Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
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The recently completed survey of the desert bighorn sheep population on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Kofa National Wildlife Refuge in Southwestern Arizona resulted in a population estimate of 428 sheep (95 percent confidence interval of 376 – 492). The 2012 survey estimate is up slightly from the 2010 survey estimate of 402 sheep, and is the highest estimate since the 2007 survey. The apparent increase in the population size is not statistically significant, however, and bio... Full story
After months of rehabilitation and preparation, Arizona’s only satellite-tracked bald eagle soared free yesterday when it was released at Roosevelt Lake by Arizona Game and Fish Department biologists and rehabilitation specialists from Liberty Wildlife Rehabilitation of Scottsdale. The 4-year-old male was found at Canyon Lake with a broken wing that required medical treatment. Once the wing healed, rehabilitators at Liberty Wildlife worked with the bird to rebuild muscle strength for flying. Hat... Full story
Recently, the Arizona Game and Fish Department temporarily closed to all public entry the Raymond Wildlife Area, located 30 miles east of Flagstaff. The closure will be in effect until March 7. Game and Fish decided on the closure to assist wildlife managers with efforts to maintain the local bison herd on the department-owned property. The closure is necessary to protect ranching operations and property of nearby neighbors, as well as the safety of the public visiting the wildlife area. The... Full story
Make plans to honor your fellow wildlife conservationists by reserving your spot at the 21st annual Arizona Game and Fish Commission Awards Banquet. The banquet will be held on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013, at the Carefree Resort & Conference Center, 37220 Mule Train Road, Carefree, AZ 85377. The event honors recipients of the 2012 Commission Awards selected during the commission’s Sept. 7-8, 2012 meeting (see list of recipients, below). The awards recognize Arizonans who have contributed s... Full story
Enjoy a wildlife-viewing experience and help wildlife conservation at the same time by volunteering to help out in one or more annual Arizona Christmas Bird Counts this month. The count program is a bird population survey that has been coordinated annually by the National Audubon Society since 1900. For each count, volunteers (including those from the Arizona Game and Fish Department) will take to the field for one calendar day between Dec. 14, 2012, and Jan. 5, 2013, to record every bird... Full story
The November–December issue of Arizona Wildlife Views magazine has a full-size 2013 wall calendar featuring winning photos from this year’s wildlife photo contest. Bonus feature: 38 honorable-mention images are also included. This issue is still available to new subscribers. Sign up now to get our sale price: seven issues for just $7. The regular price is six issues for $8.50. You can’t buy Arizona Wildlife Views on newsstands, so take advantage of the holiday sale and join our family of subsc... Full story
Each year as part of its highly successful program to manage and conserve bald eagles in the state, the Arizona Game and Fish Department asks outdoor recreationists to help protect important eagle breeding areas by honoring the closure of 21 areas across the state. Various land and wildlife management agencies close the breeding areas for part of the year, beginning in December, to protect the state’s 55 breeding pairs of bald eagles. Some of the closure areas are located near popular r... Full story
The Arizona Game and Fish Commission is making the public aware of a looming threat to crucial conservation funding by the federal government’s proposed sequestration of conservation trust funds, an action that could reduce Arizona’s wildlife conservation funding by several million dollars. “The Greatest Story Never Told” is the mantra extolled by the nation’s wildlife conservation community in the 75th anniversary of the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR) programs being celebrate... Full story
A snowy egret with enormous white wings outspread, balances precariously on a tiny yellow branch. The image, captured by Bryan Keil of Scottsdale, Ariz., is the grand prize winner in this year’s wildlife photo contest. The contest, sponsored by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, attracted more than 400 entries from across Arizona and beyond. Winning images have been published in a full-size 2013 wildlife calendar in the November–December issue of Arizona Wildlife Views magazine. The oth... Full story
The Arizona Game and Fish Department has released the draft of its new strategic plan, Wildlife 20/20, and wants your comments and input. Wildlife 20/20 provides broad strategic guidance for all department programs. It is intended to be a living document that conveys policy direction that the Arizona Game and Fish Commission has provided to the department to guide its work into the future. It will be complemented by additional plans designed to provide more specific direction, as needed. The...
TUCSON, Ariz. — The Arizona Game and Fish Department is currently analyzing a recent trail camera photo of either a jaguar or an ocelot sighted southeast of Tucson. The photo includes only the tail and a small portion of a hind quarter of the animal, making positive identification more difficult. Game and Fish is now consulting with outside experts about the photo, taken Sept. 23 and submitted by a sportsman, to better identify the species. Reported By Hunters Four of the last five confirmed jag...
The Arizona Game and Fish Department has a bargain offer for anyone interested in learning more about Arizona’s wildlife, in fishing, and eating wild-caught foods. From Sept. 17–21, the department will be selling four of its most popular books (that normally retail from $5 to $8) for just $1 each (while supplies last) at the Game and Fish offices in Phoenix, Mesa, Tucson, Flagstaff, Pinetop, Kingman and Yuma; available are the following: • Arizona Wildlife Views Special Edition — This 155-pag... Full story
Outdoor Hall Of Fame Inductees To Be Honored Honor fellow wildlife conservationists by attending the Outdoor Hall of Fame Banquet. Make plans now to attend the 15th annual Arizona Outdoor Hall of Fame Banquet on Saturday, Aug. 25, at the Chaparral Suites Scottsdale, 5001 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85250. This year’s inductees into the Outdoor Hall of Fame include John Toner, Dave LaMorte, Ed Shannahan, Wendell Swank, and the Arizona Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation. In a... Full story
Three 2012 Chicks Bring Total Condors To 77 Third wild-hatched California condor chick confirmed in Arizona-Utah population GRAND CANYON, Ariz. — A biologist from the Peregrine Fund was finally able to obtain visual confirmation of a wild-hatched California condor chick that had been suspected, but not seen, in a nest cave deep in Grand Canyon National Park. This confirmed sighting brings the total number of wild condor chicks produced by the Arizona-Utah flock this season to three. “Based on... Full story
Game And Fish To Host Annual Elk-Viewing Workshop FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Would you like to experience the sound of a bull elk bugling or see a cow elk keeping a watchful eye on her calf? The Arizona Game and Fish Department and Mormon Lake Lodge invite you to attend an elk-viewing workshop on Aug. 18. The workshop includes a presentation and a field trip to watch elk in their natural habitat near Mormon Lake. Mormon Lake is unique as it is one of only two natural lakes found in Arizona. During t... Full story
Arizona’s Schools, Universities Win Big From Lottery-Ticket Sales Application period for 2013 Arizona Game and Fish Heritage Fund grants now open. Whether you won or lost when you bought a lottery ticket last year, some of your money is going to benefit something you would approve of — helping Arizona’s schools and universities. That’s because the bulk of this year’s grants from the Arizona Game and Fish Department Heritage Fund are going to education and research. Heritage Fund money comes fro... Full story
The Arizona Game and Fish Department pledges to continue its proven protective management program for bald eagles even though the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently decided that the species in Arizona is not a distinct population segment and does not warrant listing as an endangered species. “The Service’s recent decision has no bearing on Arizona’s bald eagle management program that has been in place for more than 30 years and has led to a more than 600 percent increase in the state... Full story
New trail camera photos of an ocelot in the Huachuca Mountains are now being analyzed by the Arizona Game and Fish Department to determine if it is the same one sighted there twice in 2011. The photos — taken late April 26 and early April 27 — were provided to the department by a third party who wishes not to be identified. The ocelot’s spotting pattern is being compared to that of an ocelot photographed by Game and Fish officers in February 2011 and by a hunter’s trail camera in May 2011. T... Full story
As spring temperatures continue to warm in our state, the Arizona Game and Fish Department advises people who camp, recreate or live in bear habitat to be “bear aware,” as bears are coming out of their winter dens and becoming more active. Consecutive dry winters and intermittent seasonal rains, coupled with the impacts from last year’s large fires, suggest there may be more cases of bears visiting residential areas this year in some parts of the state. Bears in search of food are often attra... Full story
Editor’s Note: Eric Dennison is an aspiring freelance writer who lives in Hatfield, Pa., a small suburb just outside Philadelphia. Dennison is an outdoor enthusiast who loves to fish and chronicle his experiences in print. We at Western Outdoor Times/Arizona Boating & Watersports thank him for his insightful and moving recollections inspired by his visit to our state. Wander the worlds suspended between this one and the next long enough and you are bound to see ghosts. One second they are s... Full story
Arizona’s mild winter and exceptionally low rainfall have wildlife on the move, especially in urban areas that are on the fringe of natural habitat. Greenbelts, yards and golf courses are particularly attractive as they provide an easier meal and shelter areas. “Green areas bring in the small mammals like rabbits, which, in turn, attract coyotes and javelina when the desert is dry and lacks adequate food resources,” said Darren Julian, an urban wildlife specialist for the Arizona Game and Fish... Full story
There’s no denying the fact that some wildlife might appear to make for a nice pet, especially the youngsters one might believe can be domesticated. But, Arizona Game and Fish officials advise otherwise. “There’s no such thing,” said Zen Mocarski, public information officer for the Game and Fish Region 3 office in Kingman. “Yes, wild animals may sometimes appear comfortable around people and some have been taught tricks, but they are never domesticated.” Where Do You Draw The Line? In a recent... Full story
Did you know that your state taxes do not support the conservation of Arizona's wildlife, but your donations do? Taxpayers can help the state's wildlife at tax time by "making a mark" on their state income tax form. The Arizona Wildlife Fund is a voluntary program that allows Arizona taxpayers to make a donation to help imperiled and endangered wildlife, including majestic bald eagles, black-footed ferrets, California condors, Apache trout, Mexican wolves and desert tortoises, among other non-ga... Full story
For birdwatchers everywhere, the sharp weeep call of a Nutting's Flycatcher makes the heart skip a beat, especially for so-called "listers" who try to see as many of the world's 10,000 species as they can in one year. It's a passion popularized in the recent Hollywood movie The Big Year. News that a Nutting's was spotted early in 2012 near Lake Havasu City in the Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge has spread worldwide. Since then, flocks of birders descended upon this Colorado River... Full story
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Arizona Game and Fish Department and other partners in the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Project announced earlier today that the endangered Mexican wolf population count increased to a minimum of 58 wolves compared to last year’s count of 50. The increase is encouraging news for the multi-agency program, especially considering that the state’s largest wildfire, the Wallow, burned through three packs’ denning areas within weeks of pups being born. The w... Full story
