Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday announced that she has appointed Fayetteville businessman Brandon Adams to the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission.
Adams, the president and CEO of nursing home company Reliance Health Care Inc. of Conway, replaces Bobby Martin on the commission.
Martin was appointed by former Gov. Asa Hutchinson in 2016 and completed the final year of his term this year as commission chair. Stan Jones, who was appointed in 2017, follows Martin as commission chair.
Adams is an avid hunter and part-owner of the Prairie Wings Duck Lodge in Jefferson County. He is also a partner at Heartland Auto Group and Heartland Pharmacies, and board chair of hunting apparel company Banded Brands/Avery Outdoors. He joined the Arkansas Game & Fish Foundation in 2020. The group promotes hunting, fishing and conservation education among Arkansans.
“He loves his family, he cares about our state, and he loves the outdoors — and he loves the idea of making sure that every Arkansan has access to the great resources we have right in our backyard,” Sanders said in a statement.
Adams grew up in Conway and lived in Jonesboro before he and his family moved to Fayetteville in 2017. In a news conference Wednesday at the Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center, Adams said that spending time in different parts of the state has given him a “unique perspective” on the conservation and habitat needs of different areas.
He joins the commission as it proceeds with two major conservation initiatives. The first, announced in 2021, involves creating shallower wetlands at some of the state’s most popular public duck hunting grounds to preserve waterfowl habitats.
The second calls for the 6,700-acre Lake Conway to be drained to address decades of sediment build-up, a five-year renovation project that aims to improve fish habitats and boat access.
Adams praised the commission for making “courageous” decisions with a long-term focus on preservation, even though some projects have predictably drawn complaints from outdoor enthusiasts.
“Sometimes those decisions were controversial,” he said, “but were absolutely necessary in order for our future generations to enjoy the Natural State the way my family and I have been able to do.”
Game & Fish Commission members serve seven-year terms.
“If I can be half the commissioner that Bobby Martin has been,” Adams said, “then I will consider myself a success.”
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