Game & Fish director says time to resign

Citing the stress and pressure of leading a large organization with a diverse, far-flung constituency, Jeff Crow of Bismarck announced Tuesday that he will resign as director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission effective Feb. 28.

Crow became director of the Game and Fish Commission on July 1, 2016. He succeeded former director Mike Knoedl, under whose administration Crow served as chief of law enforcement, deputy director and chief of staff. His salary is $132,728.96.

Steve Cook of Malvern, the Game and Fish Commission’s chairman, said Crow will not receive a severance package. Crow, who retired from the Arkansas State Police, cannot draw additional retirement benefits from the Game and Fish Commission. Crow said there was no precipitating factor or conflict that prompted him to make such a sudden decision. “Whenever an agency head retires abruptly, it makes people take notice,” Crow said. “There’s no allegation or scandal or anything like that. It’s just time.”

Despite serving in multiple high-level positions in the agency, Crow said he sometimes struggled with the complexities of managing multiple departments with diverse missions and responsibilities.

“Seeing what Mike [Knoedl] went through, I thought I had a good idea about the pressures that went along with that,” Crow said. “Everybody gets to a point in their career where they ask, ‘How effective are you going to be?’ It just may not be in the cards for you to go forward.”

Cook said the suddenness of Crow’s decision surprised commission members but he believes it was inevitable.

“I think it’s just the stress of what that position holds, the everyday ins and outs,” Cook said. “I get enough phone calls and emails, but I’m sure his pile of return phone calls, emails, voice mails and text messages is probably twice as much as I can fathom.”

Cook said the timing and manner of Crow’s resignation should dispel rumors that it was forced. “Doing it the way he did, there won’t be any talk that we went into executive session and gave him a choice to resign or be dismissed,” Cook said. “It was a decision he came to on his own.”

“I will call for an executive session at our next meeting, and I will ask our personnel and governance committee to get in touch with our new human resources chief to get that process started immediately,” Cook said.