krp

True and I'll be watching the progress of this bill. The 70% of people who are neither anti or actively for hunting, are the potential hunters of tomorrow, and should be targeted for positive exposure to wildlife management by hunting campaigns. Our issues are multifaceted, and hunter decline therefore retention is a bigger part of our conservation/critter org support/G&F support/ballot box support/anti hunter fight... We have to build the base back up or no amount of money from whatever source will buy folks positions. Critter orgs complain few will help them, they can't get volunteers, they can't grow and it's others fault, they need money if they can't get people, money from the people that won't help them. They aren't attractive to people the same way a complaining, blaming, demanding, self absorbed person is. No one owes them anything and there's no deserve in this life. Work hard, be attractive to others and ride out the inevitable hard times with fortitude. The antis will definitely sue the tag money fund, they will want equal access to public funds to educate the public on their version of conserving and protecting wildlife. Kent

Read that last week, a buddy from Virginia shares links on national conservation issues. Thought some context in the article was topical to this local issue, but nobody seems to want to explore current avenues available. Folks want to invent something new, different, to put their name on. Anyway, the article is about hunter retention and the PR funds. The new language will definitely clear up some gray area, but even now some of the funds should be able to be used in a campaign of public awareness to educate 'potential' new hunters. P-R also requires USFWS to allocate at least $8 million a year for enhanced hunter education programs and public shooting ranges. Yet the segment of P-R allocations dedicated to sustaining the shooting sports is a topic of growing debate, particularly as the number hunters decline. Kent

So far without the G&F weighing in publicly or at the meetings, it's all in limbo. Last time they didn't support increased tag auctioning because it was a legislative bill that took tags from them and gave them to an outside group along with the funds generated to that group to use. This time it's to sell tags and return the money to G&F, they may be for this. But we need to hear that from them. We need specifics not generalities on why this education fund is necessary and how it could legally be implemented. Only part of the fund that could be modeled after the HPC is the selling of tags and returning all monies to the G&F. The actual application of these funds cannot follow the HPC model as required by legislature for use per species, the local committee process, the process of application per project by anyone. HPC stands for Habitat Partnership Committee, it's the application of funds in partnership development and communication between private, state, and federal entities. This will have to be a new type of fund, selling of tags would still be under the 'per species' legislation requirement. We need to hear specifically how G&F will utilize these funds, with real examples on how they can educate the nonhunting public and do it legally within law. A tag sell fund would be the least effective source and almost unusable as intended, under current legislation. Kent

Wasn't this new group, was G&F. Kent

Videos were made 3 years ago by ad agency. Which proves G&F has resources to outreach and educate, again. The conserve and protect angle may or may not be coincidence. Kent

Videos were made 3 years ago by ad agency. Which proves G&F has resources to outreach and educate, again. The conserve and protect angle may or may not be coincidence. Kent

Needs a password... Things are weird here now. Kent

Unless there is a G&F rep there to state their position and hear from the constituents, no need to legitimize the meeting or movement. Kent

All G&F has to do is create an image of a lion with a fawn/sheep kid by the neck and the mother standing a distance away in obvious distress... an image of a bear with an elk fawn... and an image of a coyote with fluffy in it's mouth, caught in headlights with both their eyes reflecting the light and the fear from fluffy. With the message of the importance of controlling predator numbers vs an overabundance of prey devastation. A managed balance of super predator and healthy prey herds. Put up bill boards on the freeway. Kent

The tactic of the proponents of the tag sale are using the same one from 2012... disregard the real works of the G&F and the average sportsman, try to create a wedge between them, when in reality we are the majority partners. As a stakeholder in the G&F and supporter with my money I refuse to fall for this BS same as last time. Kent

I skimmed through the annual reports of 2011/2012... 2012/2013... 2015/2016 and there is a bunch of info highlighting the azgf accomplishments and fiscal report at the end. It seems a 'folks' have the view that g&f is broke and unable to promote positive public relations... untrue. They spend plenty of money and have a well established media/instructional dept. The average sportsman fund 90-95% of wildlife conservation. Somehow G&F and sportsmen are being depicted as bystanders 'conserve and protect' wildlife issues. G&F doesn't need tags raffled they need to put their award winning media group on the issue. Nothing can move fast in a .gov agency, even this tag program would take a year or two to have money in the bank and possibly not pass legislative law. Now is the time for communication with G&F on where they can create new educational messages and get the ball rolloing though slowly on that front. This tag sale is a red herring off the hsus issue that G&F can't address with any funding. Kent

Calendar Year Licenses and Stamps Sold 2015 Resident General Fish.......................................................................... 148,086 Nonresident General Fish ....................................................................... 17,924 Resident General Hunt........................................................................... 53,985 Nonresident General Hunt*.............................................................................. - Resident Combo Hunt/Fish.................................................................. 102,754 Nonresident Combo Hunt/Fish .............................................................. 25,688 Youth High Achievement Scout .................................................................. 133 Youth DLR ............................................................................................. 46,440 Resident Youth Combo Hunt/Fish.......................................................... 20,450 Nonresident Youth Combo Hunt/Fish....................................................... 3,050 Resident Migratory Bird Stamp.............................................................. 13,407 Nonresident Migratory Bird Stamp .......................................................... 3,789 Resident Short-term Combo.................................................................. 17,406 Nonresident Short-term Combo............................................................. 28,641 Migratory Bird DLR................................................................................ 36,768 Community Fishing DLR.......................................................................... 4,649 Resident Community Fishing.................................................................... 1,104 Nonresident Community Fishing................................................................. 507 Totals ...................................................................................................524,781 Calendar Year License, Tag and Stamp Sales 2015 Fishing ............................................................................................$6,473,262 Hunting .............................................................................................2,009,377 Hunt/Fish Combo ..............................................................................9,968,842 Youth ...................................................................................................350,705 Community Fishing...............................................................................150,268 Migratory Bird Stamps .........................................................................269,820 Short-terms.......................................................................................... 902,187 Permit Tags ...................................................................................... 7,789,255 Nonresident Permit Tags .................................................................. 2,037,403 Application Fee Revenue .................................................................. 4,363,926 Total License, Tag, Stamp & Application Fee Revenue ............. 34,315,045 Dealer Commissions.......................................................................... (547,544) Total less Dealer Commissions......................................................$33,767,501

Every year there is a surplus on the books of millions. Now I understand that money is probably spent and it's fiscal accounting, I don't to question discretionary spending because that's what it takes to run large organizations. But I don't see the need to sell tags to raise 'educational' chickenfeed compared to what is already in the bank. Fiscal Year Revenues by Fund 2015–16 Game and Fish Fund .....................................................................$34,754,774 Watercraft Licensing Fund................................................................. 4,544,161 Game, Nongame Fund..........................................................................154,968 Federal Assistance (Includes Matching Funds)................................ 48,214,917 Heritage Fund.................................................................................. 10,163,039 Off-Highway Vehicle Fund .................................................................1,792,525 Capital Improvement/Conservation Dev Funds..................................2,496,220 Wildlife Conservation Fund................................................................6,533,665 Indirect Cost Fund .............................................................................4,064,945 Other Funds (See Detail Below)......................................................... 3,950,741 Total Revenue All Sources ...........................................................$116,669,955 Other Funds Detail 2015–16 Federal Grants...............................................................................$705 Wildlife Conservation Recovery Fund................................................... 0 GF Land & Water Conservation/Recreation Dev...............................259 Wildlife Theft Prevention Fund...................................................171,518 Wildlife Endowment Fund ......................................................... 195,166 Credit Card Clearing Fund.......................................................(235,784) Trust/Donation Fund..............................................................3,588,629 Firearms Safety and Ranges Fund..............................................31,600 W/L Habitat and Restoration Fund ....................................................... 3 Game & Fish Nevada Col Stamp .................................................24,559 Game & Fish California/Col Stamp................................................... 116 Game & Fish Big Game Permit.........................................................466 Game & Fish Kaibab Coop ...............................................................930 Publications Revolving Fund ..................................................... 172,574 Total Other Funds ................................................................$3,950,741 Fiscal Year Expenditures by Fund 2015–16 Game and Fish Fund .....................................................................$32,012,784 Watercraft Licensing Fund.................................................................3,083,556 Game, Nongame Fund.......................................................................... 113,210 Federal Assistance (Includes Matching Funds)................................44,945,024 Heritage Fund.....................................................................................7,992,121 Off-Highway Vehicle Fund .................................................................1,969,994 Capital Improvement/Conservation Dev Funds..................................2,696,715 Wildlife Conservation Fund................................................................ 6,361,186 Indirect Cost Fund .............................................................................4,952,902 Other Funds (See Detail Below).........................................................4,373,297 Total Expenditures All Sources ....................................................$108,500,789

“Arizona Wildlife Views” honored with 7 regional Emmy Awards The producers of “Arizona Wildlife Views,” the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s television show, took home seven regional Emmy Awards in four different categories from the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) on Oct. 8. Award categories included Program Feature / Segment / Special, Environment – Program Special, Director (nonlive), and Video Journalist. Award recipients included two Arizona Wildlife Views shows and the films “A Triumph for Pronghorn Antelope,” and “Bats and Burned Forests. “Arizona Wildlife Views” is a half-hour original series produced by the Information Branch of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. The show airs on local PBS stations, city cable channels across the state and YouTube.

AZGFD offers first-ever wildlife and outdoor recreation summer camp Parents of children 8-14 years of age had a new option this summer thanks to the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s first-ever wildlife and outdoor recreation summer camp. Camps were held for two consecutive weeks in June at the department’s Hirsch Conservation Area located on the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in north Phoenix. They included hands-on science experiments, fishing, kayaking, archery, air rifles, wildlife encounters and more. Both camp sessions filled their 100-person capacity well ahead of the registration deadline. The camp is sponsored by the department and the non-profit Wildlife for Tomorrow.

AZGFD wins multiple communications awards The Arizona Game and Fish Department continues to be recognized for its work in conservation communications. The Department’s video production staff took home eight Emmy Awards at the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) in October. They also won five “Excellence in Craft” awards from the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) in the “Television/Video/Webcast” contest in May. AZGFD’s publications staff and video production staff received 11 awards in the 20th Annual Communicator Awards competition in April. The Information Branch staff won eight awards (one second place and seven third place) at the Association for Conservation Information (ACI) annual conference in Nebraska in July.

Outdoor Expo and Youth Day draw record 48,000 More than 48,000 people visited the 2014 Arizona Game and Fish Department Outdoor Expo and Friday Youth Day, setting a combined attendance record for the three-day event at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix. The March 29-30 weekend Expo drew 41,000 people, including Sunday’s recordbreaking attendance of 20,700. Youth Day was held on Friday, March 28, and hosted 7,000 preregistered school children, teachers and chaperones. The Expo features hands-on activities and exhibits on fishing, hunting, shooting sports, archery, camping, OHV/ boating recreation, and wildlife viewing. There were more than 170 exhibitors, including sportsmen’s groups, conservation organizations, shooting clubs, government agencies, and commercial vendors of outdoor products and services.

Outdoor recreation recruitment and retention events continue to grow Arizona Game and Fish continued its participation with an alliance of sportsmen’s and conservation organizations to introduce people to hunting, fishing, target shooting, and other outdoor recreation. The Hunting and Angling Heritage Work group ran 45 recruitment and retention events from September 2011 through April 2012. These included small and big game hunt camps, target shooting events, trapping camps, and outdoor skills events. About 30 organizations were involved with the events, which drew more than 1,900 attendees (780 of the attendees were considered “primary participants”). Of those, 27 percent were new to hunting, and 26 percent came from non-hunting or non-fishing families. About 95 percent of the attendees said they planned to hunt in the future. The program was supported by a $75,000 grant program provided by Arizona Game and Fish. These camps are made possible thanks to the many participating conservation organizations dedicated to passing on the passion for Arizona’s wildlife and the hunting and fishing tradition to the next generation. Without their dedication, time and resources, these camps would not be possible. A list of upcoming events can be found at www. azgfd.gov/outdoorskills.

Game and fish do go into schools. programs touch many Arizonans The Arizona Game and Fish Department continued its wide range of educational outreach to the public over the past year. In the area of wildlife education, Department staff and volunteers provided live wildlife education and hands on learning experiences to over 250,000 members of the public at events, workshops, expos and fairs throughout the state in fiscal year 2011-12. In the area of formal education, approximately 9,750 4th grade students in 336 classrooms across Arizona received a live wildlife education program correlated to Arizona’s Academic Content standards. About 2,000 educators received training on and used Focus Wild Arizona’s educational resources, potentially providing thousands of K-12 students with wildlife education. About 2,070 K-12 students participated in hands on wildlife education activities throughout the state through summer camps, classroom programs, home school activities and field-based research events. In the area of hunter education, the volunteer instructors participating in the Department’s Hunter Education Program conducted 193 courses, and 3,892 students successfully completed the courses and received their hunter education certification. The Department’s sport fish education program conducted 178 fishing clinics or related programs, reaching more than 18,800 participants. In the area of boating education, the Department held 43 classroom courses with 436 students receiving certification. An additional 477 students completed the online boating education course, and our partners, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, taught 62 students. In the area of off-highway vehicle (OHV) education, 103 students completed the online Internet-based course.

Yes, it's time to just say no, once the attacks and finger pointing and blaming of the average sportsman comes in it's time to shut down the conversation. Kent

You couldn't pay me to listen to any words Obama says. Kent

My facebook feed was alight with the possible cat ban, I have friends and extended family that don't hunt but like my hunting posts. They saw some of my feed I'm sure and hopefully came away positive. If you were a bunny hugger their feed was probably the opposite. Times my feed by all the other hunter's feeds, that's a huge voice for us. I think there is a little bit of the sky is falling and the orgs think they are doing it all. But I'm trying not to just dismiss the education issue though I really have doubts, I'm trying to work in the context that it may work. The reality is that the average sportsman as a whole consist of hundreds of thousands of folks, they do more hunter retention through their kids and grandkids than the orgs can ever hope to do, they put more money into G&F for wildlife through licenses and tags than all the orgs combined to ever hope to do. They are the reason we have hunting. Complaining about us is a losing strategy, No better way to drive folks away than complain about them. Kent

The Hunter Education Program provides grant funds to the states and insular areas fish and wildlife agencies for projects to provide instruction in firearm operations and safety, wildlife management, nature conservation, ethics, game laws, outdoor survival and wilderness first aid. projects to provide instruction... wildlife management, nature conservation, ethics, game laws. I read a couple of different legal opinions earlier in the week and one said hunters/prospective hunters, which includes all public. ​So a public campaign to reach hunters and prospective hunters might be under the PR umbrella narrowly defined. Kent

OK, but so you can see where I'm coming from, you wrote starting with addressing me... 'We aren't talking about hunter education here.' When I put effort in linking and commenting on possible solutions. ​Funding for political fights is a separate subject with separate funding possibilities, nothing to do with tags or PR. The combining of these issues just confuse folks. Kent

Raffling/auctioning tags can only go to education, so that's what my post Red challenged me on was about. I don't care what other folks want to bring into this thread but if someone wishes to derail my commentary with deflection I will auto correct. Kent