Unit 10 Wind Farm

[Hunterdan]

Reading on AZCentral today (would post link but dont know how) I see SRP is finilizing a deal with the Navajo Nation to build an 85 Megawatt Wind Farm on the Boquillas Ranch in unit 10. This question is to you Antelope experts, How will this impact the antelope hunting in the future in unit 10 more importantly the Boquillas ranch?

[DesertBull]

They will almost certainly shut down hunting on the ranch, so it won't matter. Maybe they let archery hunts continue there, but no way are they going to let people with guns on there with billions of $$$$ worth of their crap just waiting to be shot up by yahoos.

[gotcoues]

I just received a letter in the mail saying 64,000 acres in Unit 10 will be shut down for the 2011 rifle seasons. Next year it will be open with the quarter mile rule in effect. Archery hunting will go on as normal this year. Closure is for the Perrin Ranch and is also due to construction of a "wind farm".

 

These things are the most god awful ugly use of the land I think I ever seen.

IMO

[Outdoor Writer]

Reading on AZCentral today (would post link but dont know how) I see SRP is finilizing a deal with the Navajo Nation to build an 85 Megawatt Wind Farm on the Boquillas Ranch in unit 10. This question is to you Antelope experts, How will this impact the antelope hunting in the future in unit 10 more importantly the Boquillas ranch?

 

 

Another:

 

Unit 10 hunting access on private ranch preserved during wind farm construction

For worker safety, new access agreement limits all hunting on ranch to archery-only

 

All hunters, including those firearm permit-tag holders that wish to hunt on the private lands on the Perrin Ranch within Game Management Unit 10 will be restricted to using archery-only equipment for all hunts for the 2011 season. This is for the safety of construction workers during the installation of a wind farm on the ranch, and in an effort to preserve the privilege to hunt these private lands.

 

“We are very happy that we were able to work cooperatively with the owners of the Perrin Ranch, and the renewable energy company to preserve the privilege to hunt on the ranch during the construction and new use of their lands,” said Ron Sieg, Flagstaff regional supervisor with Arizona Game and Fish Department. “Because of the safety concern for workers, restricting hunters to archery-only is a winning compromise compared to completely losing the privilege to hunt on these private lands.”

 

For those rifle tag holders and general hunters who do not want to hunt with a bow and arrow, the 64,000-acre ranch makes up a very small portion of the vast 770,000 acres in Game Management Unit 10. The rest of Unit 10 is open for the use of the appropriate legal weapon permitted for that hunt.

 

The rifle, firearm, muzzleloader hunts in Unit 10 during the fall 2011 season include:

 

Antelope, pronghorn – Sept. 2-11

Deer – Oct. 21-30

Elk, bull – Sept. 23-29

Elk, cow – Oct. 14-20

Elk, bull – Nov. 25-Dec. 1

Elk, cow – Dec 2-11

Coyote, prairie dog, small game, etc. – seasons vary

General hunters and those with rifle permit-tags can still use a firearm in Unit 10, just not on the Perrin Ranch. To be permitted to hunt on the ranch's private lands, sportsmen will need to keep their firearm in their vehicles and hunt with a bow and arrow.

 

“Given the many renewable energy projects coming to Arizona, we see this agreement as an accomplishment to maintain hunter access, albeit limited to archery, and a milestone for handing these multiple land use projects in the future,” added Sieg.

 

Early discussions with the ranch owner and the wind farm operator indicate that hunter access with the use of firearms will be allowed next season; however, there will remain a quarter-mile restrictions relative to any new and existing occupied structures on the ranch.

 

As more renewable energy projects come to Arizona's landscape, it is imperative that all parties: landowners, energy developers, and Game and Fish, come to the table early in the process to address everyone's interests and needs. In cases of development on private lands, hunting access is a privilege; however, loss of access, as was the case in another project, can be detrimental to wildlife management and to the public's enjoyment of their wildlife resources. The Department will work diligently to preserve access to wildlife recreation opportunities in the future.

 

Perrin Ranch

The Perrin Ranch is located north of Williams, Ariz., west of Highway 64, in the southeast corner of Game Management Unit 10. The southeast corner of the ranch starts near the intersection of Espee Road and Highway 64. The ranch consists of approximately 64,000 acres of the 770,000 acres of Unit 10.

 

About the wind farm

The wind farm will include 62 wind turbines, several buildings, and 35 miles of roads.The initial construction is underway. NextEra has a power agreement with APS to deliver power by the end of December 2011, therefore the construction is expected to be completed by the close of 2011.

 

About Game Management Unit 10

Unit 10 is a mix of flat to rolling grassland prairie and rolling to mountainous pinyon-juniper and ponderosa pine-Gambel oak habitat types. The Grand Canyon and Cataract Canyon form a truly spectacular northern and northeastern boundaries. At the unit's north end, elevations range from less than 2,000 feet along the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon National Park to more than 7,600' on the Three Sisters just northwest of Williams in the southeastern part of the unit. Elevations run from approximately 5,500' to 7,000' across most of the unit, which is well known for its trophy-class elk and pronghorn antelope.

[.270]

they're ugly and they don't work for $h!t either. waste of money. they get a buncha gov't subsidy for building them and they get some credits for having "green" (green and in BS) energy, they run a while, the bearings go out and then they sit there. and the owners spend all the subsidy money on something else like fancy offices. Lark.

[DesertBull]

And we have to raise the debt limit to pay for subsidies because if we cut spending we'll all die.

[scoutpylot]

I agree that the wind farms have a VERY questionable return on investment. What realy grips me is that I have invested money and 18 years of time waiting to get my unit 10 rifle tag.

 

While I have been waiting, more and more of 10 has been locked up by over zealus ranchers. A good part of the unit I can't use my ATV on. So instead of 45 mpg and very little wear and tear, I get to beat the truck down the roads and get 12mpg. The cherry on top of all of this is that the pot of gold at the end of my 18 year rainbow, is that part of the unit is not available to me if I am using a rifle. The Perrin Ranch gets a fat check for wind farm access, and I get told what I can do on even the checkerboard state land of his ranch!

 

Another neat tid bit is that I did not even get the information letter from AZGFD regarding this change! Shouldn't a tag holder get an update regarding changes to the hunting rules? If I didn't have good freinds looking out for me, and a great forum like CW, I could have easliy landed myself in a violation situation.

 

Arizona Rocks!!!

[.270]

there is no return on investment. i doubt there is a wind farm in the U.S. that can truthfully show a profit outside of subsidies. and to cut the unit and restrict it to hunters, after the fact, is pure BS. but i kinda think that is what a guy needs to expect from all involved. Lark.

[Flash]

It's another loss to the average guy and gain to the private ranchers, specifically those in the general area of the latest restrictions. They have already limited or locked up so much checker boarded land and listening to them, won't stop limiting things in the hopes they will finally get landover tags. Really sucks!

[DesertBull]

End the Gov't subsidy for ethanol and wind farms and this crap goes away. I'm all for sustainable energy to replace or supplement oil, but they have to be realistic, not pipe dreams.

[Hunterdan]

After i posted I got the email also from AZGFD about the Perrin Ranch that outdoor Writer and Gotcoues refered too. With alot of the Antelope Country being Prime country for Wind farms and Utility companys and business throwing Dollars in front of the Ranchers this could be one more nail in the coffin as we slowly watch our Antelope Country disappear

[cw4192]

FIVE WORDS: OBAMA, GORE, LEFTIES, TREEHUGGERS AND GOV'T

[200"mulie]

yup dam govt. ... you know that 80% of post offices dont make a profit.

[scoutpylot]

Anyone up for mounting a campaign to take away the Perrin Ranch's use of state trust land? If this is the way we (the owners of the state trust land) are going to be treated, perhaps we should ask this guest (Perrin Ranch/ McCalley family) to make their fortunes on their own land and stop borrowing our land! This respect for the landowner thing that AZGFD keeps harping on goes BOTH WAYS!

 

If they were truly interested in protecting the wind farm area, their solution is simple. The wind farm is being built on private land. The owner of the private land can legally prevent hunting and trespassing by properly posting the boundaries of the PRIVATE land. So in this case take ONE section of land (not 77,000 acres) and spend some of the millions you have from the wind farm contract to properly post it. If the only way the wind farm contractor is going to feel safe is to keep people in 77,000 acres from shooting a gun, I dare say, it's time to find a more coureageous contractor.

 

Anyone else gut sick of their libertys being STOLEN?

[Santana Outdoors]

I don't like this either but,

 

I know the owner of this property personally and Mike is a great guy. How many people do you know in ARIZONA that has let you hunt on their property? I may be wrong but most of us don't own much, maybe a lot or an acre. This property was passed down from generations of blood, sweat and tears.

 

Before you pass judgment on someone, put yourself in their shoes. How are you going to pay for the taxes? Up keep and maintenance, the elk do more damage to private property than it is worth to an owner, antelope not much. We need to thank God he still owns it because most of the people who want to buy it will to turn it into more sub-divisions, then there is no chance for wild game to live on it.

 

We do need electricity and we do need to start trying to figure out how to make it cleaner, oops sorry "Greaner". Is what needs to happen is to be charged more for it and not the government supplementing it! Most Americans want more then they can afford. I'm not talking about a majority of the Coues fans because most of you are great responsible common sense people.

 

If I owned it I would have sold it and went hunting the rest of my life!