At its monthly meeting on Thursday, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission approved the use of marine fuel tax funds to build a boat ramp to Bayou Bartholomew at its intersection with Arkansas 277 in Drew County.
The cost for the boat ramp project will not exceed $180,000. Marine fuel taxes are collected on gasoline and diesel fuel used in boats throughout Arkansas. Since 1969, the marine fuel tax in Arkansas has funded nearly $59 million in improvements to boating access in the state.
Kevin Mullen, chief of operations for the Game and Fish Commission, said that agency staff recommended the project to take advantage of current work being performed on the bridge spanning the bayou at this location.
"The Arkansas Department of Transportation is planning to renovate the bridge, so the timing of this project works out as a good addition to the renovation," Mullen said.
The longest bayou in the world, Bayou Bartholomew begins near Pine Bluff and flows 359 river miles to the Ouachita River at Sterlington, La.
In other business, the commission authorized the commission to trade 1,930 acres at Beryl Anthony Lower Ouachita WMA in Ashley County to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 2,263 acres owned by the USFWS in Desha County. The USFWS property has no public access, but the commission authorized Director Pat Fitts to obtain access to the property with an adjoining landowner. The land exiting the Beryl Anthony Lower Ouachita WMA will be added to the Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge.
The commission also granted one either-sex elk permit each to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, and the Arkansas Wildlife Federation. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation will auction its permit to raise funds to increase elk habitat in Arkansas. The Game and Fish Foundation permit is auctioned to raise funds for conservation education, and the Wildlife Federation permit is auctioned to raise funds for habitat improvement and conservation education.
In hunting related business, the commission heard proposals to correct three items in the Arkansas Wildlife Code that were omitted during the last regulations cycle. One correction will open turkey season on Foushee Cave, Little River and Nimrod Lloyd Millwood WMAs on the third Monday in April to match statewide season dates.
A second correction will clarify the language of the Camp Robinson WMA turkey season to eliminate confusion.
A third correction will extend the antlerless season on Ozark National Forest WMA throughout the entire modern gun deer season.