Arkansas newspaper and magazine veteran Kane Webb has been named by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to serve as the next executive director for the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.
The appointment was confirmed by a vote of the state Parks, Recreation and Travel Commission on Thursday morning. Webb succeeds the retiring Richard Davies.
Webb, 51, most recently has served on Hutchinson’s staff as a senior adviser, where he received a salary of $85,000. He was responsible for Hutchinson’s written material, served as a communications aide and worked on special projects including the transition of the Department of Health’s in-home care program to the private sector.
At the parks department, he’ll earn a salary of $130,000, the same amount Davies received.
A former journalist, Webb was born in Hot Springs, grew up in Little Rock and spent roughly 30 years in journalism, almost all of it in Arkansas. He got his start as a sportswriter for the old Arkansas Democrat, served as editor for several publications including Arkansas Life and Louisville magazine and also worked in New Orleans and Minneapolis.
Webb is a former editor at Arkansas Business and taught for a year at Little Rock’s Catholic High School for Boys.
“I’ve known Kane for almost 20 years, and I’ve gotten to know him especially well since he joined our team,” Hutchinson said. “He has a deep and abiding passion for Arkansas. He’s written about more people, places and events in this state than I can count, and he understands how important parks and tourism are to Arkansans and its economic importance to our state.”
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