Forrest L. Wood

The facility was destroyed by fire in 1971, but Wood salvaged orders from his desk in the building and restarted.

The next year, Wood signed a sponsorship deal with the tournament, making it the Classic's official boat from then until 2000.

In 1996, the tournament organizer Operation Bass renamed itself with Wood's initials, a name it retains to this day.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission named its Crowley's Ridge Nature Center for Wood, who served a seven-year term on the commission after an appointment by Governor Mike Huckabee from 1998 to 2005.

Wood and his wife of 68 years, Nina, resided in Flippin (where he had large cattle holdings) until his death on January 24, 2020.