July 1, 2020
Randy Zellers Assistant Chief of Communications
LITTLE ROCK — Governor Asa Hutchinson announced Friday the appointment of Rob Finley of Mountain Home to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Finley will fill the seat of Commissioner Ken Reeves of Harrison, who will end his term at the end of June.
A lifelong Arkansan, Finley was born in Mississippi County, and served in the U.S. Air Force before working in the banking industry for 12 years. He left that industry to form his current business, Route 66 Warranty in Mountain Home, and to pursue his true passion, the creation of Cranor’s White River Lodge near Cotter, a trout-fishing lodge and guide service on Arkansas’s famed Bull Shoals Tailwater.
During the press conference, Finley spoke passionately about some of the challenges he recognizes going into his term as an Arkansas Game and Fish Commissioner. The continued threat of chronic wasting disease to the state’s deer herd was a concern he spoke about, as he had the privilege to watch a special roundtable discussion yesterday filled with professionals from all parts of the country who are known for their work and views on CWD.
“That’s important to us,” Finley said. “That we don’t overregulate, but regulate from a science-based standpoint and that we do the best we can to make sure that we’re managing and protecting the herd of elk and deer that we deal with.”
Finley also spoke about the work to be done recruiting the next generation of anglers and hunters, tomorrow’s conservationists.
“There’s a lot of pride to be had when you take a person to harvest their first buck, or a trophy brown trout or even waterfowl hunting,” Findley said. “It’s important that we take this younger generation from the screens to the streams.”
Finley and his wife Nicki live in Mountain Home and have a daughter and three sons. He will begin his term July 1, 2020. His term is set to expire June 30, 2027.
A video of the announcement is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNOPWiCONvY&feature=em-lbrm.