Meeting Minutes 12-15-16
Access to and keeping Public Lands Public are on the S.A.Q.F Radar
12-15-16 SWAZ Quail Forever Chapter Meeting Minutes
Minutes from Meeting on Dec 15, 2016
Location: Steak Out in Sonoita
Meeting Opened at 7:00 PM
Attendance:
Linda Pfister, Nick Besenick,
Tom Sullivan, Zach May, Ron Funk
There were 27 people present plus these board members shown above.
Guests: Wade Zarlingo and Rana Tucker –AZ Game and Fish
A sign-in sheet was used and Zack explained that anyone not wishing to have their email address info shared (only within the chapter) for better communications should contact secretary Ron Funk. No one requested no sharing.
Agenda: Was shown on the Projector
Yes the new a/v equipment worked well.
Reports:
- Minutes from Nov 17 Chapter meeting were published by Zack.
https://www.saquailforever.com/
- Treasurers Report:
Approximately $6800 is in account.
Banquet and gun raffle expenses yet to be accounted for.
Good position for banquet expenses.
No other concerns
- Water for Wildlife:
Tom reported that the panels had been made and that Mike Lyons was integral in getting this done. A thorough explanation of the details for the project and purpose was shared.
Also check website for more info and pictures.
- Membership Drive:
Zack reported several good new member contacts in Tucson area were made as part of the gun raffle.
- Banquet:
Contributions and sponsors being contacted, Dave Brown and crew are making good progress.
Date is Feb 4 at Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Sonoita. Contact Linda for sign up.
Several registrations forms were handed out by Linda.
- Habitat Committee:
There was a long discussion on the US Forest Service from Nogales ruling that Hog
Canyon road and Adobe Canyon roads will be closed and made impassable. The chapter has been aware of this action and many have submitted comments.
Now it is in next stage where only those who first submitted comments will be able to
comment further to try to reverse this decision. Kurt Bohati shared insights and advised that a letter of concern can still be submitted to senators and other decision makers. Zack was to provide details for mailing lists to the chapter along with a draft of a letter to use.
Publicity in the Nogales newspaper is also pending.
Only political pressure may be able to change the USFS District Official’s decision.
- Highway Clean-Up:
A team of 8 members cleaned the section of 82 on Nov 30.
Next cleanup set for Feb 17 (tentative date) per Ron Walp.
- Youth Hunt:
Nick reported on efforts to expand the youth involved while still focusing strongly on safety and gun knowledge. Date is Mar 4. Signup sheet was passed out for volunteers. Plans are to have a Friday evening event the night before as a new activity.
- Guest Speaker:
Rana Tucker gave very involved and thorough explanation of the Landowner Relationship management process. Wade Zarlingo was also thanked for including an email input on the AZGFD Quail Wing check stations. Several questions were raised and we received this follow up.
Hello Zack,
It was very nice to meet all of you, and see the kind of work you’ve been doing! You guys are very busy, and I look forward to partnering with you on some quail habitat projects.
I found out this morning that our Access agreement with the Babocomari was only for big game hunters, although it seems that they may be letting some folks on to hunt small game too, but that is at their discretion. It does state that Access is granted for Big Game permit holders only, when you click on the ranch on the AZAccessMap (found here: https://raa.azgfd.com/map.html), then follow the link to our Compact Agreements page (found here: https://agfdlandownerrelations.com/babacomari-ranch-access/). I know that’s a lot of steps to follow to get that information, but I suspect if folks call the number on the sign, as instructed, to get permission to hunt, they’ll find out from them too.
I will speak with Al at some point about how to better convey this information to folks out in the field (I know not everyone is technology-savvy); I can see where it could get confusing for folks if they see an Access Sign , which means we’ve worked with the landowner to gain access, but the type of access isn’t the same all across the board because we have to make our agreements flexible.
I did notice that the photo I had of the sign-in box was an older one; the phone number has since changed, and we changed the sign to match, but someone may have called the old number before we got the sign changed, which would explain why there was no answer.
Anyway, that was the best we could do at the time that agreement was written. I let our program manager, Al Eiden, know of the issues folks are having, and he said he will try to address the desire to hunt small game if/when they want to renew their current agreement.
I’ll get a map of the wing barrel locations to you by the end of the year, if not the end of the week.
Best regards, and have a merry Christmas!
Rana
AZGFD–Tucson
- Chapter Business:
Zack presented Jacob Young with a plaque for appreciation of his hard work over the last few years in starting the chapter.
Motion made and seconded to purchase a reasonable number of QF hats to use as acknowledgment for service. Passed. Zack to take action
Motion made and seconded to purchase pick up stick tools for use by the highway cleanup crew. Passed. Linda to take action.
Alternate meeting place in Tucson area was briefly discussed. Secretary Ron Funk has a tentative plan for Jan 25 or 26 at a Tucson location. Request feedback from Tucson and Green Valley members – should we focus on connecting members to car pool to Sonoita or have a secondary meeting in Tucson with the understanding attendance would be more limited? Please contact Ron Funk and Zack May with your input.
Regular chapter meetings are set for Jan 19, 2017; Feb 16, 2017 and Mar 16, 2017 all at the Steak out in Sonoita.
Meeting adjourned at approximately 9:00pm
Minutes taken and written by Ron Funk