Carl Glenn Hunter (1923–2005)

Conservationist Carl Glenn Hunter achieved prominence in two branches of the Arkansas outdoors—its fauna and its flora. Activities with wildflowers of the state made him a household name in Arkansas and beyond after his retirement as a wildlife biologist.

Carl Hunter was born on August 30, 1923, in Little Rock (Pulaski County). He graduated from Little Rock High School (now Central High School) in 1941 and received a bachelor of science in agriculture degree from the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington County) in 1945.

In college, Hunter worked part time for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC); he became a full-time employee in July 1945. He was one of the first hires of the agency after it was restructured on July 1, 1945, under Amendment 35 of the Arkansas constitution. He became a key figure in the Arkansas deer restoration program, and he compiled a major inventory of the state’s wildlife, culminating in the 1951 publication of A Survey of Arkansas Game.

Hunter and his wife, Maryann, had two sons, Scott and David.

In 1957, Hunter left the AGFC to work in wildlife management for Edgar Monsanto Queeny, a St. Louis industrialist who owned the 11,000-acre Wingmead Farms, an intensely managed wildlife preserve and functioning farm in east-central Arkansas. Hunter eventually became manager of all Wingmead operations.

After Queeny’s death, Hunter returned to the AGFC in 1977 and was assigned to the Real Estate Division, acquiring land for wildlife management areas, lakes, and other uses by the agency. New director Steve N. Wilson promoted Hunter to assistant director in 1980, and Hunter retired from the AGFC in 1987.

Even before his retirement, Hunter spent vacations and weekends pursuing his hobby of studying and photographing Arkansas wildflowers, and this was the foundation of his 1984 book, Wildflowers of Arkansas, a 300-page volume that won him wide acclaim. He followed it with Trees, Shrubs and Vines of Arkansas in 1989.

Hunter died on March 23, 2005, and is buried in Little Rock.

For additional information:
“Biologist Carl Hunter Left Mark with Deer, Wildflowers.” Arkansas Outdoors, March 30, 2005, pp. 3–4.

Carl Hunter Papers. University of Central Arkansas Archives and Special Collections, Conway, Arkansas.

Storey, Celia. “Carl Glenn Hunter.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. September 5, 2004, pp. 1D, 5D.

Joe Mosby
Conway, Arkansas