2026 Conservation Achievement Awards
Honoring Excellence
Conservation Achievement Award Recepients
Since 1960, Arkansas Wildlife Federation (AWF) has recognized Arkansas’ outstanding conservation leaders through our Conservation Achievement Awards. Each category represents a vital contribution to the conservation and preservation of wildlife and natural resources in the state.
We are pleased to highlight our most recent awardees.
George H. Dunklin, Jr.
Harold Alexander Lifetime Achievement Award
This is the highest conservation achievement award presented by the Arkansas Wildlife Federation. This award is given to an individual who has made significant contributions to the conservation of wildlife and natural resources in Arkansas over their lifetime.
George H. Dunklin, Jr. is an Arkansas businessman, farmer, conservationist, and nationally recognized leader in wildlife and wetlands conservation. Born and raised in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, he graduated from the University of Memphis in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management, where he was a four-year letterman on the university’s tennis team.
Self-employed since 1980, Dunklin has managed his family’s farming, timber, commercial real estate, and investment holdings for more than four decades. He founded Five Oaks Duck Lodge in 1983 and, in 2020, founded the Five Oaks Ag Research & Education Center, Inc., where he serves as President. The Center is dedicated to advancing agricultural research, waterfowl habitat conservation, education, and the future of working lands in Arkansas and beyond.
Dunklin has devoted much of his life to conservation and public service. He served 21 years on the board of Ducks Unlimited, Inc., including as President and Chairman from 2013 to 2017 and as Senior Vice President of Public Policy from 2022 to 2024. He currently serves as a Trustee of Wetlands America Trust, Vice Chairman of the Arkansas Forestry Commission, a member of the Arkansas State Plant Board, Chairman of the Salt Bayou Drainage Commission, and a member of Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s Natural State Initiative.
He previously served as Commissioner and Chairman of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Hunting and Wildlife Conservation Council. His many honors include the 2009 Budweiser Conservationist of the Year Award, the 2014 USA Rice Federation Distinguished Conservation Achievement Award, induction into the Arkansas Outdoors Hall of Fame and Arkansas Waterfowler Hall of Fame, and the 2022 Johnny L. Morris Award from the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies.
George and his wife of 38 years, Margaret “Livia” Kossmann Dunklin, have three daughters, Megan Dunklin, Hillary Dunklin Hornor, and Lauren Dunklin Burroughs.
Jim Hinkle
Rex Hancock Conservation Advocate Award
This award is given to an individual, group, or agency that has made significant contributions to the conservation of wildlife and natural resources through advocacy.
Jim Hinkle has been a passionate supporter of the outdoors his entire life. Born and raised in Mountain View, Arkansas, Jim worked in two family businesses: Mountain View Telephone Company and the Bank of Mountain View. He served with the Arkansas Army National Guard from 1966 to 1972. Jim also served as a Commissioner for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) from 1996-2003, during which time he served as both Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Commission. In 2004, AGFC renamed the Spring River State Fish Hatchery in his honor for his years of service to conservation.
Following his time at AGFC, Jim served on the board of the National Wild Turkey Federation for 14 years. In 2016, he was inducted into the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame by the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation. He is currently the chairman of the Arkansas State Police Commission since 2020.
Jim is a member of Flatwoods Baptist Church and has been married to his wife, Kay, for 56 years. Together they have two daughters, Lea Ann and Katie, and four grandchildren, Hannah, Maddie, Cooper, and Anna Kate.
Chris Zimmerman
Carol Griffee Conservation Communicator Award
This award recognizes the outstanding efforts of an Arkansas-based journalist, communicator, or media firm that has made significant contributions in communicating wildlife and related natural resource conservation information to the public in Arkansas.
Born and raised in Dover, Arkansas, Chris has always enjoyed expressing himself artistically. After graduating from the University of Arkansas Community College in Morrilton with a degree in Graphic Design, he practiced graphic design at The Courier in Russellville, where he began producing his first issues of Arkansas Out of Doors for Arkansas Wildlife Federation in his off hours.
For the better part of three decades, Chris has played a vital and yet unseen role in communicating wildlife conservation awareness across Arkansas. Through his exceptional graphic design and publication layout work, Chris has brought Arkansas Out of Doors magazine (the official publication of Arkansas Wildlife Federation) to life, transforming wildlife conservation issues and information into compelling visual narratives that inspire readers across the state and beyond.
In August of 2007, Chris formed ZimCreative, which consists of himself and a stable of professional partners for photography, writing, and print services. The company offers services including logo design, media advertising, and website management. They also managed and produced ABOUT the River Valley, a locally owned, community-oriented magazine which culminated in more than 16 years of service to the readers and business community of Arkansas’ River Valley.
Chris and his wife Lydia have a wonderful family including three children, Grace, Claire, and Lucas. It has always been Chris’s joy to serve the River Valley and clients across the state and country. He continues to provide graphic design and layout services for Arkansas Out of Doors magazine, bringing wildlife news and conservation issues to life for its many readers.
Randy Brents
Conservation Leadership Award
This award is given to an individual, group, or agency that has made significant contributions to the conservation of wildlife and natural resources in Arkansas by demonstrating outstanding leadership in their field. Recipients may work in the field of wildlife biology, enforcement, forestry, water conservation, or related profession.
From fighting wildfires to shaping conservation policy, Randy Brents, Jr. has dedicated his career to the Arkansas landscape. An Arkansas Tech University graduate, Randy spent seven years on the front lines with the U.S. Forest Service as a wildland firefighter on engine, hotshot, and helitack crews before joining the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) in 2014. With AGFC, he began serving as the agency’s first Prescribed Fire Manager, building the modern fire program from scratch.
Now as the AGFC Assistant Chief of Private Lands Habitat Division and Vice Chair of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Private Lands Joint Party Committee, Randy oversees vital statewide programs and has helped secure millions in conservation funding for local landowners. His career includes being named the recipient of the 2019 National Firebird Conservation Award for Arkansas and the 2022 Wildlife Management Biologist of the Year.
Randy practices exactly what he preaches, managing wildlife habitats on his own 300-acre family property. When he’s not at work, he spends time with family and friends, fishing and hunting or at a local gym watching his daughter play basketball – which depending on the day he says can feel a lot like watching a flock of wild turkeys.
Roger Mangham
Outstanding Conservation Partner Award
This award is given to an individual, group, or agency that has made significant contributions to the conservation of wildlife and natural resources in Arkansas through collaboration and strong partnerships.
Roger W. Mangham is a wildlife biologist, forester, and natural science communicator working for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Arkansas. He grew up exploring the outdoors in both Texas and Louisiana, developing a lifelong fascination with the natural world.
Roger earned a bachelor’s degree in Forest Wildlife Management from the Stephen F. Austin State University College of Forestry in 2000 and a master’s degree in Wildlife Biology from Texas A&M University-Commerce in 2008.
Over the past 27 years, he has served the conservation community throughout the southeastern United States, working in three states, including a previous 10-year tenure with TNC in Arkansas. His experience includes serving as a prescribed fire specialist, land manager, land acquisition specialist, State Director for TNC in Alabama, and, most recently, Deputy Director of Natural Resources for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. During this time, he also completed international assignments in Mexico and Africa on behalf of TNC. Roger became State Director for TNC in Arkansas in February 2023. He is the chapter’s fourth State Director and is honored to follow a distinguished line of conservation leaders.
Roger and his wife, Jenny, have three children including a 19-year-old daughter and 16-year-old twin sons. They also share their home with a hard-headed but lovable dog. In his free time, Roger remains an avid explorer of the natural world.
Grace Lovett
Conservation Educator Award
This award is given to a professional or volunteer educator, firm, or agency (formal or non-formal) that has made significant contributions to conservation education in Arkansas.
Grace Lovett holds a Master of Science in Global Change from Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, where her research focused on species distribution modeling for fireflies, with a particular emphasis on the Cypress Firefly (Photuris walldoxeyi). Applying her research to cypress swamp habitats in her home state of Arkansas, Grace became the first person to identify a population of Cypress Fireflies west of the Mississippi River. Her contributions to firefly conservation were recognized by the Indiana Academy of Science in 2022.
Since returning home to Arkansas, Grace has continued her work in firefly conservation while expanding her impact through community-based conservation as a Private Lands Biologist with Quail Forever. In this role, she has worked with landowners across central Arkansas to restore and improve wildlife habitat on private lands, build collaborative relationships with conservation organizations, and create engaging educational outreach opportunities for local communities.
Grace also helped advance prescribed fire education in Arkansas. In partnership with Arkansas Game and Fish Commission biologist Caleb Miller, she co-developed and led the first summer course focused specifically on prescribed fire, providing young college professionals with hands-on education and practical tools for using fire as a habitat management strategy.
Through her work in research, habitat restoration, landowner education, and community outreach, Grace is passionate about connecting people with conservation and empowering them to become active stewards of the land and wildlife around them.
Brent Haden
Student Conservationist Award
This award is given to an Arkansas student for significant accomplishments toward the conservation of wildlife and related natural resources in Arkansas, which may include on-the-ground projects for fish and wildlife, public awareness, communication, advocacy, and more.
Brent Haden is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM) studying Natural Resource Management with a concentration in Wildlife Management and Conservation. Brent is from Colonial Heights, Virginia and has a lifelong interest in wildlife and the outdoors. At age six, his father and grandfather started taking him waterfowl hunting, instilling a value for stewardship early in life.
As an undergraduate at UAM, Brent’s love for waterfowl has inspired a career in conservation. Involved with the Waterfowl Lab, he had the opportunity to experience his first waterfowl banding field season.
During his time at UAM, Brent has worked seasonal jobs at Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge in eastern North Carolina last summer (2025), and in Manitoba, Canada this summer (2026) as a Waterfowl Nest Searching Technician with Delta Waterfowl Foundation. In the fall of 2025, he held an internship with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Education Division as the University Outreach Coordinator for UAM. This fall (2026), Brent started an independent research study in the Waterfowl Lab at UAM.
Brent is thankful and blessed to have supportive family, friends, and mentors helping to launch his career in conservation. Special appreciation goes to Dr. Doug Osborne and Mrs. Tiffany Osborne for their support and guidance as his mentors.
Congratulations to these outstanding conservationists! We are proud to honor their far-reaching impacts to wildlife conservation in Arkansas.