Recenetly Arizona game and fish has been giving the reason for increasing the price of the hunting and tag fees due to increase cost of gas and other operation expensives. However I would like to point out a few thing that i think are also behind the raise in our fees to hunt.
I have learned from talking with the rangemaster at the Ben Avery shooting range that we pay these rangemaster more then we pay our wildlife biologist. Starting pay for a rangemaster is about $35k a year. This is for both full time and part time employees at the range. While a Wildlife manager starts at $30k a year. A willdlife spec earn also $30k a year starting and a wildlife tech is luckly to make $27k a year.
Now the sad thing is that the Rangemaster postion requires no education past High school. While the Wildlife spec and tech postion often require a 4 year degree with a focus on wildlife, and the Wildlife manager job requires not only a degree in the biological science but most also get AZPost cert. Yet if you look on the state job listing website you find that the AZGFD is trying to fill Wildlife spec III postions with people at the Spec I postion so they can pay the less monies. So why are they willing to spend so much more of you monies on someone working at a range then someone working to improve the habitat for the wildlife.
Now they cant say they dont need more biologist and such, cause I have talk with people that have been employeed by the department as a summer intern for 2 years, as their was such a need for a extra hand at the regional office and even at the phoenix HQ that these part time summer jobs are being turned into part time year round jobs.
While at the same time people at AZGFD are talking about spending money to build and operate a paintball fields at the ben avery shooting range. Yet they cant even manage to put into place a 3D archery range,Due to the cost of operation the range, while Usery pass park manages to operate a 3D archery range before and during the archery season. So now their going to build a paintball field, which means their going to have to hire more of their range master which means another employee making $32k a year, while our biologist are luckly to to less then that, and have to fight for every dollar they get and count on the sportsmen and women to help donate time and effort to projects.
Also with the twelve employees of which 4 are part times the total cost of wages for the range is roughly $340,000 just for the main range, this doesnt inculde all those other range master that work at the clay target center and such. Which means based on the 340k in just wages that the range needs over 64k people to show up and pay the $5 shooting fee, which means over 186 people a day for 365 days a year, With factoring in that their not open 7 days a week like the Rio saladio shooting range means that they have to pull in over 220 poeple a opening day to just break even on coving the payroll.
This doesnt cover cost of operation like fuel for thos trucks they drive around, Benefits for the rangemaster,and improvements to the range. So where is all this money coming for the improvments to the range like over the one million dollars being spent at the range for lighting, or the extra high rate they pay out for the roads to be repaved. Or the cost of building a Paintball field.
