Arizona Game & Fish Department’s
WILDLIFE NEWS
Dec. 9, 2002 Vol. 50 No. 48
Public Information Officers: Rory Aikens at (602) 789-3214, raikens@gf.state.az.us, Marijke Van Fleet at (602) 789-3377, mvanfleet@gf.state.az.us., Eric Boardley at (602) 789-3223, eboardley@gf.state.az.us. or Tom McMahon (602) 789-3216, tmcmahon@gf.state.az.us.
THIS WEEK'S STORIES
Public Input Sought on Hunt Guidelines
2 Elk Poached Near Flagstaff
Sonoran Pronghorn Numbers Down
Field Workshop set on Flagstaff Lions
Wildlife Views Producers Win 6 Awards
Holiday Gifts for Outdoor Enthusiasts
Note: The Arizona Game and Fish Department prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, disability in its programs and activities. If anyone believes they have been discriminated against in any Game and Fish program or activity, including its employment practices, the individual may file a complaint alleging discrimination directly with the Game and Fish Deputy Director, 2221 W. Greenway Rd., Phx., AZ 85023, (602) 942-3000 or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4040 N. Fairfax Dr., Ste. 130, Arlington, VA 22203. If you require this document in an alternative format, please contact the Game and Fish Deputy Director as listed above or by calling TTY at 1-800 367-8939.
The Arizona Game and Fish Commission on Dec. 7 gave its input to the “Guidelines and Recommendations” for the 2003-2004 hunting seasons that are used by department wildlife managers for preparing their final hunt recommendations.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department is gathering public input on those guidelines and recommendations. The Arizona Game and Fish Commission is requesting specific public comment on the following topics:
· Establishing juniors-only archery javelina hunts,
· Alternatives to the current 30-day bighorn sheep hunt within units 12A/13A/12B West,
· Alternatives to the current archery hunt structure within Unit 27, and
· Alternatives to mountain lion management in Units 36B and 36C.
The commission also directed the department to obtain additional input on some subjects that are not found in the hunt guidelines but are very important in the management of Arizona's wildlife resources. Therefore, the department is also seeking input on the following:
· Increasing the cost of the Kaibab deer stamp fee to $15 (Article 1 Rules currently under review);
· Consider those species for which bonus points accrue (Article 1 Rules currently under review), and;
· Pioneer license special hunt season category (i.e. senior hunts) (Article 3 Rules currently being rewritten).
The “Guidelines and Recommendations” document is available on the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Web site at azgfd.com. Copies are also being distributed through direct mailings to interested individuals.
The department is accepting comments in any of the following ways: 1) written comments may be mailed to Tice Supplee, Game Branch Chief, Arizona Game and Fish Department, 2221 W. Greenway Road, Phoenix, Arizona, 85023; 2) they may be faxed to the attention of Tice Supplee at 602-789-3929; or 3) they can be e-mailed to azgamebranch@gf.state.az.us. Comments will be accepted until March 1, 2003. Those public comments are given to all six regions to consider when preparing the final hunt recommendations for the commission’s April 12 meeting in Phoenix.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department is conducting public meetings after the New Year on those guidelines at the following times and locations:
· Fredonia – 7-9 p.m. Jan .14, North Kaibab Ranger District Office on Highway 89A.
· Flagstaff – 7-9 p.m. Jan. 15, Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Flagstaff Regional Office, 3500 S. Lake Mary Road
· Prescott – 7-9 p.m. Jan. 21, Yavapai County Board of Supervisors Room, 1015 Fair St.
· Kingman – 7-9 p.m. Jan. 22, Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Kingman Regional Office, 5325 N. Stockton Hill Road.
· Yuma – 7-9 p.m. Jan. 23, Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Yuma Regional Office, 9140 East 28th St.
· Pinetop – 7-9 p.m. Jan. 28, Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Pinetop Regional Office, 2878 E. White Mountain Blvd.
· Payson – 7-9 p.m. Jan. 29, Payson Police Department conference room, 303 N. Beeline Highway
· Mesa – 7-9 p.m. Jan. 20, Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Mesa Regional Office, 7200 East University.
· Tucson – 7-9 p.m. Feb. 3, Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Tucson Regional Office, 555 N. Greasewood.
· Sierra Vista – 7-9 p.m., Feb. 4, Sierra Vista Police Department, 911 North Coronado Drive
· Safford – 7-9 p.m. Feb. 5, Phelps Dodge Meeting Room, 808 7th Ave.
The following are examples of the various recommendations and guidelines:
· Allocating 5 percent of the total elk permits for juniors-only hunts.
· Rotating early elk opportunities this year in the following way: early general bull in Hunt Units 4A, 7, 23S, and 27; muzzleloader bull in Units 1, 3A/3C, 5A, and 22S; and archery bull in Unit 21.
· Removing the second late bull elk hunt in Unit 10.
· Establishing a CHAMP Season in Unit 3B for antlerless elk;
· Allocating two-percent of the general deer permits for juniors-only.
· Changing the January archery deer hunt from “any deer” to “any antlered deer” in Hunt Units 28, 30B, 32, 33, 34A, 34B, 35A, 36A, 36B, 36C, 39, 40A, 41, 42, 43A, 43B, 44A, and 44B.
· Considering a possible antlerless deer hunt in Unit 12AW.
· Removing the December and January archery antlered deer season in Unit 27.
· Changing the general, juniors-only and muzzleloader pronghorn hunts from four-day to six-day hunts, except in Units 15A and 15B, 19B, and 30A.
Turkey
· Offering juniors-only hunting opportunities at levels comparable to previous years with season dates coinciding with the general fall and spring seasons.
· Closing the fall season in Unit 7.
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FLAGSTAFF - The Arizona Game and Fish Department is offering up to a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the poaching of two elk in a portion of Unit 7M southwest of Flagstaff on Tuesday Dec. 3.
Arizona Game and Fish Department Officials say the elk were taken in Hunt Unit 7M along USFS road 231, also known as the Woody Mountain Road, near Woody Mountain and adjacent to Hunt Unit 6B. The location is approximately one mile east of Rogers Lake and two miles west of the Flagstaff Arboretum.
An antlerless elk hunt was taking place nearby in Unit 6B at the time the poaching occurred. There were no hunts going on in Unit 7M. Evidence found at the scene indicates that two elk were taken. A spike bull was found in the field and evidence found nearby indicates a cow elk was the other animal poached. At least two vehicles have been placed at the scene.
Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to call the Arizona Game and Fish Department's Operation Game Thief Hotline at 1-800-352-0700.
Media Contact: Shelly Shepherd: (928) 774-5045 ext. 201, Fax: 928-779-1825
Sonoran Pronghorn Numbers Down
The Arizona Game and Fish Department, in coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, recently completed a range-wide survey of endangered Sonoran pronghorn in the United States. The results show an estimated 21 to 33 animals, which is a substantial decline from previous surveys.
The aerial survey took place from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4. Almost 2,000 square miles in southwest Arizona were surveyed including parts of the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Barry M. Goldwater Range, and some Bureau of Land Management lands.
The department conducts the survey every two years. The December 2000 survey yielded a population estimate of 99 while the December 1998 survey showed 142 animals. However, in 2002 the entire range of Sonoran pronghorn, like most of Arizona, experienced a devastating drought.
Virtually no rain fell for more than 13 months over much of the range. The result was extremely poor forage conditions for pronghorn. While eight years of continuous pronghorn monitoring has shown that dry conditions often result in low fawn recruitment, this was the first year adult animals have died in large numbers due to drought.
From the first of June to mid-August this year, 80 percent of the radio collared sample of pronghorn died from drought-related causes. Recent rainfall throughout pronghorn range has provided substantial though temporary relief for the remaining animals.
Federal agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Department of Defense and Bureau of Land Management, along with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, are taking immediate actions to provide water and high quality forage.
Data suggest drought-induced nutrient-and-moisture-poor forage has been a primary factor in the decline of Sonoran pronghorn. “We are digging wells and installing a sprinkler system to grow forage this winter in habitats used by pronghorn,” says Dale Hall, director of the US Fish and Wildlife’s Southwest Region. “Winter moisture is critical for growing the lush forage that nursing mothers will feed on in the spring when their fawns are born.”
Background
Pronghorn are unique to North America. Sonoran pronghorn were listed as an endangered species in 1967. The listed pronghorn currently include three sub-populations of Sonoran pronghorn: two in Sonora, Mexico, and one in Arizona. All three sub-populations contend with roads, fences, canals, and other barriers to movement. Border fencing and highways have divided the United States’ sub-population from the sub-population on Mexico’s El Pinacate Biosphere Reserve.
Further south, the largest sub-population is isolated from the El Pinacate sub-population by Mexico’s Highway 8. In December 2000, the population of Sonoran pronghorn in Mexico was estimated at approximately 350 animals. Biologists from the United States and Mexico are planning another aerial survey of the Mexican populations to get more current estimates later this month.
Media Contacts: Elizabeth Slown, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, (505) 248-6909.
FLAGSTAFF – The Arizona Game and Fish Department and the Coconino National Forest are jointly sponsoring a walking workshop in the field on Dec. 15, addressing the relationship between mountain lions, deer and habitat on Mount Elden.
The workshop goal is to raise awareness about mountain lions, how to coexist with lions and why they are found on Mount Elden.
"The habitat around Mount Elden is valuable deer winter range. The presence of deer attracts mountain lions into the area," says John Goodwin, Arizona Game and Fish Department’s regional game specialist. "Hikers may encounter mountain lions almost anywhere on Mt. Elden."
The workshop will give citizens an opportunity to learn about mountain lions and to ask questions.
Arizona Game and Fish Department and Forest Service specialists are accompanying workshop participants on a hike along a portion of the Fat Man's Loop trail near Peaks Ranger Station. The guided workshop hikes depart from the Mount Elden/Fat Man's Loop trailhead at 11:15 a.m., 12:45 p.m., and 2:15 p.m. Each hike lasts approximately one hour and fifteen minutes.
Each hiking group is making four or five stops on the trail to exchange information and answer questions. Participants should dress warmly and appropriately for a short hike. You might want to bring snacks, water and binoculars.
Arizona Wildlife Views Producers Win 6 Awards
Television producers for the Arizona Game and Fish Department won six awards from the 2002 Media Communications Association – International during its recent banquet in Tempe.
David de Medicis won an award of excellence for “I Got One,” a story about the department’s fifth annual Challenged Kids Fishing Clinic at Tempe Town Lake. This segment also won a special achievement award for audio. De Medicis was also honored with an award of merit for “The Wildlife Center,” a story about the department’s Wildlife Center at Adobe Mountain.
Gary Schafer won an award of merit and special achievement in videography for “100 Years of Conservation,” which also received critical acclaim from the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.
Schafer and Chuck Emmert share an award of merit for a public service announcement titled “2002 Heritage Promos.”
You can watch these stories and other Arizona Wildlife Views segments on ESPN 2 in the Phoenix area each Saturday morning at 8:30, from Jan. 11 through June 14. The department’s Arizona Wildlife Views TV also airs on PBS and other stations across Arizona. For more information on the television series: azgfd.com.
Holiday Gift Ideas For Outdoor Enthusiasts
Ever get the craving for antelope stroganoff? Or want to whip up a batch of sweet and sour javelina? Maybe a nice rack of roast rabbit is more to your fancy?
If so, there is a perfect cookbook for you, “Almost All Things Edible,” which is a collection of recipes from the Arizona Game and Fish Department employees.
Actually, this cookbook covers more than just recipes for wild game, although those certainly provide the seasoning for this unique collection. You might want to try “Sour Cream Pumpkin Coffee Cake” or possibly the “Busy Woman’s Dream.” There are even tips for the “care and handling” of, well, everything from game birds to buffalo.
This interesting collection of recipes is available for $7 at the seven Arizona Game and Fish Department offices. While you are there, consider some of these other holiday gift ideas for the outdoors person in your life (or for yourself).
ü Arizona Fishin’ Holes (revised 2000 edition), $6. This popular guide to fishing waters lists all the public lakes of Arizona, their facilities, types of fish, any restrictions, and even tells how to get there. This is a must for all anglers.
ü Arizona’s Wildlife Water Maps, $35. Ever get drawn for deer, elk or javelina in an area you don’t know very well? Just imagine how helpful it will be to know all the wildlife waters in that area. This is THE publication that tells you.
ü Maps for Game Management Units 6A, 30B, and 30A, $5 each. If you have tags in any of these units, or hunt them for small game, enough said.
There are also FREE items you may want that can make great gifts or even stocking stuffers. For instance, department offices have a free video on catching and preparing crayfish. There is even a free video on how homeowners can cope and co-exist with urban wildlife. In addition, Arizona Game and Fish Department offices have a wide range of informational items on wildlife, off-highway vehicle programs and boating safety.