Witness Reward Program

Arson, timber theft, illegal dumping, and logging equipment theft and vandalism are serious threats to the state’s economic and environmental health. These crimes generate annual losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars to landowners and the timber industry. AFA is committed to reducing the number of cases through its Witness Reward Program, which provides rewards up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of persons willfully involved in these crimes on AFA members’ property.

In addition to traditional local and state law enforcement personnel, state law gives the Arkansas Department of Agriculture - Forestry Division (ADA-FD) the authority to appoint employees as certified state law enforcement officers to investigate dumping, wildfires, timber theft, and logging equipment theft and vandalism. Each ADA-FD district office has rangers and foresters who handle misdemeanor dumping and fire cases, and there are three full-time criminal investigators who investigate misdemeanor and felony cases statewide.

According to ADA-FD, investigators and law enforcement officials closed the following number of cases in their Fiscal Year 2020: 62 timber theft cases; 1 equipment theft case; 27 illegal dumping cases; and 20 arson and debris burning cases. In the same time period, landowners received $442,773 in restitution related to timber theft. In partnership with several of its corporate members, AFA provided three surveillance cameras to ADA-FD's law enforcement divisions for use in investigations.

If you have information regarding activities of this kind, call the AFC 24-hour reporting line at (501) 225-1598. You can file a complaint online HERE.

AFA members can obtain signs and stickers to post on their property by calling (501) 374-2441 or sending an email message to [email protected].