{"id":807,"date":"2018-07-03T06:15:27","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T13:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saquailforever.com\/?p=807"},"modified":"2024-01-09T11:15:03","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T18:15:03","slug":"07-02-18-presidents-corner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saquailforever.com\/dev\/07-02-18-presidents-corner\/","title":{"rendered":"07\/02\/18 President’s Corner"},"content":{"rendered":"
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2018 Youth Hunt Attendees<\/p><\/div>\n

Overview:<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n

-We received some rain in June which is better than normal.\u00a0 Some monsoon activity has been seen in far SE Arizona.<\/div>\n
-Fire conditions in AZ are very high which has kept areas of the Northern AZ National Forests closed, Coronado National Forest in Southern AZ remains open with stage 2 fire restrictions (nor fires or shooting).<\/div>\n
-It is time to get\/keep your dogs and yourself in condition for fall hunting.<\/div>\n
-Dove season opens in 60 days, a great opportunity to get the shotgun out and get some retrieves for your dogs.<\/div>\n
-U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff and Buenos Aires\u00a0National Wildlife Refuge [BANWR]\u00a0staff invited SAQF to attend their meeting.\u00a0We explained how our members were helping in trying to acclimate the masked bobwhite quail from being pen raised to surviving in the wild. John Goodwin [retired AZGFD] explained the recovery process in the 70s and 80s\u00a0 was successful; BANWR is trying to come up\u00a0with short and long range plans to get this iconic bird back to reproducing in the wild again.<\/div>\n
-The new board for the chapter took office 1 July<\/div>\n
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Covering A point in S.E.AZ.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A Brief Introduction of New Chapter Officers:<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
–Dave Struyk<\/b>, originally from Iowa and later Minnesota, is our new vice president. \u00a0He is a Navy veteran, retired, lives full time in Green Valley and claims he is an \u201cActive Adult\u201d living in Quail Creek. He denies being in the \u201cWitness Protection Program\u201d and says he was actively involved in Minnesota and throughout the Midwest with several hunting and sportsmen\u2019s organizations including: Pheasants Forever, Quail Unlimited, Ducks Unlimited and others. He too is an avid hunter and sometimes fisherman and looks forward to\u00a0 becoming in his own words: <\/i>\u201cbest friends with all of our dog owning members.\u201d<\/div>\n
–Steve Geerligs<\/b> is our new treasurer and banquet chair.\u00a0 Steve is originally from Michigan where he\u00a0grew up\u00a0deer\u00a0and upland bird hunting as well as fishing with his Grandfather.\u00a0 He studied Chemistry, Mathematics and Engineering at\u00a0Hope College and the\u00a0University of Michigan\u00a0and chose a career in Automotive Product Engineering.\u00a0 He went\u00a0to work\u00a0in Detroit, MI and California\u00a0in the Automotive and Aerospace Industries in various roles of Engineering Design, Analysis,\u00a0Quality\u00a0and Management.\u00a0 He is currently working for\u00a0a Consumer Products OEM in Tucson\u00a0and lives in Oro Valley along with his wife Diane and daughter, Sophia.\u00a0 He has hunted upland birds and waterfowl since he was a young lad but is new to the whole world of Desert Quail Hunting.\u00a0 He looks forward to learning more about this intriguing species and how to better support their habitat through meeting other fellow hunters and volunteering with Quail Forever.<\/div>\n
–Jim Littlejohn<\/b> is our new habitat chairman. \u00a0Jim is from Indiana where he owned a]small farm.\u00a0 He is retired, lives full time in Oro Valley and has previously been an officer in Arizona Back Country Hunters and Anglers and the Arizona Predator Club. \u00a0He is a lifelong hunter and runs two German Shorthair Pointers.<\/div>\n
–Brian Tackett<\/b> is our new chapter secretary. \u00a0He recently retired from the Navy, lives full time in Sierra Vista and has started work with the U.S. Post Office. He has previously been a member of the Ventura, CA Quail Forever Chapter, he is also a current member with Arizona Back Country Hunters and Anglers. \u00a0He is a lifelong outdoorsman and runs a German Shorthair and English Pointer.<\/div>\n
–Tony (Spike) Valentino<\/b> is our new Youth Chairman.\u00a0 Tony is from the Northeast\u00a0and is a retired Marine Aviator.\u00a0 He lives full time in Oro Valley and works for Raytheon.\u00a0 He has been an avid hunter most of his life.\u00a0 When Spike and I hunted together, my favorite dog Bailey often worked closer to Spike as he knew Spike was a better shot than I.\u00a0 He wants to ensure today\u2019s youth get the same opportunity to get outdoors that he did.<\/div>\n
–Howard (Howie) Swenson<\/b> is a new at large chapter officer.\u00a0 An at large officer is someone that has a special interest in giving back to our youth and habitat.\u00a0 Howie is semi retired concrete contractor, lives in Tucson, loves Arizona and is from Wisconsin.\u00a0 He served in the Air Force during the Vietnam war as a crew chief.\u00a0 He developed and chaired a sportsman\u2019s fundraiser in Wisconsin that continues to bring in over $25,000 a year.\u00a0 Howie has Pope & Young Bull and a Boone & Crocket Coues (thanks to Kurt Bahti) on the wall.\u00a0 He runs an English Pointer & French Britt.\u00a0 Some may remember his grandson from last year who won the English Pointer pup at our banquet.<\/div>\n
–Steve Hopkins<\/b> is rejoining the board as an at large officer after a two year break.\u00a0 Steve has worked tirelessly for the chapter since its inception.\u00a0 He has been instrumental in obtaining donations and equipment for the banquet and has done the majority of the food preparation and setup for our youth hunts.\u00a0 He is the quiet guy that makes everything happen.\u00a0 Steve lives in Southern AZ but is on the road quite a bit as a full time outfitter.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Chapter Officers That Left the Board:<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
–Tom Sullivan<\/b> has left the position of Habitat Chairman.\u00a0 Tom was singlehandedly instrumental in kickstarting the chapter habitat program completing the Ramsey Well Project and researching and starting our support of the borderlands projects.<\/div>\n
–Nick Besenick<\/b> has left the position of Youth Chairman.\u00a0 Nick is one of the original chapter members.\u00a0 His work has produced several successful youth hunts and youth demos over the last few years.\u00a0 Nick will continue to help Spike in his new role as they transition.\u00a0 Nick has 6 new pups that are going to keep him busy training.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The Rest of the Board:<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
–Dave Brown<\/b> and Linda Phister<\/b> remain on the board but in new roles as social media chairman and at large officer respectively.<\/div>\n
–Ron Walp<\/b> and myself remain in our current roles.<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n
Habitat:<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
-US Forest Service has completed the permits to allow Borderlands Restorations to start work on loose rock structures about 30 miles SE of Sonoita.\u00a0 Work has started and will run about 5 weeks.\u00a0 AZ G&F is also considering funds for this project and future funding will likely be worked in coordination with them.<\/div>\n
-Minor repairs were made to our guzzler at Ramsey Well.\u00a0 It was full of water with numerous quail tracks nearby.<\/div>\n
-A meeting was attended with Alter Valley Conservation Alliance, US F&W, AZ G&F and Pima County in early Jun to consider projects.<\/div>\n
-We also attended a separate meeting with AZ G&F and Pima County Park and Rec to consider new projects and come up with a systematic plan to perform preventive maintenance on well projects.<\/div>\n
-We spent a day last week working a reclaimed cotton field on King 98 Ranch removing Russian Thistle with Pima County Parks and Rec.\u00a0 This project was started 2 years ago by the county and is showing good progress reestablishing natural vegetation.<\/div>\n
-We received a request from a landowner to help with reseeding an area north of Wilcox.\u00a0 He is currently projected to get help from NRCS for seeding 30 acres and is looking for help to increase the acreage.\u00a0 After discussing with AZ F&G and QF National, we will defer to see how well the initial seeding works before assessing our involvement.<\/div>\n
-Sarah Gandaria the QF biologist assigned to AZ G&F has moving to Tucson from Phoenix in June where she be able to help us more with our projects in Southern AZ.<\/div>\n
-A Tucson based Boy Scout Troop is also interested in helping us with a habitat project, we are looking to work this in conjunction with Sky Islands Alliance.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Chapter Meetings:<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
-Our tentative plan is to do a monthly chapter meeting Nov through Mar for the 18\/19 hunting season and keep them on the third Thursday of the month.<\/div>\n
-We will likely do the Nov meeting in Vail and Mar meeting in Green Valley with the three middle meeting during the heavy snowbird season in Sonoita.<\/div>\n
-Nick Besenick and Jim Littlejohn are still assessing venues.\u00a0 Vail Steakhouse will likely get used for the Oct meeting, fairgrounds in Sonoita Nov – Feb and TBD for Green Valley.<\/div>\n
–Please send me your thoughts on our meetings to help us provide what members want.<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Banquet:\u00a0 We have locked in 2 Feb for next years banquet with the fairgrounds and the caterer.\u00a0 If you or someone you know can help with items or money to donate its not too early to start working it.\u00a0 We have several mechanisms in place now to support habitat and youth.\u00a0 Maybe you and someone you know might be willing to underwrite one of the youth shotguns we give away.\u00a0 If you have ideas or have something in work let Steve Geerligs (sgeerligs1@yahoo.com<\/a>) our new banquet chair or myself know.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Hunting Dogs Available:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 http:\/\/www.kninebirddog.com\/available-dogs.html<\/a> has some started dogs available if anyone is looking.\u00a0 They are in Coolidge AZ, I have no personal knowledge of these dogs.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Chuck Robbins:\u00a0 Chuck passed away in Montana this June.\u00a0 For the past several winters Chuck made the trip down to Mearnsland from his home in Montana and was an active chapter member.\u00a0 An advocate for public lands and all things “Western” Chuck will be missed by all those that knew him.\u00a0 Rest in Peace Chuck.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Future dates:<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
    \n
  • Sep Scaled Quail and Box Turtle Count Bonita\u00a0 TBD<\/li>\n
  • 19 Oct Desert Quail Opens<\/li>\n
  • 5 Dec Fall Road Cleanup<\/li>\n
  • 7 Dec Mearns Quail Opens<\/li>\n
  • 8 Dec Quail Festival w G&F Sonoita<\/li>\n
  • 2 Feb 19 7th Annual Banquet Sonoita<\/li>\n
  • Winter Road Cleanup TBD<\/li>\n
  • 17 Feb 19 Quail Closes<\/li>\n
  • 22-24 Feb 19\u00a0 Quail Classic Schaumburg IL<\/li>\n
  • 2 Mar 19 Family Day\/Youth Hunt<\/li>\n
  • 30\/31 Mar 19 AZ G&F Expo at Ben Avery<\/li>\n
  • Spring Road Cleanup TBD<\/li>\n
  • 18\/19 Season Meetings TBD<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Quail Forever values your privacy, all member emails are bcc.<\/b>\u00a0 Please let me know if you want to be removed from distribution.<\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Overview: -We received some rain in June which is better than normal.\u00a0 Some monsoon activity has been seen in far SE Arizona. -Fire conditions in AZ are very high which has kept areas of the Northern AZ National Forests closed, Coronado National Forest in Southern AZ remains open with stage 2 fire restrictions (nor fires…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[4,6,10,31,33,55],"class_list":["post-807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-updates","tag-access-to-public-lands","tag-arizona-game-and-fish","tag-back-country-hunters-and-anglers","tag-masked-bobwhite-quail","tag-mearns-quail","tag-u-s-fish-and-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saquailforever.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saquailforever.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saquailforever.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saquailforever.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saquailforever.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/saquailforever.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2606,"href":"https:\/\/saquailforever.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807\/revisions\/2606"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saquailforever.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saquailforever.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saquailforever.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saquailforever.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}