Former Chairman Neeley ‘got back more than I gave’

LITTLE ROCK — As John David “JD” Neeley was passing the proverbial baton to the newest addition to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Lonoke’s Jamie Anderson, he likened his time on the Commission to jumping on a running train, before jumping off to a “soft landing” after 84 meetings, seven years. His time is over, but the train keeps running.
Later, in a meeting room deep within the agency’s headquarters he had a quiet moment to expound on his time on the Commission, his year as chairman and the legacy he leaves behind.
“When you first get on the Commission, and I used the analogy of the train, you do not have a sense of appreciation for the full depth of what this agency does and how it impacts every Arkansan,” Neeley, the president of Neeley Forestry Service in Camden and principal broker for United Country Neeley Forestry, said. “Whether you are a hunter or fisherman, the Game and Fish Commission is taking care of all the waterfowl, the wildlife, everything from the collared lizards to the bats to birds and the butterflies. The agency is truly the lead in conservation.
“I didn’t have a clue it impacted so much. From a civilian eye, from the outside looking in, you would think they’re setting rules and regulations and enforcing them. And I think a lot of people think of the agency that way.”
In his folksy, charming way, Neeley said that looking back at when he joined the board to where he is today, “It’s been the funnest seven years of my life. I have enjoyed every minute of it. It’s one of those things I will certainly remember all of my life, and getting to be a part of the team. I’ve got back a lot more than I gave. I can come out on this end of the deal and feel I’m a lot better forester, a lot better conservationist, a better father and businessman. You name it.”
From the very start, Neeley embraced the role and tried to make certain he was at many events that involved even the smallest of agency connections. These could range from a disabled veterans hunt at the Freddie Black Choctaw Island WMA, to the well-attended “Duck Season Social” preseason hunting event sponsored by the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation in central Arkansas, to leading a small group through a reforestation area of Henry Gray Hurricane Lake WMA after the dedication of the new Glaise Creek water-control structure.
“I came into this deal, and I think every commissioner does, wanting to give it 110 percent,” he said. “But to really get up to speed and to know and appreciate it, you need to travel. You need to go to the different WMAs and go to these events to really see what all is going on. I just had fun doing everything I could.
“I didn’t get to make everything I wanted to. There were some times I didn’t get to make this elk festival opener or something that was a little far away. But I really enjoyed that part of the job and got to learn so much about what we have in our WMA system. It’s amazing. Nearly 400,000 acres of WMAs, not to mention all the lands we have partnerships with that we get to manage.”
Neeley’s biggest regret of his tenure was not keeping a journal of all his travels.
“It was a lot. I had fun. I still have all the memories. Like I said, I got back a lot more than I gave,” he said.
And he gave a lot, bringing his forestry acumen to the Commission at a time when the agency was embarking on restoring damaged greentree reservoirs. It’s the GTR work that the Commission OK’d in recent years that tops his list of accomplishments, he said.
“Being a forester, it was just God’s time for me to be on the Commission right when Rob Willey and that team got their certification, got their standards of forest health going and how that works with our GTR work,” he said. “And a lot of that work had been done prior to me getting on the Commission. A lot of the groundwork had been laid, the studies completed, so that the timing was just right.”
He noted the recent agency changes in its Education Division under Chief Mary Beth Hatch, the rebuilding of lakes around the state from Monticello to Poinsett to Wilhelmina; the breaking out of the Youth Shooting Sports and Archery programs under a newly created Recreational Shooting Sports Division under Jose Jiminez; the hiring of a transformative director in Austin Booth, followed less than four years later with bringing on businessman and conservationist Doug Schoenrock recently as the new director; and the newly announced Arkansas Legacy Lunker trophy bass program as key developments during his time.

“And, of course, I feel like this latest tweak on turkey management was a much-needed, perfect time adjustment,” said Neeley, who championed a zone structure that took into account the differences in turkey mating periods based on latitude. “Our gobbling survey was the science that backed this up,” he said, as the AGFC moved to a five-zone setup for the 2026 turkey season, each with different hunting dates.
“I pride myself that we made decisions throughout the years with science. We’re listening to the staff,” he said. “We have the best staff in the country, I feel that with all my heart. Our fisheries, our wildlife, whatever division you name, we are proud that we have some of the best in the business here helping guide this state and this Commission and our directorate.
“We really are a science-based organization. Yeah, we’ve got to balance that with the public, who always doesn’t believe the science. That’s a little bit of a challenge. So, we get pressure, but we say, ‘No, no, no, we’ve got to do this for this reason,’ and we have to do a good job of explaining it.”
When he finishes that last thought, he adds that of all the highlights of his seven years, he really can’t single out one standout. “It’s just so much. I was really blessed to be on the Commission at a time when we had all the commissioners in alignment with the mission and teamwork and ‘let’s get things done.’ We called ourselves the ‘don’t kick the can crew.’” That was the buzz phrase, he said, of the last few of Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s appointments to the Commission.
It’s a crew, he adds, along with recent Sanders appointees that tackled some tough stuff “and will continue to handle tough stuff.”
Neeley viewed his style as chairman not as a chief executive officer type — he says that description fit former Chairman Bobby Martin — but as more of a “team type, and we have a great team to draw from.
“I treated the Commission chairman role as, ‘Look, we’re at a roundtable. I’m not here to run this thing. We all have equal voices here. I might have some ideas, but I want to make sure we’re in alignment.”
He said his vice chairman, Anne Marie Doramus, the new chairman, was both his right and left hands in the past year.
“We have the ‘iron sharpens iron’ book that each chairman hands off to the incoming chairman,” he said. “It started with Bobby, to Stan (Jones), to me and then I got to write some words to Anne Marie. I wrote, ‘Look, Anne Marie, I’m honored to hand this off to you and historically honored that you’re coming in as the first female — I called her Madam Chair — of the Game and Fish Commission’ …. I can’t tell you how many times I would call her and pick her brain, ask her, ‘What do you think?’ We made a great team, and she and (new vice chairman) Rob Finley will make a great team … Anne Marie is going to be special … She’s smart, levelheaded. I’m leaving it in good hands.”
Neeley doesn’t plan to step too far away from the headquarters, though, He was a contributor to the Foundation before serving as commissioner, he helped with Foundation events while commissioner, and he expects to continue helping raise money for the Foundation. He has played host to Foundation-supported deer and squirrel hunts with youth on his land while on the Commission.
“When you’re a servant at heart, you just have to figure out another way to serve,” he said. “I’m going to engage with (AGFF president) Deke (Whitbeck) and help them fundraise, do the Give It to Game Wardens stuff, do whatever. I want to be back on the foundation side and keep being a part of it.”
Neeley is a family man at heart, too, and that family also just got bigger.
“We’re family here. You form bonds and friendships that are for life. That’s the bonus of this job. Serving as a commissioner, you get to make friendships that last a lifetime, and that makes it special.”