Posey selected as Shelter Insurance Foundation scholarship recipient

MENA, AR – 6/9/2023 –The Shelter Insurance Foundation awarded a $1,500 scholarship to Kendall Posey, a graduate of Mena High School. Shelter Agent Telissa Montgomery sponsors ipation and leadership in school and community activities. The scholarship is given without regard to race, disability, religion, national origin or gender of applicants. and partially funds this scholarship. Beginning the fall after the recipient’s high school graduation Kendall can direct the scholarship funds toward tuition, fees, or campus housing for any course of study and leading to an academic degree at any accredited college or university.

A committee of local high school officials and community leaders selected the local recipient. The committee considered each applicant’s scholastic achievements, educational goals, citizenship, moral character, and partic-

The scholarship is paid directly to the school the recipient selects. Kendall received a certificate from Telissa on behalf of the Shelter Foundation. The Shelter Insurance® Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation for charitable and educational purposes. It is sponsored by the Shelter Insurance Companies – offering auto, home, life, farm and business insurance services to customers in 15 states via a network of local insurance agents. The Shelter Insurance® Foundation is headquartered in Columbia, Missouri.

2, 2023 — The USDA Forest Service Southern Region recently announced an investment of $30.4 million in Great American Outdoors Act funding to support 22 selected projects across the region in fiscal year 2023.

The projects are in Ala., Tenn., Fla., Miss., Va., Ark., N.C. and S.C.

These investments are made from the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund established by the Great American Outdoors Act.

These projects support the recent announcement by the Departments of Agriculture and Interior proposing a combined $2.8 billion in funding for fiscal year 2024 to improve infrastructure, recreation facilities, public lands access, and land and water conservation as the legislation enters its third year out of five.

Including the authorized and funded deferred maintenance projects for Fiscal Year 2023, the Southern Region currently has 65 LRF projects in various stages of development, with six completed.

On the Ouachita and OzarkSt. Francis National Forests in Arkansas, four projects totaling $8.4m have been selected once again for funding:

• Shady Lake Recreation Site Day Use Area Renovation (Ouachita NF)

• Cove Lake Dam Spillway Rehabilitation (Ozark NF)

• Bear Creek Lake Spillway Rehabilitation (St. Francis NF)

• Blanchard Springs Caverns

Fiscal Year 2023 funds will provide partial progress toward the completion of these four projects, each of which have required multiyear, phased funding and differ greatly in complexity, design and construction.

Since 2021, the Forest Service has completed more than 122 deferred maintenance projects across 53 national forests in 25 states with more than 880 additional projects currently funded and in various stages of completion.

For additional information about the Forest Service implementation of the Great American Outdoors Act, visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/ managing-land/gaoa/.

The Great American Outdoors Act addresses the growing $7 billion backlog of deferred maintenance on national forest and grasslands. The Forest Service currently administers more than 370,000 miles of roads, 13,400 bridges, 159,000 miles of trails, 1,700 dams and reservoirs, 1,500 communications sites, 27,000 recreation sites and 40,000 facilities of other types across the United States and Puerto Rico.

By Patrick Massey

Anyone interested in pursuing alligators on public land in Arkansas can begin applying for a permit June 10 for one of the six hunting locations within two of Arkansas’s three open Alligator Management Zones. Applications can be submitted online at www.agfc.com. The permit holder may have up to three assistants with them on the hunt, but only the permit holder is allowed to snare, harpoon or dispatch the alligator. application period will continue through midnight on June 18.

The 2023 alligator permit draw will have several dozen permits available for public draw. Alligators may not be present in Polk County, but there are 12 permits open for Millwood Lake and two for the Little River Wildlife Management Area within/next to neighboring Sevier County.

Each permit authorizes the harvest of one alligator, which must be at least 4 feet long. Alligator hunting is allowed 30 minutes after sunset until 30 minutes before sunrise during the approved alligator hunting season dates in September. Each

Applicants must be at least 16 years of age the day the hunt begins, and only Arkansas residents or holders of an Arkansas Lifetime Sportsman’s Permit may apply. Applicants with 18 or more AGFC violation points are ineligible to apply. Alligator-hunt applicants must pay a $5 nonrefundable processing fee at the time of their application. Anyone who has access to private land in Alligator Zones 1, 2 or 3 may purchase a private land alligator tag in addition to their big-game hunting license and be able to hunt during alligator season until the quota is met for their zone.

Each private land hunter must call the wildlife hotline (1-800-4401477) every night before hunting to see if the quota has been met. If the quota is reached, the hunt ends early.

Successful applicants and private land hunters must also go through an online hunt orientation before going to the field. The orientation lays out the most important details and frequently asked questions about the hunt.