Saline River Chronicle

Remote sensors record spring ‘gobbler talk’

Remote sensors record spring ‘gobbler talk’

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is spying on a lot of “talking turkey” throughout the state, but they’re not eavesdropping on conversations at local coffee shops and gas pumps. The chatter they’re capturing is coming from male eastern wild turkeys making their presence known to hens before breeding season begins.  Each…

Spring into the outdoors with the AGFC March 16 – 22

Spring into the outdoors with the AGFC March 16 – 22

LITTLE ROCK — March Madness has an entirely different meaning for many parents in The Natural State. The big college basketball tournament will tip off just as most Arkansas schools dismiss their students for a week for spring break. According to Eric Maynard, interim chief of Education for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, parents…

Opinions, comments wanted: AGFC’s new regulations survey ends March 15

Opinions, comments wanted: AGFC’s new regulations survey ends March 15

Arkansas waterfowlers have until Friday, March 15, to have their voices heard on a number of proposed regulations for the 2024-25 season as well as other items on which the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission seeks comment. Regulations proposed for change from recent waterfowl seasons include reducing the number of goose hunting days from 74…

Late winter mallard estimates remain lowest in 15 years

Late winter mallard estimates remain lowest in 15 years

LITTLE ROCK — In the final aerial survey of the 2023-24 waterfowl season, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission biologists estimated a Delta mallard population that was more than a half-million mallards below the 2009-2024 late January long-term average and the lowest late January survey estimate on record since the 2010 start of transect-based surveys. Also,…

Moro Bay State Park announces seasonal park interpreter position

Moro Bay State Park announces seasonal park interpreter position

MORO BAY, Ark. – Moro Bay State Park has announced the availability of a seasonal park interpreter position. The announcement was made on Tuesday, February 13th. As of the announcement date, the river at Moro Bay remains at a high level, measuring at 81.6 feet, though it is gradually receding. While cabins and camping facilities…

Tune in for a ‘WildTail’ on YouTube

Tune in for a ‘WildTail’ on YouTube

BOGART, Ga. – The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, in partnership with the National Deer Association and the Southeast Deer Partnership, is proud to announce the release of “Wildtail: America’s Wildest Conservation Success Story,” a new documentary focused on the role of white-tailed deer to the economy and conservation community. The feature-length documentary, now available…

Boating-related fatalities in Arkansas drop to single digits in 2023

Boating-related fatalities in Arkansas drop to single digits in 2023

HOT SPRINGS — The number of people who died in boating accidents in Arkansas dropped to a five-year low last year, according to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s 2023 Boating Accident Year-End Report. Only nine fatalities resulted from the 61 boating accidents compiled by Cpl. Sydney Grant, Boating Law Administrator in the AGFC’s Hot…

Moro Bay State Park reopens after temporary closure due to flooding

Moro Bay State Park reopens after temporary closure due to flooding

MORO BAY, Ark. – Moro Bay State Park has resumed full operations after a temporary closure due to flooding caused by the Ouachita River reaching significant levels. As of Monday morning, the Visitor Center, campground, cabins, Deer Run Trail, playground, bathhouse, and pavilion are all accessible to visitors. However, some amenities remain closed due to…

Private reservoir, streamside landowners can get up to $10,000 to share the water

Private reservoir, streamside landowners can get up to $10,000 to share the water

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansans routinely boast that The Natural State has more than 600,000 acres of lakes and ponds dotted throughout its landscape. While anglers have hundreds of thousands of these acres available for public use, many large reservoirs and oxbow lakes remain in private ownership with no public access. A new program offered through…

National survey sheds new light on outdoor participation

National survey sheds new light on outdoor participation

LITTLE ROCK — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has followed trends in the outdoors since 1955 by conducting the National Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation Survey about every five years. It’s a massive, continuous effort. Public conservation and wildlife agencies across the U.S. – including the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission – and commercial…

Habitat and fish added to Arkansas waters by the truckload in 2023

Habitat and fish added to Arkansas waters by the truckload in 2023

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Game and Fish Commission biologists created nearly 200 semi-truckloads of fish attractors in 2023, and hatchery trucks kept up the pace, pumping more than 9.1 million gamefish and baitfish into Arkansas waters to enhance angling efforts. According to Matt Schroeder, fisheries district coordinator for the AGFC, habitat crews placed or enhanced…

Arkansas youth trap-shooting program looking for next generation of athletes

Arkansas youth trap-shooting program looking for next generation of athletes

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s annual youth trap-shooting competitions may be five months away, but it’s time for coaches to get their teams together and register to be a part of the Arkansas Youth Shooting Sports Program today.  Jimmy Self, Youth Shooting Sports coordinator for the AGFC, says registration is open…

Big Squirrel Challenge returns to Arkansas January 12-13

Big Squirrel Challenge returns to Arkansas January 12-13

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s statewide squirrel-hunting celebration is back for its third year. Get a buddy and get to the woods next Friday and Saturday to take your chance winning prizes and notoriety as the best bushytail hunter in your neck of the woods.  “AGFC Education Division staff started the Big…

Winter push coming? Conditions are falling into place for more waterfowl movement

Winter push coming? Conditions are falling into place for more waterfowl movement

For the first time since the beginning of waterfowl season, here at Waterfowl Report headquarters in west Little Rock it actually felt today (Thursday, Dec. 28) like a late-arriving winter was finally on its way.  With that, and with promising anecdotal reports from around east-central and central Arkansas this week as the state’s last segment…

No surprises; State aerial survey shows modern-day low in Mallards

No surprises; State aerial survey shows modern-day low in Mallards

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s December aerial waterfowl survey confirmed what many hunters and other observers were believing was the case in terms of the state’s early-season duck numbers: They’re at a modern-day low, both in estimated numbers of mallards and total ducks. The well-below-average count is attributed to no substantial rainfall to alleviate…