Rick Watkins of Little Rock, the printing tycoon, is Beebe’s first Game and Fish Commission appointment. News release on the jump. If the FAA did profiling for Game and Fish appointees, he’d be pulled aside quickly — rich white guy. A couple of African-Americans have made it onto the commission in the wayback, but still no woman has been appointed to a full term. (Jim Guy Tucker appointed a woman to complete an unexpired term.)
No knock on Watkins, but we still have yet to see a commissioner appointed strictly from the wildlife appreciation/preservation end of the spectrum. I know. I know. All hunters and anglers want to protect wildlife, etc. But in an era when hunting and fishing are declining acros the U.S. on account of urbanization and habit changes, Arkansas lags behind other states — hated Texas comes to mind — in capitalizing equally on other parts of the outdoor picture. There are people who spend a lot of money to visit Texas to enjoy the outdoors with no guns or fishing rods. Instead, they are equipped with cameras, binoculars and hiking boots. End of my regular rant. Congrats to Watkins.