Boating access along the White River and Lake Conway will be improved after Commissioners at the most recent Arkansas Game and Fish Commission meeting in Texarkana approved a total of $513,513 in funding reimbursements.
Three projects will be funded by the reimbursements. In Independence County, $250,000 will go towards a new boat ramp and parking area at River Ridge Access on the White River. Also on the White River in Izard County, Chesmond Ferry Access will receive $68,000 in materials and labor to chip seal the road and parking area. At Lake Conway in Faulkner County, an additional $195,513 will be used to improve the parking and boat launch areas at Lawrence Landing Access.
The money for these projects will come from the Marine Fuel Tax Fund, a special funding source developed through a partnership between the AGFC and the Arkansas Department of Transportation. Boaters pay the same fuel taxes as motorists when filling their vessels, so the Marine Fuel Tax Program reserves a portion of those taxes and devotes them toward public access on Arkansas’s waterways.
“This is not an additional tax,” Ben Batten, deputy director at the AGFC, said. “Instead, we’re taking some of the taxes boaters were already having to pay at the pump and ensuring it is used to benefit them, too.”
According to Batten, a recent update to the formula used by ARDOT to determine the percentage of fuel purchases that go to marine vessels means that the amount of funding generated may double from its current $1.7 million per year.
“Since the beginning of the program, the AGFC and ARDOT have been able to devote more than $65 million to boating accesses and roads leading to Arkansas’s waterways,” Batten said. “The new formula will allow us to do even more, and we will be able to add even more amenities for boaters at ramps that currently exist.”
The program also highlights the many partnerships the AGFC has with local agencies throughout the state. Each project requires matching funds to offset the total cost of projects, and these usually come from local municipalities and organizations.
“Sometimes a city or county will provide funds to meet the matching requirements, but most partners are able to provide in-kind contributions to meet the value of that match,” Chris Racey, chief of staff for the AGFC said. “Construction, engineering and other in-kind contributions from local partners not only lower overall costs, but they also give local partners a way to own these improvements and take pride in the completed project.”
More information is available on the AGFC website.
