Steve N. Wilson - Member South Shore Foundation Board

Steve N. Wilson, who served the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission as director for 20 years, has joined the board of directors of the South Shore Foundation, the charitable foundation of Northern Arkansas Telephone Company. The board’s chairman, Jodie Elizabeth Jeffrey, made the announcement.

A resident of Norfork since 2002, Wilson serves other statewide and local organizations as a board member and officer, including Arkansas Wildlife Federation, Arkansas Game & Fish Foundation, Friends of the White and North Fork Rivers (vice president), North Arkansas Fly Fishers (program chairman), and Friends of the Cultural Arts Center in Mountain Home.

Wilson’s term on the board will be for three years. In accepting the position on the board of South Shore Foundation, Wilson noted that the foundation is one of the donors to the new Fred Berry Conservation Education Center outside of Yellville, and said, “I feel like I can help.” That center is a project of the Arkansas Game & Fish Foundation.

The retired Game & Fish leader said highlights of his career were the professional development of the staff during his tenure and passage of the 1/8-cent sales tax as a constitutional amendment by the people of Arkansas in 1996 to support conservation work through the G&FC. Arkansas is one of only two states with a conservation sales tax. Wilson said he enjoyed the interaction on international conservation issues such as migratory waterfowl and the opportunity to visit locations in Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Africa.

Wilson was president of the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, 1992-93, and received its highest honor, the Seth Gordon Award in 1998. He was named to the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame and received the C. W. Watson Award from the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in 2000. Arkansas Tech University presented Wilson its Distinguished Alumni Award in 2000.

Wilson holds a master’s degree in zoology from the University of Arkansas and a bachelor’s degree in wildlife management from Arkansas Tech. He is a graduate of Batesville High School.

Wilson and his wife, Jo, relocated to Norfork from Little Rock, where her career was in elementary education, including 10 years as a principal in Pulaski County. They attend the Norfork United Methodist Church. Wilson’s hobbies are fishing, hunting, and tennis. The Wilsons have two children, Stephanie Wilson-Scott of Fayetteville and Joshua Wilson of New York, NY, and two grandsons.

South Shore Foundation grants funds to nonprofit groups for projects that further environmental preservation and economic development. It funds scholarship programs for Marion County high school graduates, Arkansas State University Mountain Home students from Marion, Boone, and Baxter counties, and leadership training programs for Marion County youth and adults. It was established in 1997.

For more information about South Shore Foundation, call 1-888-SSHORE1 (774-6731).