Every hunter plays a part in conserving the environment, and some local hunters are proactively embodying the philosophy of “leaving it better than you found it.” Grassroots movements taking shape across Arkansas are diverse. Drake Waterfowl and industry partners are raising money to improve public boat ramps; Chris Harrell is encouraging hunters to let hens live; and the Public Timber Project is urging waterfowlers to clean up public lands. At the heart of each effort is the idea that it’s up to those that use the land to protect it. Ich Stewart of the Public Timber Project puts it this way: “What can we do as hunters to improve hunting?”
Making Boat Ramps Great Again — One Hat at a Time
How many times have you pulled up to your local WMA’s boat ramp, only to find it blocked by trash, choked by brush or so poorly maintained you thought twice about backing your truck in?
It happens often enough that Drake Waterfowl, a leading outdoor brand, is doing something about it. The Make Boat Ramps Great Again sweepstakes fundraiser launched in February, with the goal to start improving public boat ramps through Arkansas and Louisiana after the 2025-26 season.
“The idea was from a conversation with our vice president of sales, Darren Simms and I, looking for a way to be different while doing something good for duck hunters,” says Jim Ronquest, vice president of development at Drake Waterfowl. “We’re trying to do something for the greater good of duck hunters, fishermen — whoever uses boats.”
Drake Waterfowl is currently selling “Make Boat Ramps Great Again” hats, and funds raised from the sales will go toward improving a public boat ramp next year — or more, if the funds allow. The hats come in camouflage — part of a partnership with Mossy Oak — as well as a familiar bright red.
Those who purchase a hat are also being entered into a sweepstakes for a 15-foot Prodigy Reyno outfitted with a Tohatsu 60 horsepower engine, a streamlined setup designed for speed and shallow water performance. Weekly drawings have also seen winners take home tree stands, gun boxes and lighting packages.
“Whether you’re a duck hunter, turkey hunter, deer hunter, bass fisherman, crappie fisherman — whatever you may be, taking care of that resource is No. 1 and the access points that you have to go through to get there,” Ronquest says. “One of the big deterrents to hunting nowadays is opportunity and access, so that’s part of making boat ramps great again is providing access for folks to places where they can go enjoy the outdoors with friends and family.”
The winner of the boat sweepstakes will be announced Jan. 31, 2026. Learn more about the fundraiser or buy a hat at drakewaterfowl.com.
Sticking To The Plan
“Dead hens lay no eggs,” admonish the stickers Chris Harrell and friends are slapping up across Arkansas in what he calls a guerrilla conservation campaign.
“That was always a big thing when I was growing up — being selective in what you choose to harvest when you’re out in the woods, especially waterfowl hunting,” Harrell says. “So, I thought, ‘maybe it’s time to get a little bit of a megaphone;’ let’s talk about this specific thing, while at the same time giving some people the idea of what they can do in their space while they’re out in the woods.”
Harrell, who calls himself an “elder millennial,” grew up hunting in the River Valley as well as areas of central and east Arkansas. He says it was a privilege, and as he now shares the hobby with his children, he hopes the environment can keep up.
“There’s a lot of great conservation groups out there that a lot of folks, outdoorsmen, are involved in, but sometimes we’re guilty of sending out our donation and going on to the next thing,” Harrell says. “So this was kind of a thought to me of what’s an individual, actionable item that myself, as an outdoorsman, or other folks can do to have a little ownership in our immediate space.”
Harrell has been sharing his “Dead Hens” stickers with fellow waterfowlers for the past year, and he’s seen his warnings — the design is a riff on the famous pirate adage that “dead men tell no tales” — on everything from coolers and boats to boat ramp signage.
His goal isn’t necessarily to end the shooting of all hens; instead, Harrell says, he wants to encourage all hunters to be thoughtful and conscientious about their environment in a way that is meaningful to them.
“I hope that folks that received the stickers also took a little time to think through what the intent was there and some different ways they could perhaps contribute to overall conservation,” he says. “If we can be intentional in how we take and be intentional in how we give, I think we’re all better off.”
Contact Harrell on Instagram for more information or for stickers.
Picking Up Where Someone Else Left Off
Duck hunting on public land has changed for the worse, Ich Stewart says. Gone are the silent, shivering mornings at Bayou Meto WMA or Felsenthal NWR; today’s hunts bear closer resemblance to scenes from “Mad Max” than the serene hunts he remembers from his childhood.
“What we see are a lot of really aggressive 20-, 30-something-year-olds, and they all have GoPros, and they’re all part of little crews — they’re like gangs, but they call them their crews,” Stewart says. “It’s typically a group of boats with hunters that are working together, and they’re hyperfocused on the competitive nature of it — the boat race, beating everyone to a hole.
“That’s a really significant change from how people used public lands and what duck hunting culture looked like 10 years ago,” Stewart adds, gravely.
That culture shift is what inspired him to form the Public Timber Project, a conservation nonprofit that’s quickly expanding outside of Arkansas. It started with a group cleanup at Bayou Meto: “It was the hippies of the duck woods out there — a bunch of bearded, camouflaged freaks with our thumbs up. It was a really great cleanup day,” Stewart recalls. It has since grown into a movement.
“We started encouraging folks: ‘Hey, start doing cleanups on your own; go hunting in the morning, and when you’re done, pick up all the garbage on the way back to the boat ramp; clean up the boat ramp,’” says Stewart. “By the end of duck season, we had cleaned up 60 boat ramps and two rivers, and it had spread to Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi — all the Southern states, and Minnesota and Wisconsin.”
Hunters who cleaned up their areas and sent photos in to the Public Timber Project received hats, koozies and stickers with the nonprofit’s logo. Stewart notes that the hats aren’t for sale; they’re only for those who clean up and prove it with a photo.
He hopes the cleanups are a launch point for larger changes on public lands. He said conscientiousness is needed in the bottoms, as loud, fast boats are making duck hunting less accessible.
“I think folks need to take notice. … Are the duck woods going to become a stage for social media, a runway for fashion, or is there going to be some substance that we choose to hold on to in the public land woods?” Stewart asks. “If you want to help us, you can help us by picking up garbage.”
Learn more about the Public Timber Project on Instagram or email publictimberproject@gmail.com.
