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Wildlife officers answer the call from Mississippi |
 LITTLE
ROCK - Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wildlife officers have answered
the call for help from their counterparts in Mississippi. Fifty-two AGFC
wildlife officers volunteered last week to help with hurricane recovery
efforts in Mississippi.Officers left Little Rock bound for Jackson, Miss. From there, they were headed to Biloxi to assist with Hurricane Katrina security efforts. The 52 officers spent five days in the area before returning to Arkansas on Monday. They were scheduled to stay up to two weeks, according to AGFC enforcement chief John Day. "Our plans changed because of the influx of refugees into Arkansas and the fact that the Army's Military Police relieved our officers of their duty. It is just that our priorities lie elsewhere for the moment," Day explained. The officers were sent to the area at the request of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. The group represents almost one third of the AGFC's 163 wildlife officers. Day said that this may not be the only group of officers to go to the region. Day also said they received some fuel help from a north Arkansas oil distributor. "Benny Magness, donated 4,500 gallons of gasoline, the truck to carry the fuel in and two people to help us with our efforts on this assignment," he said. The AGFC is also mobilizing other disaster resources from the agency's Fisheries, Construction and Wildlife Management Divisions in the form of additional manpower, heavy and light equipment such as chainsaws, fuel tanks, generators, re-lift pumps, front-end loaders, backhoes, trailers and additional 4 wheelers. The agency is also working as part of Gov. Mike Huckabee's Operation KARE - Katrina Assistance and Relief Effort. KARE is a multi-agency effort to coordinate and communicate the various efforts of Arkansas agencies that will assist the effected areas or here in Arkansas with those dislocated from their homes, jobs and families. |
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