Wildlife News - Dec. 31, 2009

• Apply now for 2010 Arizona elk, pronghorn hunts
• Game and Fish to step up efforts to enforce OHV Decal compliance
• Next public meeting on State Wildlife Action Plan is Jan. 6 in Tucson
• Public’s help requested in solving poaching cases
• New episodes of Arizona Wildlife Views TV begin airing in February
• Leftover javelina and archery bear tags available
• Input sought on proposed regulations to fight spread of invasive mussels
• Honor your fellow conservationists at the Commission Awards Banquet
• Women’s outdoor skills retreat offered in the beautiful Sonoran desert
• New Year’s resolutions for the outdoor enthusiast

Apply now for 2010 Arizona elk, pronghorn hunts
Beat the rush – take advantage of the correction period to fix errors

Applications are now being accepted for Arizona’s 2010 elk and pronghorn antelope hunts. The 2010 Pronghorn Antelope and Elk Hunt Draw Information regulations booklet and application forms are available online at www.azgfd.gov/draw. Printed copies of the booklet and forms should be available at department offices and at license dealers by the second week of January.

Applications must be submitted to the Arizona Game and Fish Department either by U.S. mail to P.O. Box 74020, Phoenix, AZ 85087-1052 or by hand delivery to any Game and Fish office. The deadline to apply is Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010 by 7 p.m. (MST). Applications must be in the department’s possession by the deadline – postmarks do not count.

Hunters whose applications are received during the “correction period” will receive up to three calls from the department in a 24-hour period if an error is found on the application. If the applicant is reached by phone, the department will try to help fix the error to prevent the application from being rejected. The correction period ends at 5 p.m. on Jan. 21.

Hunters are reminded that a 2010 hunting license is required to apply. Department officials encourage hunters to get their license before applying for an elk or antelope hunt permit-tag if they wish to do any other hunting in early 2010. Licenses purchased through the draw process will not be mailed out until after the draw is completed.

Game and Fish to step up efforts to enforce OHV Decal compliance
Low participation is hurting program goals and benefits to recreationists

Citing statistics showing that less than one-quarter of off-highway vehicles in Arizona have the required OHV Decal, Arizona Game and Fish Department Director Larry Voyles announced that the agency’s officers would be stepping up compliance enforcement efforts in the field.

“Our officers will be issuing citations to off-highway vehicle users who don’t have the required decal on their OHV,” said Voyles. “The program has been in effect and public education efforts have been ongoing for over a year now. The compliance rate is very disappointing, given the benefits the program would provide to recreationists.”

Voyles likened the “user play, user pay” program to wildlife conservation, where hunters and anglers pay for wildlife conservation through the purchase of hunting and fishing licenses. “Rates for hunting license compliance exceed 95 percent,” said Voyles, “Hunters and anglers have demonstrated their commitment to wildlife conservation for decades.”

As for OHV Decal compliance, Voyles stressed, “Arizona Game and Fish officers have unequivocally demonstrated their ability to achieve compliance through aggressive law enforcement. All OHV users should expect more special OHV law enforcement operations throughout the state beginning in January and going on through this spring until compliance numbers show a dramatic increase.”

“The department has worked with a number of organized OHV groups who all supported this legislation. They have a right to expect the same level of compliance and commitment from all OHV users,” said Voyles.

The OHV Decal program took effect Jan. 1, 2009 and requires the annual purchase of a decal for any off-highway vehicle designed by the manufacturer primarily for use over unimproved terrain and weighing 1,800 pounds or less. This includes most ATVs, side-by-sides (utility vehicles), dirt bikes and some sand rails.

The benefits of the OHV Decal program include information and education efforts, facility development and maintenance, maps, signage and reduced wildlife habitat impacts.

Other projects that are being funded through the OHV Decal program include the new OHV Laws and Places to Ride booklet that is an ongoing joint venture between Arizona State Parks and the Game and Fish Department. A continued grant program to help clean up and restore riding areas and new informational outreach items like riding area maps will be created in the future.

The OHV Decal costs $25 and is good for one year from the date of purchase. The Motor Vehicle Department will not be sending renewal notices, so it is your responsibility to make sure your vehicle is in compliance. Officers will be citing vehicle owners who fail to display the OHV Decals soon, so avoid a costly citation: these field renewal notices are sure to cost considerably more than $25. The OHV Decal can be obtained at any MVD office, MVD third-party service provider, or online at www.servicearizona.com.

For more information about the OHV Decal program or OHV use in Arizona, go online to www.azgfd.gov/ohv.

Next public meeting on State Wildlife Action Plan is Jan. 6 in Tucson

You can still participate in the review of Arizona’s State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) by attending one of the remaining public meetings in January and February. The meetings are scheduled from 3-7 p.m. on these dates:

• Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010, Tucson, Arizona Game and Fish Department Tucson regional office, 555 N. Greasewood Road.
  
• Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010, Yuma, Arizona Game and Fish Department Yuma regional office, 9140 E. 28th St.
  
• Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010, Mesa, Arizona Game and Fish Department Mesa regional office, 7200 E. University Drive.
  
• Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010, Pinetop, Arizona Game and Fish Department Pinetop regional office, 2878 E. White Mountain Blvd.
  
• Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010, Flagstaff, Radisson Woodlands Hotel,1175 West Route 66.
  
• Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010, Phoenix, Arizona Game and Fish Department Headquarters,  5000 W. Carefree Highway.

Each meeting will begin with formal presentations at 3 p.m. and conclude no later than 7 p.m. following open worktable sessions in which attendees are invited to participate. The meeting will end early if the needs of the participants have been met prior to 7 p.m.

The review will focus on three main areas of the plan: the species of greatest conservation need (including the criteria used to determine their status); threats to wildlife (what they are and where they’re located); and delineation of landscapes of conservation concern.

The public can also provide input into aspects of the plan by accessing an online survey at www.azgfd.gov/cwcs.

Arizona’s SWAP, previously known as the Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy, builds on and complements existing plans and wildlife conservation projects and provides a vision for managing Arizona’s fish, wildlife, and wildlife habitats over the next 10 years. It is a means to receive federal funding for wildlife conservation in the form of state wildlife grants.

The plan outlines strategies and conservation actions aimed at promoting partnerships and coordinating efforts among all who hold a stake in conserving Arizona’s wildlife. The public review process currently being conducted is a requirement of the plan.

The existing SWAP document, along with some new maps and documents, is posted at www.azgfd.gov/cwcs. A DVD of the complete set of SWAP maps (there are more than 340) can be requested through SWAPcomment@azgfd.gov.

Public’s help requested in solving poaching cases

The Arizona Game and Fish Department is asking the public for information that could help solve several unrelated poaching incidents this month. The incidents took place in the following areas:

Two elk and one mule deer illegally killed along Perkinsville Highway, about 30 miles south of Williams (just south of the Prescott National Forest boundary).

The elk were estimated to have been killed sometime during the time period of Dec. 14-28.The deer was killed around Dec. 25-28. The elk were found approximately 150 yards from each other. The deer was found approximately 3 miles away from the elk, off the roadway. Department officials believe all three animals were shot from the roadway. Only the heads were removed from the animals. Evidence in the field indicates that a portion of a hindquarter was removed from one of the elk; the rest of the meat was left to waste. Even though evidence indicates these were probably not big trophy-class animals, it appears the poachers shot them just to collect the antlers. Anyone with information about this incident can call the department’s Operation Game Thief hotline toll free at (800) 352-0700. Callers may be eligible for a reward of up to $2,700 for information leading to an arrest in the elk incident, and $1,250 for information leading to an arrest in the deer incident. Calls may remain confidential upon request.

Bull elk poached near Williams.

A spike bull elk was illegally shot and left to waste sometime during the evening of Dec. 10 and the morning of Dec. 11, near the east side of the Williams airport. The animal was shot with a .30 caliber rifle and left in an area south of Pronghorn Ranch Road and east of the airport in the southeast portion of Game Management Unit 10. This is approximately 3 miles north of Williams and 3 miles west of Highway 64. Department officials suspect that this incident may have been a mistake made by someone possessing a cow elk tag for this hunt area, but officials still need to speak with those involved. The shooting of this bull is considered a game law violation and did occur during a legal cow elk hunt season that started Dec. 4 and ended Dec. 13. Anyone with information about this incident can call the department’s Operation Game Thief hotline toll free at (800) 352-0700. Callers may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,350 for information leading to the arrest of the violator(s). Calls may remain confidential upon request.

Two illegally killed deer found at Hualapai foothills in Kingman.

The hides of two deer, a doe and buck, were found in early December off Seneca Road near the cross streets of Dakota and Comanche near a construction site in Kingman. Department officials believe the two animals were killed elsewhere, skinned and dumped at the site. While the meat was taken and the hides and heads left behind, there is no season for doe in this area. In addition, both animals appeared to be shot with a firearm, and there were no current firearm seasons for deer. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Operation Game Thief hotline toll free at (800) 352-0700. Operation Game Thief is offering a reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to the arrest of the violators. The Mule Deer Foundation and Mohave County Silent Witness are offering $500 each for information leading to the arrest and conviction. Calls may remain confidential upon request.

Mule deer buck poached on Arizona Strip.

A large antlered mule deer buck was illegally killed sometime during the week of Dec. 14 on the Arizona Strip, which is in northern Arizona along the Arizona-Utah border. Evidence discovered during a field investigation shows that the deer was shot in the head, which was then removed and hidden in a nearby tree. The poacher only removed some of the meat from the carcass and left the rest to waste. There were no deer hunting seasons open at the time the poaching occurred. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the department’s Operation Game Thief Hotline toll free at (800) 352-0700. Callers may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,250 for information leading to the arrest of the violator(s) in this case. Calls may remain confidential upon request.

New episodes of Arizona Wildlife Views TV begin airing in February

The Arizona Game and Fish Department’s award-winning television show, Arizona Wildlife Views, will be back on PBS station KAET-TV Phoenix (Channel 8) with brand-new episodes in February. The new season will begin its 13-week run on Wednesday, Feb. 3, in the 7:30 p.m. time slot.

Arizona Wildlife Views features wildlife, conservation and outdoor recreation stories from across Arizona, highlighting the wonders of our great state.

Some of the shows you can look forward to include: The reintroduction of endangered species, like the black-tailed prairie dog and Chiricahua leopard frog; habitat recovery such as Fossil Creek and the San Pedro River; tips from the Wildlife Viewing Guide on the best places to watch wildlife; and other wonderful feature stories starring the wildlife of Arizona.

The Emmy-winning television program also airs on KUAT-TV in Tucson and on most city cable access channels throughout the state.

For more information or to watch your favorite episode again from the department’s Web site, visit www.azgfd.gov/tv.

Leftover javelina and archery bear tags available

Hunters who are still looking for spring big game opportunities are reminded there are about 6,000 leftover javelina tags (about 175 juniors-only) and more than 20 archery-only bear tags available. These tags are available by submitting an application by U.S. mail, or by bringing a completed application in to any of the seven Arizona Game and Fish Department offices.

Nearly all hunt types are available for javelina, including general, juniors-only, HAM (handgun, archery, and muzzleloader), and archery-only.

A 2010 hunting license is required to apply for a permit-tag. Licenses can be purchased from Game and Fish offices, license dealers, or apply for one by mail in conjunction with your tag application. When applying for a license via the tag application, be certain that all required information and additional payment fees are correct and enclosed. In addition, youth hunters ages 10-13 are required to have completed a certified hunter education course to hunt big game.

For a list of remaining leftover tags remaining, visit www.azgfd.gov/draw.

Input sought on proposed regulations to fight spread of invasive mussels
Public meetings scheduled for January; Phoenix meeting and webcast is Jan. 7

The Arizona Game and Fish Department will be seeking the public’s input on proposed regulations to fight the spread of quagga mussels and other aquatic invasive species in Arizona waters.

The measures, known as “director’s orders” and authorized by the Aquatic Invasive Species Interdiction Act passed this year by the Arizona Legislature, will give Game and Fish the authority to identify those species considered aquatic invasives, identify the waters that contain them, and establish mandatory conditions for moving boats from those waters.

The department will host a series of public meetings and a webcast in January to provide information on the impacts of aquatic invasive species and responsible actions boaters and anglers can take to fight their spread, describe the proposed regulations and how they will help protect our natural resources for the future enjoyment of Arizonans, and provide the opportunity to provide input.

“It is critical for anyone who uses watercraft, or has a business reliant on watercraft, to understand the essential nature of this aquatic invasive species containment effort,” said Tom McMahon, invasive species program coordinator with Game and Fish. “The spread of quagga mussels has far-reaching impacts, both financial and ecological, that can touch virtually every resident of the state.”

Quagga mussels were found in Lake Mead in early 2007 and are now found in several other Arizona waters. They originally came from Eurasia and became established in the Great Lakes in the 1980s. They colonize rapidly on hard surfaces and can ruin boat motors and clog water intake structures, such as pipes and screens, therefore impacting pumping capabilities for power and water treatment plants. Invasive mussels such as quaggas and the closely related zebra mussels have cost Midwestern industries and businesses hundreds of millions of dollars in maintenance and damage repair.

Game and Fish will kick off the public meetings with a meeting and Web simulcast on Thursday, Jan. 7, from 6-7:30 p.m., at the department’s headquarters at 5000 W. Carefree Highway in Phoenix. There will be a formal presentation, the opportunity to ask questions, and information on how to submit comments. The meeting can also be viewed on the Internet at www.azgfd.gov/webcast and at the Kingman regional office at 5325 N. Stockton Hill Road. A link to the presentation will subsequently be posted on the department's Web site within a few days of the meeting.

Additional in-person meetings will be held at these locations:

• Tuesday, Jan. 12, 3:30-5 p.m. - Lake Havasu, BLM field office, 2610 Sweetwater Ave.
  
• Tuesday, Jan. 19, 6-7:30 p.m. - Bullhead City, Mohave Community College, 3400 Highway 95.
  
• Thursday, Jan. 21, 6-7:30 p.m. - Mesa, Game and Fish Region 6 office, 7200 E. University Dr.

Public comments will be accepted until 5 p.m., Jan. 25. Those unable to attend a meeting or view the webcast may submit comments at quaggacomments@azgfd.gov.

“Identifying the quagga and zebra mussel affected waterways was probably the most critical step in the process to date,” McMahon said. “This step leads us down a path to outreach, education, and regulations that will help protect the water resources that Arizona’s boaters, anglers and other recreationists enjoy.

McMahon advised all watercraft users to clean, drain, and dry their boats to avoid the transportation of mussels and other invasive species to non-infected bodies of water.

“It’s not just mussels we’re dealing with,” McMahon said. “There are a number of species that can alter our aquatic ecosystems and damage our state’s water conveyance infrastructure. Avoiding transportation of undesirable plant and animal life to other bodies of water can be achieved through the simple steps of cleaning, draining, and drying your boat after each outing.

“It’s important for anybody using these bodies of water to understand the significance of their actions. You don’t want to be the person that first infected a waterbody with an invasive species. Remember, ‘Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers’ and ‘Don’t Move a Mussel.’”

For more information on invasive species, visit the Arizona Game and Fish Web site at www.azgfd.gov. For more information on the meetings, contact McMahon at tmcmahon@azgfd.gov.

Honor your fellow conservationists at the Commission Awards Banquet

If you haven’t already signed up, make plans now to attend the annual Arizona Game and Fish Commission Awards Banquet on Saturday, Jan. 16, at the Crown Plaza Hotel at 2532 W. Peoria Ave. in Phoenix.

The banquet recognizes individuals and organizations that have contributed to Arizona's wildlife resources and the mission of the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

The event begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner and presentation of the commission awards. Individual tickets are $55. Tables of 10 are $500 - a discount of $50.

Award recipients who will be recognized are:

•  Award of Excellence – Phoenix Herpetological Society and Arizona Wildlife Federation
• Youth Environmentalist of the Year – Shelby Miller
• Outdoor Writer of the Year – Stephanie Rainey
• Media of the Year – Outdoor Wires
• Conservation Organization of the Year – Liberty Wildlife
• Conservationist of the Year – Jim Unmacht
• Natural Resource Professional of the Year – Heidi Blasius
• Volunteer of the Year – Steve Clark
• Educator of the Year – Dave Brown
• Mentor of the Year – Scott Bonar
• Advocate of the Year – Sandy Bahr
• License Dealer of the Year – Sprague’s Sports
• Wildlife Habitat Stewardship Award – Jim O’Haco

Sponsors of the awards banquet are

• Cabela’s
• Arizona Antelope Foundation
• Arizona Bowhunters Association
• Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society
• Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Chapter
• Yuma Valley Rod and Gun Club

Costs associated with the banquet, including complimentary tickets for the award recipients and their spouses or immediate family members, are paid for by ticket sales and sponsorships.

To obtain a reservation form, visit www.azgfd.gov/inside_azgfd/commission_awards.shtml or contact Marty Fabritz at (623) 236-7281 or mfabritz@azgfd.gov.

Women’s outdoor skills retreat offered in the beautiful Sonoran desert
Becoming an Outdoors Woman “deluxe” workshop set for Jan. 29-31

Spend the weekend with like-minded women learning a variety of exciting outdoor activities, but with bed and breakfast comforts, at the 5th annual Becoming an Outdoors Woman winter workshop.

The fun-filled event includes deluxe lodging, meals, use of equipment, and instruction at the resort-style Saguaro Lake Ranch in the heart of the Sonoran desert. Activities include bird watching, fishing, how to hunt javelina and deer, geocaching, Dutch oven cooking, boating, photography, and more.

Becoming an Outdoors Woman is an outdoor skills program for women 18 or older. These workshops, taught by expert instructors, introduce women to the outdoors in an enjoyable, non-threatening environment in unique destinations.

The workshop is sponsored by the Arizona Wildlife Federation and will include instructors from the Arizona Audubon Society, the Arizona Game and Fish Department, and more.

The weekend workshop is $375. To register, visit www.azwildlife.org or contact Linda Dightmon, Arizona BOW coordinator at (480) 644-0077 for more information.

New Year’s resolutions for the outdoor enthusiast

The following resolutions come from Rory Aikens, editor of the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s weekly Fishing Report, who describes himself as an unrepentant hunting and fishing addict.

Be it resolved that in the Year 2010, I will not:

• Pull a thrashing smallmouth bass out of the water and have my expensive new polarized sun glasses ungraciously fall to the bottom of the 150-foot-deep lake despite my cold crash dive to retrieve them while my wallet and cell phone still reside in my unprotected pockets.
• Forget to put the plug in the bass boat, especially when taking TV media out fishing;
• Take another cold swim because I decided to unhook the boat from the trailer’s hand winch to save time while launching the bass boat (makes for terrific viewer-laughing video though);
• Set the hook so hard that I flip backward over the bass seat and land on a big topwater lure with painfully sharp triple-treble hooks (the cameraman was too busy catching fish to catch the craziness on video);
• Fall asleep and melting the bottom of my expensive hunting boots while warming my icy, exhausted feet at the campfire on a cold snowy night after chasing elusive elk all day at 9,000-feet-plus elevation.
• On no account will I let another lunker bass impale my hand with a hook, especially when the other treble hook is stuck on the boat’s aging carpet while the big bass flops around while I hear the laughter float across the water from anglers in nearby bass boats (who had once been friends).
• Never again hike arduous miles to my favorite whitetail hunting spot way up the steep mountain and leave all my ammunition back in camp during the only day of the hunt when inattentive randy bucks are chasing does on the hillside during the rut.
• Take those once-in-a-lifetime wildlife photographs of an obstreperous mule deer buck facing down a bobcat with no memory card in my fancy digital camera;
• Fish with brittle older line and lose a trophy-sized bass – again.
• Never tell the public the exact spot where I found the fish biting before I at least offer to take my wife there first (sleeping on the bass boat isn’t as fun when it’s in the garage).
• Never, ever leave my best spotting scope on top of the Chiricahua Mountains and remember it after I tiredly pack my deer all the way back into camp as darkness falls on the last day of the hunt, which is also the last day of my vacation.
• Always remember to carry plenty of bandaids for cuts along with a pocket comb to remove sharp jumping cholla when tiredly hiking by flashlight at night up and down a rugged, unforgiving mountainside to recover my forgotten optics.
• Don’t eat a cheese sandwich while fishing during a dark confusing night using cheese-bait for catfish;
• Plan an out-of-town fishing trip with the buddies on my forgotten wedding anniversary day;
• Painfully bang my shin on the protruding trailer hitch – twice in the same camping trip.
• Forget to stow away the stink bait and night crawlers while camping in skunk country.
• Forget to bring matches to start a campfire on a cold night camping;
• Leave the sleeping bags at home when going camping and having no matches to start the fire or even a coffee pot for the morning (or not have ear plugs for enduring my wife’s description of my mental capacities while she goes through caffeine withdrawal);
• Hand my wife a donut after helping my little boy put a juicy night crawler on the hook (especially when my child told her after the digestion was already underway).
• Neglect to immediately buy a spare tire for the camp trailer after one tire shreds itself during a long vacation trip in a remote mountainous area.
• Pronounce the prime topwater season as being over and then have an angler hit a topwater bonanza, including a new state record striper.
• Forget to sign my name to our four-person elk permit application and getting us all rejected.
• Sit lazily reading my favorite Louis L’Amour Western by the campfire with my camera locked away in the truck while a bachelor band of trophy-sized elk wanders through camp and a 360-plus bull uses my tree-bound hammock as a velvet rub.
• Foolishly attempt to carry my favorite two-piece ultra-light fishing rod strapped to my mountain bike while negotiating a steep winding brush-lined trail to fish the Upper Verde River and ending up with a four-piece rod and broken wheel spokes.
• Try to photograph a running antelope from the moving truck on a bumpy two-track with my wife holding the steering wheel so I can work the camera as a swirling dust plume clouds the expensive telephoto lens.
• Never forget the extra gas can when running the bass boat at high speed the 70-plus miles to fish the San Juan Arm of Lake Powell.
• Take a much-needed bath in a stream at sunset while backpacking a wilderness area just to discover a group of giggling campers on a nearby overlook.
• Never let my wife read my annual New Years Resolutions when I am within ear shot (or pistol shot for that matter).

Rory notes that although he can’t claim all of these as being his, he confesses to ownership of way too many of them.