The purpose of the state recreational boating safety program is to encourage greater state participation and uniformity in boating safety efforts, and particularly to permit the states to assume the…

The U.S. Coast Guard awarded the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission $1.812 million under the Boating Safety Financial Assistance program (CFDA 97.012) on October 1, 2025, for recreational boating safety activities in Arkansas through September 30, 2028.

The program funds boating safety education, law enforcement capabilities, and public access infrastructure. Eligible uses include facilities, equipment, and supplies for boating safety education and law enforcement, including purchase, operation, maintenance, and repair; personnel training in boating safety skills and enforcement of boating safety laws; public boating safety education programs and lectures to the boating community and public schools; acquisition, construction, or repair of public access sites for recreational boaters; boating safety inspections and marine casualty investigations; establishment and maintenance of emergency and search-and-rescue facilities; waterway markers and navigation aids; and state recreational vessel numbering and titling programs.

The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, a state government entity headquartered in Little Rock, operates as a formula grant recipient delivering fish and wildlife conservation and public recreation services across Arkansas. This is one of approximately twenty Boating Safety Financial Assistance awards the Commission has received from the Coast Guard; the Commission's primary federal customer is the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service, which accounts for 97 percent of its federal awards.

The purpose of the state recreational boating safety program is to encourage greater state participation and uniformity in boating safety efforts, and particularly to permit the states to assume the greater share of boating safety education, assistance, and enforcement activities. Federal funds provided for a state's boating safety program may be used for any of the following expenses. 1. Providing facilities, equipment, and supplies for boating safety education and law enforcement, including purchase, operation, maintenance, and repair. 2. Training personnel in skills related to boating safety and to the enforcement of boating safety laws and regulations. 3. Providing public boating safety education, including educational programs and lectures, to the boating community and the public school system. 4. Acquiring, constructing, or repairing public access sites used primarily by recreational boaters. 5. Conducting boating safety inspections and marine casualty investigations. 6. Establishing and maintaining emergency or search and rescue facilities, and providing emergency or search and rescue assistance. 7. Establishing and maintaining waterway markers and other appropriate aids to navigation. 8. Providing state recreational vessel numbering and titling programs.