Why It Matters: If done correctly, bringing groups together around a shared commitment to stewardship can help ensure safe access, strong conservation outcomes, and a lasting outdoor legacy. By recognizing the critical role sportsmen and women play in funding wildlife management and habitat conservation, collaboration and mutual respect can be encouraged to strengthen both Arkansas’s natural resources and its outdoor community.
Highlights:
- On February 23, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation’s (CSF) Senior Manager of Western States, Kent Keene, participated as a panelist at the Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism and Outdoor Recreation.
- The session, Different Uses, One Outdoors: Bridging Recreation Communities, focused on fostering collaboration between consumptive and non-consumptive users of public lands.
Kent Keene, Senior Manager of Western States at the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, participated as a panelist at the Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism and Outdoor Recreation during a session focused on uniting diverse outdoor recreation communities through shared stewardship. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is a member of the bipartisan Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus.
The session, titled Different Uses, One Outdoors: Bridging Recreation Communities, explored how consumptive and non-consumptive users of public lands—ranging from hunters and anglers to bikers, wildlife watchers, and climbers—can work together to responsibly enjoy and conserve Arkansas’s outdoor resources.
Moderated by Katherine Andrews, Director of the Arkansas Office of Outdoor Recreation, the panel also featured Gary Vernon, Director of Outdoor Recreation and Trail Innovation at the Runway Group, and Kip Kruger, Arkansas Board Member of the Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.
During the discussion, Keene emphasized the vital role sportsmen and women play in conservation through the American System of Conservation Funding, noting that hunting and fishing license revenues, excise taxes, and user-pay models continue to serve as a primary mechanism for funding wildlife management, habitat restoration, and public access across the country and that these benefits are felt by all outdoor recreationists, not just sportsmen and women.
Keene also addressed the importance of mutual respect and safety on public lands, particularly during hunting seasons, highlighting how education, communication, and awareness can allow multiple recreation groups to successfully share the outdoors. He encouraged non-consumptive users to learn more about hunting, fishing, and trapping traditions, noting that increased understanding often leads to broader support for conservation and access initiatives.
“The outdoors doesn’t belong to one group—it belongs to all of us,” Keene said. “When we recognize our shared responsibility to care for these places, we strengthen both conservation outcomes and the future of outdoor recreation in Arkansas.”
The Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism and Outdoor Recreation brings together leaders from across the state to discuss strategies that support economic growth, conservation, and access through outdoor recreation.
