LouieStrong continues message of love and hope

LouieStrong continues message of love and hope

News & Notes from the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission

AGFC Communications LITTLE ROCK — Last week, first responders from across central Arkansas lined the streets as they waited to salute as an Arkansas Game and Fish Commission truck to pass by, but it was not the wildlife officer driving the truck they were focused on. Instead, they were standing tall and saluting the courage of the young man riding in the back of the truck, Louie Schneider.

This would be the last ride in a vehicle the 9-year-old would make in his short, but impactful life.

Louie, who suffers from an undiagnosed terminal illness which causes gastrointestinal issues and seizures, was on his way to Arkansas Children’s Hospital to begin end-oflife care during this now famous ride on Feb. 28.

Knowing how Louie looked up to first responders such as firemen, police officers, emergency medical technicians and wildlife officers, Louie’s neighbor and friend, Wildlife Officer Adam Baker, decided to organize a small coming home for Louie when he came home from the hospital a month ago.

“He’s such a strong young man, he never complains that he isn’t able to do some of the things he sees other kids doing,” Baker said. “He’s always smiling and happy about his life.

That’s why I started to say that I wish I was not strong, but “LouieStrong.’” From Baker’s single post requesting help, more than 100 officers, firemen and EMTs arrived at Louie’s home for a parade, and many of those men and women came by to make personal visits beyond the first drive-by.

“He’s really touched the lives of those of us who have had a chance to know him,” Baker said. Two weeks ago, when planning for his final trip to the hospital, Louie asked Baker for his help.

“He asked if I would take him,” Baker said. “He knew exactly why he was going… to see Jesus.”

Baker again sent out a request to his fellow first responders to help make Louie’s last ride in a car one that wouldn’t be forgotten. More than 100 police officers, firemen, EMTs and other first responders lined the road on the way from Louie’s home to Arkansas Children’s Hospital to salute the young man’s courage and strength in a situation many would face with hopelessness and sorrow.

Throughout the entire ride, Louie held his head high and even paused to make sure his mother had placed her seatbelt on correctly for her safety. He heard from police officers and others as they radioed in their prayers and thoughts toward the young man’s journey. Louie’s message to the men and women saluting him on his ride; “Stay safe. I love you.10-4.”

Baker and his wife have organized a campaign around the LouieStrong motto, to help raise money for Louie’s family and the expenses they have endured throughout Louie’s hospitalization.

“It actually just began as a couple of stickers that I had made for the officers who came to visit Louie in the hospital after his ride,” Baker said. “A friend made about 300 to pass out and share, and then we had someone request to give a donation for some. We asked Louie’s mother if it would be OK to help them out with some of their expenses using the stickers, and she was overwhelmed to know that her son’s strength and faith had made such an impression on people. In less than three days, we’ve already sold 700 LouieStrong stickers to first responders, their families and many other people. I can’t believe it myself, but I’ve even mailed one as far as Egypt.”

Visit the LouieStrong Facebook page to learn more about this story and how Louie Scheider’s example continues to make an impact in people’s lives. ***

AGFC Honors 11 enforcement officers with annual awards

LITTLE ROCK — Eleven Arkansas Game and Fish Commission enforcement officers and a K-9 were recipients of the division’s top honors Tuesday in the sixth annual AGFC Enforcement Division Awards at the Crowne Plaza.

Two of the officers and K9 Lucy, a 7-year-old black Labrador retriever, were honored in two areas, once for life-saving heroics and another for keeping an event from escalating into tragedy.

Pat Fitts, AGFC director and former head of the Enforcement Division, spoke to the gathering that included other officers, winning officers’ families and AGFC volunteer chaplains: While many people may view the work of our officers as just checking for licenses or handing out tickets, I can tell you the work we do is unimaginable at times … when West Memphis is mentioned and we think of our officers’ involvement there (in ending a murderous rampage by a father and son on the run from authorities in 2010) … or what our dive team faces when they are called upon.”

Noting that when wildlife officers sign on to the job, they give up their weekends, regularly start shifts at midnight, and often are working 24/7 on assignments, Fitts added, “Thank you to the officers for the job you do, and to the families — you sacrifice a lot.

I appreciate what all of you do.”

Four AGFC Commissioners were on hand, including Chairman Ford Overton, who addressed the group.

Awards were presented by Fitts, AGFC Enforcement Chief Greg Rae, Major Jason Parker and Major Glenn Tucker. The event speaker was U.S.

Magistrate Judge Joe Volpe of the Eastern District of Arkansas, who swears in new officers each year.

“You are committed to this job every single day.

All those everyday events you experience prepare you for the moment of crisis when it arrives,” Volpe said.

The Warden’s Cross, considered the second highest honor awarded by the Enforcement Division next to the Medal of Valor, goes to wildlife officers who demonstrate courage, bravery and selflessness above and beyond the norm. The Warden’s Cross was awarded to Wildlife Officers Troy Sayger and Matt Tenison, who helped find a 15-year-old who had fled from custody in Prairie County to the White River. They launched a boat and located the teen in sleety, 30degree weather with 15 mph winds. The handcuffed youth jumped into the river to elude capture, but the officers pulled him out of the water and requested medical help for him because of the frigid temps.

“Officers Sayger and Tenison launched a boat on a flooded river, in freezing temperatures with wind and sleet, demonstrating courage and bravery,” Parker said. “They without a doubt saved the life of this troubled juvenile, earning them the Warden’s Cross.”

Three officers earned the Governor’s Lifesaving Award and AGFC Lifesaving Medal, presented to an officer who, through direct lifesaving measures, sustains the life of another person. There are Cpl. Doug Small; Cpl.

Gary Don Stell and K-9 Lucy; and Wildlife Officer Cody Standifer. Small’s investigation into debris he spotted on a county road in Baxter County, coinciding with a friend not showing up for work the next day, led to his finding the victim of a wreck who had been ejected well off the road and had serious injuries that included a broken neck. The accident victim now is in rehabilitation. Stell and Lucy tracked down a woman who had threatened to commit suicide, fled emergency personnel and had run off into a wooded area. Stell and Lucy guided a medical crew to her location and ultimately saved her life. Officer Standifer assisted Little River County Sheriff’s Office personnel with a motor vehicle accident, extracted from the back window a seriously injured victim who had a weak pulse and had bled extensively, saving his life.

Certificates of Commendation are awarded for actions above and beyond normal duty requirements and demonstrate such traits as courage, resourcefulness and unselfishness in situations that otherwise could escalate into a tragic one.

Certificates went to Sr.

Cpl. Roger Tate and Cpl.

Wade Spence, Wildlife Officer Tyler Hill, and to Standifer.

Tate and Spence answered a call regarding a possible drowning and saved an elderly man who had floated off on the Black River from the boat launch and was suffering from heat exhaustion. Hill responded last December to a call of three duck hunters whose boat capsized in Lake Earling and rescued them despite awful weather conditions. Standifer, responding to another motor vehicle accident in LIttle River County that resulted in seven injured people and two fatalities, rescued 4and 8-year-old children, and his quick thinking in treating the 8-yearold’s head injury with applied pressure before emergency personnel could arrive was “instrumental in the outcome of this situation,” the accident report said.

The Warden’s Star is awarded to a Wildlife Officer who performs an act of heroism involving an unusual situation or sudden occurrence of a serious and urgent nature that demands immediate action, the use of exceptional tactics, demonstration of good judgment, enthusiasm or ingenuity over and above what is normally demanded and expected, preventing an incident from escalating.

Warden’s Stars went to Cpl. Stell and K-9 Lucy and to the trio of Sgt. Jeff Black and Wildlife Officers Ray Hines and Bernie Soliz. Hines, Soliz and Black rescued an injured hiker who was more than 4 miles into the Caney Creek Wilderness Area. The trio determined that the victim could not be moved so set up a camp overnight, then had a helicopter flown in the next morning to extract the victim, who had a broken ankle and leg and required surgery.

Meanwhile, Stell and K-9 Lucy were summoned Columbia County by the sheriff’s office to find a missing 85-year-old male suffering from dementia in cold temperatures that were expected to drop below freezing that night.

Early search efforts had thrown Lucy off the scent, but Stell decided on a different route into the woods, which proved to be correct for a “colder” trail, and the man soon was found.

Enforcement officers are nominated for the awards by each of the 12 AGFC enforcement districts. A committee chaired by Capt. Nakia Crims of the AGFC’s regional office in Fort Smith makes certain the nominations fit the particular criteria for each award and chooses the winners.

*** Public Input Sought for Buffalo River Elk Management Plan

HARRISON – The National Park Service and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission are seeking public input for an Elk Management Plan that would address resource issues associated with an increasing population of reintroduced elk throughout the Buffalo National River region.

Two public meetings are scheduled this month: Tuesday, March 12, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Ponca Elk Education Center and Wednesday, March 13, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Carroll Electric Cooperative Building in Jasper. These meetings will be openhouse style, so citizens are encouraged to drop in at their convenience to review proposed actions and provide feedback.

Between 1981 and 1985, AGFC, in cooperation with private citizens of Newton County, initiated an elk restoration project. This project resulted in the release of 112 Rocky Mountain Elk in Newton County near Buffalo National River. These elk were the closest living relatives to the now extinct Eastern Elk which was native to the region. These introductions became the nucleus of the Arkansas elk population. By 1998, AGFC began managing elk populations through a hunting program. AGFC has continued offering permits to hunt elk on both public and private land since then. Even with regulated hunting, the population continues to climb.

Particularly in Boxley Valley, elk have caused some damage to private fields, gardens, orchards, and properties. Because elk hunting is not allowed in Boxley Valley and elk predators such as wolves and mountain lions are absent or in negligible numbers in the region, the elk population has the potential to exceed the ecological and sociological carrying capacity of the site. Aerial survey data since 1991 indicate that the Boxley herd increases by approximately seven animals each year.

The purpose of the proposed Elk Management Plan is to reduce and maintain elk population density throughout Buffalo National River and, in particular, the Boxley Valley area such that it is compatible with long-term protection of other park resources. The plan would minimize negative impacts from elk on private lands, reduce elk-landowner conflicts, reduce highway congestion resulting from elk viewing, and reduce the prevalence of Chronic Wasting Disease.

The public review and comment period for the Buffalo National River Elk Management Plan will be open until April 1, 2019, at parkplanning.nps.gov/.

From Randy Zellers