The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s maintenance shed, clubhouse and dog training facilities at the Camp Robinson Special Use Area have been destroyed by Sunday’s tornado at Mayflower. Otherarea AGFC facilities such as the H.C. “Red” Morris Natural Resources Conservation and Enforcement Training Center and the Dr. James E. Moore Jr. Camp Robinson Firing Range were not hit by the tornado.
All events at the facilities are cancelled until further notice.
The Camp Robinson SUA facilities house the agency’s maintenance equipment and tool shed. A dog training facility also was destroyed. Hunting dog enthusiasts use the facility to train bird dogs, rabbit dogs and waterfowl retrievers. A small campground is located at the facility. There were no campers on the area at the time of the tornado. The area manager’s home also was damaged by the tornado. He and his family were able to reach a storm cellar and were not injured.
Many trees are down on the 4,029-acre management area. The SUA is located approximately nine miles east of Conway adjacent to Lake Conway on Clinton Road. The area is composed of grasslands, oak savanna, an upland oak and hickory forest as well as bottomland hardwood forests.
The property was previously part of Camp Joe T. Robinson before being deeded to the AGFC for conservation purposes. Camp Robinson SUA is intensively managed for bird dog training and field trials and hosts numerous local and national events each year as well as providing numerous other outdoor, hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing opportunities. Other features of the area include an auto tour, archery range, waterfowl retriever pond and a full service shooting range. The area provides campsites with water and electricity adjacent to horse barns and dog kennels as well as a primitive campsite near the lake.
In response to the tornado, the agency’s Disaster Response Team, along with local wildlife officers, have been deployed to the area in support of local enforcement agencies. The DRT consists of about 40 wildlife officers from the AGFC’s Enforcement Division.
