SPRINGDALE -- Arkansas' Game and Fish Commission is looking for a central location for its regional headquarters and has set its sights on Springdale.
The commission's headquarters sits on a hill near Beaver Lake dam, about one hour's drive from Springdale through agricultural and forested land.
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For more information about the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, go to agfc.com.
Visitors generally go to the office to get hunting and fishing licenses or to ask questions about general regulations, said Ron Duncan, commission chairman.
Officials with Springdale and the commission said they are negotiating to establishing the regional headquarters in Springdale and also creating a nature education center. Commission officials would like the center to have a fishing pond and archery range, Duncan said.
The commission plans to pay for the new headquarters through a combination of grants and commission money, Duncan said. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Foundation is fundraising for the education center.
The most recent cost estimate for the facilities is $5 million, but that number could change.
"We want the nicest facility up here we can put together," he said.
One to five employees, including biologists and other staff members, work at the office each day, said Brian McKinzie, captain for the enforcement division of the Northwest Arkansas regional office. There are also 14 game wardens, but they usually don't work at the office.
The number of visitors varies, but the average tends to be fewer than 10 people per day, McKinzie said. He said he thinks the office would get more visitors if it was in Springdale.
"This should be for the public," he said. "We're kind of out of the way."
Charles Harwell, attorney for the Springdale Water and Sewer Commission, said at a meeting Wednesday the state commission has asked the Springdale commission and city to donate three tracts of land totaling more than 60 acres for the headquarters and education center. The city owns one tract of about 37 acres and the city commission owns separate tracts of about 20 acres and about four acres.
The property is in the northwest part of Springdale. It's on the west side of 40th Street and just south of Spring Creek, said Rick Pulvirenti, chief operating officer and director of engineering for Springdale Water Utilities.
The Sewer Commissioners agreed at the meeting to speak with Mayor Doug Sprouse about the option of donating the land.
Sprouse said he's in favor of the donation. The headquarters and nature center could become another destination in the city and a place for school groups and residents to visit.
"We're getting a wonderful 60-acre nature park that we don't have to maintain," Sprouse said.
Officials with the state commission began discussing a more central location for the headquarters about five years ago, McKinzie said. They were looking at Cave Springs and trying to work with the Illinois River Watershed Partnership.
The partnership monitors water quality and educates the public about conservation and restoration of the Illinois River Watershed.
The discussions with the group, however, didn't result in a new location, McKinzie said.
"They just couldn't come to an agreement on anything," he said.
The three tracts in Springdale are in the same part of the city as the Rabbits Foot Lodge, which the city owns and the Ozark Natural Science Center is considering for a location. The science center, based in Madison County, offers nature education programs for students.
McKinzie said he doesn't think the proximity would be a problem, because they are two different groups. Sprouse also said he doesn't think there would be an issue, because they each have unique offerings.
"My hope is that they would be able to enhance each other," Sprouse said.
There is no decision yet on whether the office near Beaver Lake Dam would close or stay open with a new location in Springdale, McKinzie said.
NW News on 03/22/2015