Dr. John Van Brahana will be Honored at the Arkansas Wildlife Federation’s 2014
Governor’s Conservation Achievement Awards Banquet
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Doors open @ 4:00 PM; Dinner served @ 6:00 PM
The Center of Bryant located at Bishop Park, 6401 Boone Road, Bryant, Arkansas
August 22, 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
For more than 50 years the Arkansas Wildlife Federation (AWF), Arkansas’ oldest non-profit conservation organization (1936), has been recognizing those who have gone the extra mile in conservation, helping to maintain Arkansas’ natural beauty and protecting the environment. Each year AWF holds the Governor’s Conservation Achievement Awards Banquet to honor the recipients who are nominated by the public and three awards chosen by the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission (AGFC).
Dr. John Van Brahana will be awarded the Harold Alexander Conservation Award and Mike Masterson will be awarded the Carol Griffee Conservation Communicator of the Year Award for their outstanding work in bringing the Buffalo National River to the attention of every Arkansan so that we do not forget the importance of this national treasure.
Other deserving winners include the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, Lynne Slater, Executive Director of HAWK, Potlatch Corporation, Stan Speight, Waste Management, Kathy Rusert, Austin Klais, Nena Evans, and Cutter Morning Star High School EAST Lab. The AGFC awards are as follows: Hunter Education Instructor of the Year award to Mark Corbin, the Boating Education Instructor of the Year to Todd Gadberry and the Commission’s 2014 Wildlife Officer of the Year to Sgt. Brad Young.
This year’s theme will focus on the cooperative land rehabilitation project, located within Buffalo River watershed, known as Bearcat Hollow. Scheduled speakers include AWF’s President Wayne Shewmake and 1st Vice President Ellen McNulty; AGFC Commissioner Ron Duncan; Jim Dixon, Integrated Resources Team Leader (U. S. Forest Service); McRee Anderson, Fire Restoration Project Director (The Nature Conservancy); and Dennis Daniel, State Chapter President (National Wild Turkey Federation).
The doors open to the public at 4:00 PM to allow guests to see all of the winning art from the 2014 “Wildlife of Arkansas” Student Art Contest. After a four month tour to the various AGFC nature centers around the state, the art exhibit featuring 52 pieces representing grades k-12 will be on display for a one-night only gallery showing. The art show is a co-production of AWF and Creative Ideas. Attendees will also have the opportunity to visit with AWF affiliates such as the University of the Ozarks Outdoors club or the Arkansas Tech University Fisheries & Wildlife Society. Other affiliates and vendors will include Wounded Warriors Project, birds of prey, AGFC, and more.
There will also be a live and silent auction including vacation trips within Arkansas and to Costa Rica, and hunting and fishing trips in Africa, Argentina, and Arkansas. Auctioneer, Chris Workman of Workman’s Auction, will also auction off a youth deer hunt as well as a youth elk permit donated by the AGFC. There will also be several door prizes that range from shotguns to handmade blue bird houses and potted trees.
The public is invited to come join this family event and celebration to show appreciation for these conservation champions.
If you are a member of the press and would like to attend, or need more information, please contact the AWF Office. Photos from previous year’s event are available upon request. Information about the 2014 winners also available upon request.