natural Heritage Commission, made every citizen a stakeholder in the AGFC. To some, electing commissioners might be appealing.
On the other hand, elections would also make it possible for national anti-hunting organizations and animal welfare organizations with deep pockets to bankroll handpicked candidates for the AGFC.
“That certainly is a concern,” Hutchinson said. “Elections cost money, andthose who have money could get behind people to give them the outcome they want. I think you have more representation if you have direct elections. As long as you have transparency in who’s contributing, people can see who’s backing candidates.”
More likely is the potential for elected commissioners to make management decisions based on political considerations in opposition to science-based recommendations from agency staff. The result would be inconsistent regulations from one end of the state to the other, and from one wildlife management area to another based on the whims of local donors. Voters rejected that model of management in 1944 when theyapproved Amendment 35.
In its current incarnation, the commission reflects the governor’s disposition toward game and fish management. He generally appoints people that he knows well and trusts. Since the AGFC’s Freedom of Information Actdebacle in 2010, Gov. Beebe has been very careful with his appointments to the commission. His past five appointees, including Emon Mahony, are solid conservationists, and four of the past five are generally like minded. Consequently, the commission now exhibits a sense of solidarity that was missing for years.
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee issued the same directive to all his appointments: “Make hunting and fishing better and opportunities more abundant for the working man.”
Without the common thread of a governor’s philosophy to bind their thinking, the commission would function much differently than it does now. When Beebe appointed Ty Patterson of Texarkana to the commission Friday, he said that he represents the whole state, as do the others.
Locally elected commissioners probably wouldn’t see it that way.
Sports, Pages 32 on 02/17/2013