Boating under the influence violations decreased during holiday weekend safety patrols  • Arkansas Game & Fish Commission

HEBER SPRINGS — According to Sgt. Sydney Grant, Boating Law Administrator for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, 118 Arkansas Game Wardens worked a heightened enforcement detail over the Independence Day Weekend to increase boating safety on one of the state’s busiest boating holidays. At the end of the weekend more than 2,474 hours of AGFC manpower was spent working to keep Arkansas waters safe.

“Game wardens visited 1,897 vessels for more than 6,700 boater contacts over the three-day weekend,” Grant said. “One hundred and forty citations were issued, which is less than 10 percent of the vessels contacted. Officers also issued 353 warnings during the operation.”

Grant said the number of arrests for Boating Under the Influence saw a healthy decline this year, dropping from 23 during Independence Day Weekend in 2024 to 10 last weekend.

“It’s nice to see that number drop, but our goal is really to get those arrests and tickets down to zero,” Grant said. “Until then, we can always improve on our efforts to keep boaters safe.”