LITTLE ROCK — March Madness has an entirely different meaning for many parents in The Natural State. The big college basketball tournament will tip off just as most Arkansas schools dismiss their students for a week for spring break. According to Eric Maynard, interim chief of Education for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, parents looking to engage their children in some fun outdoors activities may want to check out the full slate of options available through the agency’s nine nature centers across the state.
“I’ve probably seen more spring break programs posted to our events calendar for next week than I have seen in the last few years,” Maynard said. “Just about every nature center has something they’re offering just for spring breakers, as well as normal programming. And the variety of activities is pretty impressive.”
The week will start off with an outdoor gear swap meet March 16 at the Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center. Vendors will be available to purchase items, but the real fun is bringing your own gently used fishing and hunting equipment (except firearms) to the center to see if other attendees are interested in buying or trading gear.
“If you have a lot of gear, you can call ahead and see if you can get a booth space, but most people just carry a few things with them,” Maynard said. “It’s also a great place just to meet fellow outdoors enthusiasts and share stories you’ve experienced with some of that gear.”
A new addition to this year’s spring break lineup is the creation of two fish camps, one at Rick Evans Grandview Prairie Nature Center in Columbus (Hempstead County), and the other at the Andy Simmons Outdoor Skills Farm, a recent acquisition near Grady (Lincoln County) being run by a partnership of the AGFC and Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation.
“The camp at the skills farm is actually an overnight stay and has limited registration being handled through an application process,” Maynard said. “But people who attend it will learn fishing, cleaning, cooking and using passive fishing techniques like using trotlines, yo-yos and jugs to catch a limit of fish for the fryer.”
The fish camp at Grandview is a day camp, but participants will still have plenty of fishing time, plus time for food and fun.
Other nature centers like the Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature Center and Potlatch Cook’s Lake Nature Center have lakes where visitors can fish, and less structured fishing programs will be available at those centers throughout the week as well.