Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Thomerson joins Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

A love for hunting and a sudden interest in law enforcement is what it took to get the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission's newest officer.

Mark Thomerson has been hired by the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission as Wildlife Officer in Lincoln County, Arkansas.

Thomerson is the 25-year-old son of Larry and Gwen Thomerson of Gurdon. Thomerson was raised in Gurdon and graduated from Gurdon High School in 1995.

Thomerson had always been a huge baseball fan and planned to go to college on a baseball scholarship and hopefully someday play professional ball.

Thomerson's dream appeared to be coming true when he received his baseball scholarship and left to attend college at Northeast Texas Community College in Mt. Pleasant.

When he arrived at the school he was enthusiastic about his ball playing.

However, he was discouraged after a few practices when he realized that although he had been the catcher for Gurdon's High School team and led the state in hitting and in doubles, he was in a whole new ballgame with these guys.

Thomerson soon thought he might ought to direct his attention towards his schooling.

Fortunately Thomerson was given an opportunity to attend a unique police training academy that would allow him to become a fully certified police officer. This however was according to the state of Texas.

Thomerson spent the next two years attending school, shooting guns, breaking down doors and learning how to identify and control felony vehicle stops.

While in Texas Thomerson learned that the hunting was nothing like what he had done back here in Arkansas. Thomerson said there was no hunting or fishing in East Texas.

With that in mind he decided to transfer back to Arkansas and attend Henderson State University in Arkadelphia.

Thomerson applied for a job with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission and wasn't accepted for the interviewing process.

However, Thomerson would soon learn of the shortage of Wildlife Officer's in the state and that he would soon be selected to go through the 19-week training academy in Mayflower. Thomerson had finished his four years of college majoring in parks and recreation with an emphasis on sports management.

The academy turned out to be worth its while although it was tough and grueling at times.

Thomerson entered the academy on Feb. 18, 2001, and graduated on June 20. All recruits lived at the academy five days a week during this time and started each day at 5 a.m. and ended it at 11 p.m.

All recruits had to run a mile every morning at 5:30. After their morning run and calisthenics, the recruits had to attend class. Most of the time they were in class for 12 to 15 hours a day.

They had to write notes with correct spelling and neatly. If they did not, they had to rewrite the whole page of notes.

Two nights out of the week the recruits would have to swim a mile and a half in less than an hour. They also had to be fully clothed while they did their swimming.

While at the academy Thomerson learned about wildlife and plant life, boating safety, weapons, ATV's and of course, laws and procedures.

The recruits also had to be trained with guns. The recruits fired more than 2,000 rounds. That is more than any other law enforcement academy.

Experienced Wildlife Officers were on hand to perform real life scenarios in which the new officers might be faced with. Some of the scenarios prepared new officers in what to do if someone suddenly pulls a gun on them.

Thomerson said he got shot a lot. However, he is prepared as anyone could possibly be if placed in a situation like that.

Thomerson admitted he used to be one of the biggest outlaws around. He admitted he used to poach deer, kill illegal turkeys, roosting ducks and hid lots of illegal incidents from local officers.

However he feels times have changed and he has grown up in the past five years and he plans to perform his duties as Lincoln County's new Wildlife Officer to the best of his ability.