Rockefeller had many interests and affiliations prior to and during his terms as lieutenant governor of Arkansas.
He was appointed to the Youth Services Master Plan group in 1972 and chaired the Arkansas Juvenile Justice Advisory Group from 1976 to 1984. In 1981, Rockefeller was appointed to the Arkansas State Police Commission, where he served until 1995. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush appointed Rockefeller a member of the President’s Council on Rural America, where he was elected chairman by the other members.
Arguably Rockefeller’s major interests were the Boy Scouts of America and the International Billfish Conservation Foundation.
He served on the Boy Scouts of America’s executive board of the national council. Later, he became president of the Quapaw Area Council in 1997 and served as a vice president for several years thereafter. Also in 1997, Rockefeller created Books in the Attic, in which Boy Scouts collected used books to distribute to families.
Rockefeller promoted the creation of the International Billfish Conservation Foundation in 1986, when he realized that high-tech fishing boats were catching fewer fish. The Foundation’s mission is to preserve billfish, including swordfish and marlin, for future generations via research, education, and advocacy. The Foundation celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2016.
