Who we are
Independent by design
River Valley Pest Guide is an independent pest information and quote-matching service for Fort Smith, Arkansas and the surrounding River Valley. We do not perform treatments. No single company owns our recommendations. Our job is to publish what is true about pests in this specific place, and to help you find a licensed provider who can actually deal with the problem.
- Independent
- Licensed & insured
- Free & no obligation
- Local to the River Valley
Managing editor
Dana Whitfield
Managing Editor, River Valley Pest Guide
Dana grew up in Sebastian County and has spent nine years reporting on housing, property maintenance and the trades across western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. She leads the River Valley Pest Guide editorial and provider-vetting process.
Questions, corrections or feedback — quotes@rivervalleypestguide.com
Editorial standards
What we hold ourselves to
These are not aspirations. They are the rules we apply before anything gets published on this site — and the reason our guides carry a named reviewer and a review date.
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Local specificity or nothing
Generic pest advice is worse than useless here — it leads people to treat the wrong problem. Everything we publish is written for the Arkansas River Valley and the eastern Oklahoma corridor, and if we do not have genuinely local knowledge of a topic, we do not publish on it.
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Name the limits
Most of what is wrong with pest information online is overclaiming. We say plainly what can be achieved and what cannot — including when professional treatment is not worth paying for, which is more often than the industry would like.
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Show the reasoning
Where a recommendation comes from matters. We separate what is established from what is practical experience, and we do not present a guess as a fact.
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Correct openly
When something turns out to be wrong or out of date, we correct it and note the change. Guides carry a visible review date for exactly this reason.
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Disclose the commercial relationship
We are paid by providers when a referral results in work. We name that openly rather than disguising editorial as something else — and it is exactly why we give you the questions to ask rather than just a phone number.
On reviews and testimonials
Testimonial content on this site is currently sample data and is labelled as such wherever it appears. It will be replaced with real customer feedback as that comes in. We do not publish fabricated reviews and we do not edit customer quotes to remove criticism.
Provider vetting
What to confirm before you hire anyone
Anyone can build a lead form. What makes a referral worth anything is whether the company on the other end is actually competent and legitimate. These are the things to confirm for yourself before work starts.
- Licensing
- Current commercial applicator licensing: the Arkansas State Plant Board for Arkansas work, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture for work across the state line. Ask for the licence number and check it with the board. A legitimate operator gives it without hesitating.
- Insurance
- General liability coverage. Ask for the certificate and look at the dates. For structural, exclusion or commercial work this matters more, not less.
- Complaint history
- State regulatory records and pattern complaints. One bad review is noise; a pattern of unresolved regulatory findings is not. Check the enforcement record before you sign.
- Warranty terms
- Warranty terms in writing, from every bidder, so you can compare like for like. A company that will not put its warranty in writing is telling you something.
- Wildlife handling
- For wildlife work, that protected species are handled within the rules set by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, particularly around bat maternity season.
- Ongoing review
- Licensing and insurance do not stay current on their own. Before a repeat visit, ask what has changed: a lapsed licence or dropped coverage is worth knowing about.
Read the full checklist for more detail on each of these, and on the commercial relationship that funds this site.
Our story
How we got here
- 2019
Started as a local reporting project
Our editor began documenting why pest problems in the River Valley differed so much from the generic advice available online — the termite pressure, the brown recluse range, the tick species nobody was talking about.
- 2021
The site began passing requests on
Readers started asking who to call, so the site began passing requests to local companies. The questions to ask a provider came directly from what the reporting had shown homeowners should be asking.
- 2024
Coverage expanded across the state line
The Fort Smith–Sallisaw–Poteau corridor is one market. Le Flore and Sequoyah counties joined Sebastian, Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Scott in full coverage.
- 2026
Where we are now
Fifteen cities and communities across two states, a full set of field guides, and a quote process built around making quotes comparable rather than simply numerous.
Scope
What we cover and what we do not
What we do
- Publish pest guidance specific to the Arkansas River Valley and eastern Oklahoma
- Maintain city-by-city coverage across 15 communities in two states
- Vet and monitor the providers in our referral network
- Match homeowners to licensed providers in their specific area
- Give you the questions to ask so quotes are comparable
- Correct and update guidance as conditions and evidence change
What we do not
- Perform pest control treatments of any kind
- Represent any single company or brand
- Guarantee outcomes from any provider
- Sell your personal information or pass it to data brokers
- Publish paid placements disguised as editorial recommendations
- Replace a professional on-site assessment — our guidance is a starting point
Now you know who we are
If you are dealing with an active pest problem, the next step is simple. Tell us what is going on and we will match you with licensed providers serving your community.
- Licensed & insured. Every provider is verified against state licensing records before we refer them.
- No obligation. Get quotes, compare them, and decide in your own time. Or do nothing at all.
- Never sold. Your details go to matched providers only. No data brokers, no call lists.