Department of Parks Heritage & Tourism

Gov. Asa Hutchinson announces a new Office of Outdoor Recreation, a 10-member board to guide that office, and the addition of Blue Mountain to the state's outdoor recreation opportunities. read more >

Instead of boosting his state pay for promoting Arkansas from $200,000 to $845,000 a year, gardening and lifestyle star P. Allen Smith appears likely to get 95% less than his previous contract provided — or perhaps nothing at all. read more >

If you needed a handy metric to illustrate how far newspapers have sunk in the new media world, ponder this: Of the nearly $7 million a year Arkansas spends on media marketing to promote state tourism, only one one-thousandth — about $7,000 — goes to newspapers. read more >

Before calculating whether Arkansas gardening and lifestyle celebrity P. Allen Smith is worth $845,000 a year to the state for promotion, consider this: State tourism and marketing officials say they have better ways to spend the $200,000 a year Smith has been getting. read more >

While P. Allen Smith is seeking a $645,600 raise from the state, Stacy Hurst, chief of the Department of Parks, Heritage & Tourism, wants proof that Smith is earning the $200,000 he currently gets. read more >