Arizona Wildlife Conservationist Committee

Please view the attached November 7, 2009 Conservationist Committee Meeting running from 8:00 am until 3:00 pm.

The notes from the July 18, 2009 meeting have been posted. The focus of the next meeting will be Renewable Energy Development in Arizona. Chairman Kristin Mayes from the Arizona Corporation Commission and a representative from BLM will be in attendance for the discussion. The next meeting will be Saturday November 7, 2009, and will be held at the AZ Game and Fish Department Headquarters located at 5000 W Carefree Hwy, Phoenix, AZ 85086. The office is located approximately 1.25 miles west of I-17 on the Carefree Highway. The meeting will be held in the Eagle Room, which is accessible through the main doors, and to  the right of the main lobby. If you know of anyone else who would be interested, feel free to pass along the information. Please check back soon for additional meeting details.

The Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society held our annual fundraiser March 7th.   Special tags for Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep, Antelope and Mountain Lion were auctioned off as part of the night’s activities.  The Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep tag brought in a winning bid of $80,000.  The Antelope tag brought in $21,000 and the Mountain Lion tag winning bid came in at $4,100.  These proceeds go to the Special Big Game Tag Fund to assist with species specific conservation and research efforts.

ADBSS had the unique opportunity to be the first wildlife organization in Arizona to offer the Special Mountain Lion tag to raise money for Mountain Lion conservation and research in the state of Arizona and were pleased to see this kind of money raised for a tag that normally sells for $14.50.  The money raised, we hope, will play a vital role in Arizona’s Mountain Lion conservation efforts.  Two other Special Mountain Lion tags are being offered, one through Arizona Deer Association and the other by the Arizona Big Game Super Raffle, later this year.  The Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society’s primary mission is to promote the management of bighorn sheep and increase their population in the state of Arizona.

The Arizona Game and Fish Commission on Friday unanimously voted to oppose Arizona House Bill 2235, proposed legislation that would amend an existing law concerning the qualifications and appointment process for Game and Fish commission membership.

If the Arizona Legislature were to pass HB 2235 as written, all future commission members would be required to have a continuous recorded registration with the same political party or as an independent for at least 5 years immediately preceding the appointment, must have also held a valid hunting or combination hunting and fishing license for at least 5 years immediately preceding the appointment, and must have been an Arizona resident for at least 10 years. The legislation would also require that all applications for appointment to the Commission be public records and that those records be available for public inspection not later than the second week in December.

The bill amends Arizona Revised Statutes, Title 17, Section 201.

“Although our vote was unanimous, our decision took some soul searching,” said Game and Fish Commissioner Robert Woodhouse. “Each commissioner understands the critical role sportsmen play in funding wildlife conservation. We also believe that Arizona’s wildlife belongs to all its citizens, each of whom has a responsibility to help fund conservation. However, as written, this piece of proposed legislation would eliminate more than 90 percent of Arizona citizens from eligibility to serve as a commissioner. This standard would be more restrictive than currently exists for any other public office in Arizona – including that of governor.”

The commission’s concern with the bill includes:

As written, the bill would prevent an individual from being an eligible applicant who had been a long time-purchaser of a hunting license but, for any reason, missed purchasing a license during the five years prior to becoming a candidate. This would prevent anyone serving as a commissioner who was unable to purchase a license due to economic or health reasons, family circumstances, or being out of state for a period of time such as a member of the U.S. military who might be deployed overseas.

The draft legislation would prevent the governor from making an appointment except from candidates that submitted applications prior to the second week in December. If the governor didn’t call for applications until after the second week in December, or if a current commissioner was unable to continue serving their term and resigned, the governor would be unable to appoint a new commissioner until the following December.

No specific skills, knowledge or qualifications are required of an individual who has purchased a hunting or combination hunting and fishing license that aren’t already required by the existing statute. The current law states that commission members be “well informed on the subjects of wildlife and requirements for its conservation”.

Click here to read the introduced version of House Bill 2235.

Buck Springs HPC Proposal with map [pdf, 9mb]

Thanks Bob.  We appreciate it.  I am trying to figure out how to post an event.

Congratulations to all of you who were in on the creation of this website, which looks good.  I am very pleased to see it up and running.  I am not an experienced poster, but this is a good opportunity for me to learn the ins and outs of it.

Ryna Rock, Arizona Wildlife Federation