Marion McCollum of Stuttgart is a member of a multi-generation Grand Prairie family heavily involved in duck hunting and the area’s wetlands habitat. He developed Mack’s Sport Shop into a leading national mail order sales corporation, Mack’s Prairie Wings, and its Stuttgart facility draws visitors from many states and some foreign countries. He was an active and effective commissioner with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission from 1995 to 2002.

He has been an avid turkey hunter for 58 years. He joined the National Wild Turkey Federation in 1975, not long after the organization was founded, and became a member of its board of directors in 1980. He has played a key role in the growth of NWTF into a major and effective conservation organization. Denton and NWTF have been instrumental in a number of Arkansas habitat improvement and expansion projects.

Rick Hampton is a farmer, waterfowl hunting enthusiast and a former Game and Fish Commission member who was a key figure in a number of wildlife-related developments in the late 1970s and 1980s – the changing of directors at the Game and Fish Commission, restoring elk to Arkansas and bringing back Canada geese to Arkansas.

Phyllis Speer’s sideline has made her a celebrity across the state in addition to her two decades in educational work for the Game and Fish Commission. She has won renown and a following as the co-host and cooking specialist on the popular Arkansas Outdoors program on Arkansas Educational Television Network.

An attorney, farmer, businessman and, most of all, a facilitator who has been instrumental in major Arkansas outdoor improvements for public use through his service with the U.S. Senate, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and The Nature Conservancy.

He used a background of executive leadership with Wal-Mart to promote the creation of a notable trout fishery on the White River below Beaver Dam. He serves as a board member of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and has been an Arkansas Game and Fish Commissioner and board member of the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation.

Richenback learned the basics of duck calling from the legendary Chick Major, as did many Stuttgart youngsters. Richenback stuck with Major in learning how to make duck calls as well as how to use them. He built the successful Rich-N-Tone company but kept a focus on teaching and encouraging young people in the sport of duck hunting and in duck calling in particular. He has served as Stuttgart’s mayor as well as head of its Boys and Girls Club.

Named for a former president’s wife, grew up fishing in south Arkansas streams as the youngest of 11 children, then followed her education at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff to a career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Today, she is assistant director of the agency and is in charge of its fisheries and habitat conservation operations. She is a native of Wilmot in Ashley County.

Hopper quickly moved to the top as a part of the Ranger Boats team under Forrest L. Wood. He has carried out the company’s long-time slogan of “We still build them one at a time.” He uses his time and energies to promote fishing and outdoor activities for everyone, but especially for youth. He has done this not only in Arkansas, but worldwide.

Huckabee has been an “enthusiast” her entire life so it was only “Natural” she became an instant champion for the Conservation Sales Tax in 1996. With the passage of Amendment 75, funding for the preservation of our state’s natural and cultural resources became a reality.