Trey Reid hosts Congressman Bruce Westerman, Arkansas’s 4th District representative and chair of the Natural Resources Committee, to talk hunting, fishing, and forest conservation. Westerman shares his rural Garland County upbringing hunting squirrels, rabbits, quail, dove, turkeys, deer, and raccoons, his introduction to duck hunting in Stuttgart, and why turkey hunting is his favorite, including filling his limit during Arkansas’s highest turkey harvest in 20 years. He discusses crappie fishing on Lake Ouachita and how habitat like brush piles attracts fish. Westerman explains why timber harvest, thinning, and controlled burns create early successional habitat, improve biodiversity, and reduce insects, disease, and catastrophic wildfire, citing Forest Service restoration work and red-cockaded woodpecker habitat. He describes losing 20% of giant sequoias to wildfire, outlines the Save Our Sequoias Act and Fix Our Forest Act, and emphasizes healthy forests for clean air, clean water, and outdoor recreation.

Host Trey Reid welcomes Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Deputy Director Brad Carner back for a third straight episode on regulation updates, focusing on Arkansas waterfowl. They review that duck season dates remain largely the same, with only a minor change around the Christmas split, still opening the Saturday before Thanksgiving and closing January 31 under federal frameworks. Key changes include expanding non-motorized access areas on select WMAs/GTRs to reduce disturbance and improve hunting success, and implementing permit hunts in limited units such as Buckingham Flats on Bayou Meto, parts of Ed Gordon Point Remove, Prairie Bayou, and the Wiville unit at Black Swamp. A proposal to raise certain surface-drive horsepower limits was tabled after public opposition. They also discuss a robust public input survey (30,000+ participants and 70,000+ comments) and a new restriction barring nonresidents from hunting Dave Donaldson Black River WMA during the first nine days of duck season, based on hunter and anonymous cell data.

Host Trey Reid talks with Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Deputy Director Brad Carner about biannual wildlife regulation updates aimed at simplifying rules and streamlining license products. They explain a new requirement on public lands that dogs pursuing deer, fox or coyote must wear GPS collars and electric correction collars, clarifying it does not apply to other dog types or private land, and noting the goal is reducing conflicts and sustaining dog hunting opportunities. They also discuss redesignating Camp Robinson and Perry Michael’s Blue Mountain SUAs as Lake Conway WMA and Perry Michael’s Lick Creek WMA, with minimal user impacts but greater habitat-management priority. Other changes include consolidating leased land permits into one $75 permit for 10 leased WMAs, creating a $10.50 conservation permit for non-hunting/fishing users on AGFC-owned WMAs or lakes, and eliminating several free required tags/permits while still seeking participation data through other methods.

On this episode of the Arkansas Wildlife Podcast, host Trey Reid is joined by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Deputy Director Brad Carner to discuss new hunting and wildlife management area (WMA) regulation changes in the upcoming biennial cycle (July 1, 2026–June 30, 2028), part of 218 total fishing and hunting code updates aimed at simplifying and standardizing rules. They explain cleanup of outdated or redundant regulations, highlight the new searchable online code book, and detail key deer-related changes including more uniform WMA season structures, a three-deer WMA bag limit (with unchanged statewide limit of six), an expanded and earlier three-day early archery buck hunt in late August, statewide classification of button bucks as antlerless, and allowing modern centerfire rifles in deer zones 4 and 5. They also cover elimination of most wildlife possession limits (except migratory birds) and announce new public hunting access at Oakwood WMA near Dumas and the Queen Wilhelmina State Park Conservation Area agreement.

Host Trey Reid talks with Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Deputy Director Ben Batten about new regulations passed at the April commission meeting that take effect July 1, aligning fishing and wildlife regulation start dates and guidebook releases. They highlight the expansion of “blue ribbon” smallmouth bass streams from 2 to 10, with a one-over-15-inch smallmouth limit. They also discuss eliminating fish possession limits to simplify rules, clarifying how guides can transfer legally harvested fish to clients with documentation, and allowing bowfishing-style alligator harvest on private land. The episode covers lake renovation-related harvest changes at places like Wilhelmina, Poinsett, and Monticello, and provides an update on Lake Conway construction progress.

Host Trey Reid talks with Arkansas Game and Fish Commission fisheries staff Eric Naas and Will Lancett about the first year of Arkansas’s Legacy Lunker program after the donation period ended March 31. They report 19 qualifying bass donations, with fish coming from several waters including DeGray (5), Lake Austell (3), Lower White Oak (3), and Ouachita (3), and discuss unusual double-catch stories, minimal false alarms, and strong public support on social media. The donated fish are now spawning at the Joe Hogan hatchery using temperature/light control and spawning mats, with fry being raised at the hatchery then stocked as 2–3 inch fingerlings back into the lunkers home lakes. Preliminary genetics show many fish are mixed Florida and largemouth, and they note growth to 10 pounds can range from about 5–6 years in renovated lakes to 10–12+ years in older reservoirs.

Host Trey Reid discusses Arkansas Game and Fish Commission fisheries and fish hatcheries with Reed Pfeiffer, an Assistant Chief in Operations and Jason Miller, an Assistant Chief in Fisheries, who began at the Joe Hogan Hatchery in 2000 and managed it before becoming assistant chief in 2023. They outline Arkansas’s hatchery system—four warm-water facilities (Joe Hogan at Lonoke, Andrew Hulsey in Hot Springs, Charlie Craig in Northwest Arkansas, and Donham in Northeast Arkansas) and the Jim Hinkle Spring River cold-water trout hatchery near Mammoth Spring—plus the roles and niches of each, from catfish, walleye, striped bass, and northern largemouth bass to forage species. The episode covers major infrastructure upgrades, including a new 16,000-square-foot production facility and water system at Joe Hogan, and the Spring River hatchery’s recovery after a devastating April 2025 flood, with production back online and over a million trout on station. They also note trout shortages tied to losses at Norfork National Fish Hatchery, explain why fish are stocked (catchable fishing, genetics, supplementation, forage), and describe ongoing hatchery renovations and restocking efforts such as Lake Wilhelmina.

In this Arkansas Wildlife Podcast episode, host Trey Reid talks with Emily Roberts, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s prescribed fire coordinator, about how prescribed fire reinstates a natural process historically common in Arkansas and improves habitat by reducing leaf litter, opening canopies, and restoring grasses and wildflowers for wildlife. Emily describes her background, explains how fire suppression grew with settlements and timber protection, and outlines how public perceptions and agency outreach have helped bring fire back as a management tool through partnerships statewide. She discusses shifting some burns from the traditional February–March window to late growing season (July–September) to promote forb diversity and better control woody encroachment like sweetgum. The episode covers burn planning, weather constraints, ignition strategies, the Qualified Prescribed Burner law and training, prescribed burn associations, and examples of managed areas where prescribed burning have been used to great effect.

Host Trey Reid welcomes Colonel Joe Williams, chief of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Enforcement Division, to discuss Williams’ upbringing near Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge, his hunting and fishing roots, and the game warden encounter that inspired his career. Williams describes earning a degree from the University of Arkansas at Monticello, interning with AGFC, entering the academy in 2009, and learning under mentors like former Director Pat Fitz during his 13 years in Ashley County before becoming a supervisor in Calico Rock. He explains game wardens’ community-oriented role as educators and public-safety officers. He also outlines the demanding academy and hiring process. Williams highlights specialized capabilities such as dive team, honor guard, disaster response, accident reconstruction, and canines, and shares how to contact wardens, including the 24-hour dispatch number 833-356-0824.

Host Trey Reid welcomes John Stein, District 1 fishery supervisor in Northwest Arkansas with 24 years at the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, to discuss fishery management challenges in a rapidly growing region. Stein shares his background from Northeastern Colorado and his path into fisheries, including early work as a fish pathologist and a hatchery technician at the Andrew Hulsey Hatchery in Hot Springs. The episode covers increased fishing pressure around Beaver Lake, management goals for a trophy striped bass fishery supported by stocking and monitoring, and how frequent high-water events since 2008 have boosted nutrient inputs, forage, cover, and overall fishing quality on Beaver and other White River lakes. Stein explains Northwest Arkansas’s staggered walleye spawning runs and how they create interesting fishing opportunities. The conversation highlights partnerships with the Beaver Watershed Alliance and details securing outside funding. Finally, he describes the Northwest Arkansas Fish Habitat Alliance, which adds an education component by involving schools in building and sinking MossBack fish structures and growing native aquatic plants in school greenhouses. Link for donations to the Northwest Arkansas Fish Habitat Alliance program below.

https://app.etapestry.com/onlineforms/ArkansasGameFishFoundation/NWAfishhabitatalliance.html