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The 1981 Board also completed a survey started earlier as how to categorize membership and increase it. Virginia Cogar and Jerry Davis headed a committee that mailed out 170 letters to biologists in the state, then followed up with personal calls and other mailings. The effort resulted in 29 new members and the following statistics from the respondents: Table 2. Membership percentages of 1981 survey of Arizona wildlife biologists.
a The percentage of professionals in that agency that were members of society level. Other than the Forest Service personnel the results were not encouraging and the next several years were spent attempting to rectify the situation. With the tremendous effort put forth by the Executive Boards of 1981, 82 and 83, and interested members, communication to all wildlife biologists in the state was significantly increased and the record membership of 227 in 1983 was noted. Membership dropped down to normal levels in 1984, with 142 paid. It further dipped to 133 in 1985. Membership Chairperson Frank Baucorn and member Paul Barrett continued the computerization of the records and produced the following report (Table 3). Table 3. Membership Affiliation of the 1985 Arizona Chapter.
Arizona Game and Fish Department was the largest single affiliation of the Chapter, with 31.6 percent. A further breakdown showed the following membership percentages (Table 4). Table 4. Membership breakdown of the 1985 Arizona Chapter.
Membership for 1986 showed an overwhelming increase over the previous two years, nearly reaching the 200-mark (187). The addition of 50 new members to the Chapter more than compensated for desertion of old members. President Kepner personally led the effort to attract professionals into The Society. Membership breakdowns did not differ from the previous survey, as AGFD led with 33.2 percent of the total membership. OFFICERSStarting with the 1969 Board the structure of officers for the Chapter remained constant for nearly a decade, with five elected members. The original year, 1968, had the president (Dan Schadle) appoint the board members (see Table 3). In 1978 the bylaws were changed so that a president-elect replaced the vice president position, and succession to the presidency was automatic. The bylaws were changed again in 1985, splitting the secretary-treasurer duties into a secretary-treasurer and a recording secretary. This move was good for the Chapter as the workload increased tremendously for the secretary-treasurer in the 1980s, as the Chapter became extremely active and financially sound. It also placed the president into a different power position. With six instead of five board members he/she became the tying vote rather than the outright deciding vote. However, most board members can not attend all monthly meetings and voting power changed frequently. For a complete listing of officers for the Arizona Chapter from 1968 to 1986, access the link below: ARIZONA CHAPTER - THE WILDLIFE SOCIETY OFFICERS
The officer turnover for the 18 years noted was remarkably stable in a field where the personnel acted more like the transient young of the many species studied than the young themselves. Resignations were for transfers out-of-state or temporary leave for educational purposes. Ron Bachelor (1971) resigned as he was transferred to Montana by SCS, Bill Rightmore (1976) was transferred by Animal Damage Control (USFWS), Ron Smith (1977) resigned for a temporary instructor position in New Hampshire lasting six months, Bruce Campbell (1979) left Arizona and BR for the BLM in Alaska, Rick Wadleigh (1983) was promoted to Albuquerque to handle the Forest Service's Run Wild data storage and retrieval system (his resignation was not accepted by the president as the year was nearly over), and Bruce Jones (1985) was promoted to Washington, D. C. into the Office of Endangered Species. In each case the position was filled by able replacements and Chapter business was carried out with a minimum of disruption or confusion. The 1977 bylaws change to a president-elect system (delete vice president) only legally placed into effect the real world of transfer of power in a two-year sequence. In each case prior to 1978 the vice-president assumed the presidency in the next election. The bylaw change of 1977 required this transfer of office. This method of officer ascension assured program continuity by training/learning the first year (either vice president or president-elect) and assuming control the second. Many times the president was a board member or secretary-treasurer before the commitment was made to invest the time and energy necessary to run the Chapter. Each officer on the list made personal sacrifices to help the professional society in natural resource management, with the presidency residents leading the way by example and plain, pure, hard work. ANNUAL MEETINGSThe winter meeting of combined New Mexico and Arizona biologists was started in 1962 and has continued as the traditional Annual Meeting. From the New Mexico-Arizona Section, through the confusion of the subsection years, to the joint meetings of today, the Annual Meeting has been held in early February (normally the first full weekend). The 1969 Annual Meeting, the ending point of the Chapter's first year of operation, was held in Silver City, New Mexico. President Schadle called the meeting to order at 6:15 on the evening of February 6. The Vets Hall at 409 W. College was rented for the occasion and a barbecue followed at adjournment (7:05). The barbecue featured pit-prepared beef, beans, salad, homemade bread, and a keg. A budget was the key item of business, as the fledgling Chapter reported a balance of $5.00 and an additional $2.50 at the barbecue. Safford, Arizona was the site for the 1970 Annual Meeting, held February 6 7. A session on pollution was the key item at the meetings. Ira N. Gabnelson, president of the Wildlife Management Institute, gave a summary and closing session remarks. The Chapter's business meeting was the preceding Thursday, on February 5 at 8 p.m. at the Buena Vista Hotel. Gallup, New Mexico hosted the 10th Annual New Mexico-Arizona Section Meeting on February 5 -6. As the tradition solidified, the Chapters of New Mexico and Arizona, now three years old, held their business meetings on February 4, 1971 at 7:30 p.m. Winter in Flagstaff, Arizona held court in 1972, as the Annual Meeting was conducted at the Holiday Inn. Forty-seven people attended the business meeting for Arizona. Nominations were taken from the floor for the next year's officer, something the current bylaws prohibit. Chapter business discussions centered around problems of the Section and communications between the duel system of executive boards, and how they should communicate. The dates were February 3 5. The meeting was lengthy, starting at 8:10 and adjourning at 11:20 p.m. The Section meeting had a $2.00 registration, of which $0.25 was distributed to the appropriate chapter. Donations were asked for at the business meeting and $39.00 were collected. The Chapter's 5th year ended with the 1973 Annual Meeting in Farmington, New Mexico. The attendees unanimously passed a positive statement pertaining to riparian vegetation types and the importance of rare and endangered species. During the 1972 year the Committee on Employee Compensation contacted the State Personnel Board (Department of Administration) regarding wildlife biologist standards. By the business meeting the Committee (now called the Professionalism Committee) had asked the Board to develop written standards, of which there were none, for all levels of management. Charter ex-president Doug Morrison was the Section's 1973 recipient of the Old Timer's Award, as he had retired from the Forest Service in 1971. Timber Management and Wildlife was the general session agenda for the 1974 Annual Meeting of the Section and state chapters. The site was Cochise College in Douglas, Arizona. Spencer Smith, director of the Bureau of Sports Fisheries and Wildlife (today the Fish and Wildlife Service) was the keynote speaker. At the Chapter's business meeting on January 31 (Section Meeting was February I - 2), 62 members attended, along with 18 students. The Professional Standards Committee reported on job standards developed during the year and a Doug Morrison Award Committee was established. A resolution pertaining to reintroduction of historical wildlife species was passed. Displeasure with the system of representation of the Section and chapter levels for TWS business was the focus of discussion at the 1975 Annual Meeting for the Chapter. Opened at 8:15 on February 6 in Silver City, New Mexico, the Chapter membership also donated $100.00 to Maricopa County Audubon for its Central Arizona Project (CAP) fight. The Chapter opposed many parts of the CAP system. Adjournment was at 10:15 p.m. Thatcher, Arizona was the site of the 1976 Annual Meeting, held February 5 - 7. A panel discussion on the Sikes Act and its implications in the Southwest headed the agenda. The 1977 Annual Meeting saw proposed bylaw changes brought before the membership. A $3.00 annual Chapter fee was assessed for the first time and the vice president position and presidential nomination were deleted and replaced with a president-elect system. Farmington, New Mexico was the site of the Section's 16th Annual Meeting. An art show was held in conjunction with the North American Wildlife Art Contest. TWS Field Director Mike Zagota attended the meetings. During the 1977 year many major events occurred. The Society presented newly proposed bylaws and the existing New Mexico-Arizona Section conflicted with the model bylaws, as the two states contained too few members. A Southwest Section, comprised of Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas was established on paper. An organizational meeting of the Southwest Section was held on April 7 in Lubbock, Texas, with Al LeCount representing the Arizona Chapter. Dale Jones, the New Mexico-Arizona Section Representative, led the discussion. Two options for continuing the annual meeting system between New Mexico and Arizona biologists were discussed; 1) for the states to have an affiliate membership, and 2) establish an Arizona-New Mexico subsection. The subsection concept held favor and was established. The 1978 Annual Meeting was held February 2 -4 in Douglas, Arizona, at Cochise College. The theme was "Putting Biology Back Into Wildlife Management" and the key speaker was Keith Schreiner, Associate Director, Fish and Wildlife Service. The main topics of the Chapter's business meeting on February 2 at 8 p.m. were the reorganization and expansion of the Grand Canyon National Park. At the meetings a film, "Gift of Land" was obtained and shown. The decision to publish the transactions of the 1978 Annual Meeting was made and papers were collected. Nineteen-seventy-eight was the first year of the Subsection and power was moved to the Chapters and the Southwest Section. Subsection President Wain Evans of New Mexico stated that the: "...role of the subsection is primarily to insure the perpetuation of the annual meeting between New Mexico and Arizona." At this time there were three levels of organization, the chapters themselves, the Subsection of Arizona-New Mexico, and the newly created Southwest Section of Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. This diluted the effort of Arizona members at all levels. Few were pleased with the current situation. The 1978 year -also saw another major change in the bylaws, as students were allowed to be Chapter - members for the first time. Communications between professionals and would-be professionals were to improve significantly. Through the new Subsection, the 1979 Annual Meeting was held at Silver City, New Mexico, on February 1 - 3. As decided the previous year the 1978 transactions were made available at $7.50 a copy. Only 27 members attended the business meeting, with 57 total people present. Committee reports were dispensed with, as membership saw a problem with the dual organizational structure and wished to review the Arizona-New Mexico Subsection. Immediately a resolution was proposed asking for the dissolution of the subsection. The motion was not accepted. A motion that a committee be selected to prepare organizational responsibility of the annual meeting was accepted by the membership. Other actions included the donation of $100.00 to the University of Arizona Student Chapter for the annual student conclave, and $50.00 to the Black Bear Workshop. Adjournment was at 8:30 p.m. only one hour after it was called to order. Thatcher, Arizona was the site of the 1980 Annual Meeting, held January 31 to
February 2. At this time The Wildlife Society was starting a campaign for a
building fund, a permanent resident in the Washington, D.C. area from which The
Society and other conservation or professional organizations could conduct
business. President Frank Baucom presented Executive Director Richard N. Denney
with a check for $600.00 toward the building fund. The Chapter also sent $142.00
later, monies collected in raffle sales for two Larry Toschik prints. Mr. Denney
through the conference was one of the better he had attended in some time.
During the 1980 year the membership continued to discuss the abolishment of the
subsection and a questionnaire was drafted for the membership to vote on. The 1982 agenda was started with a riparian habitat session and also had a land management planning (LMP) session, as well as a non-game session. Titles of talks were the thing with "The Effects of Roads on the Movements of Small Mammals: Is the Grass Really Greener on the Other Side?" by Professor Gary C. Bateman of Northern Arizona University and Jerry Davis' encore talk "It Is Time." Incoming President Tice Supplee announced in the yearly report that the " ... kickoff this year is the idea of wildlife workshops." Back we traveled to New Mexico, into Silver City for the 1983 Annual Meeting. The Chapter was back on track and rolling forward by the February 3 - 5 meeting. Outgoing President Supplee noted the victories and the defeats. The workshop forum had worked and the Chapter hosted a joint meeting with the Southern California Chapter, through Steve Loe, its current president and a former Subsection president (1979) for Arizona-New Mexico. A professional directory was started as Harley Shaw, a board member, got Executive Board approval for compiling the list. The program had many good talks, with Jerry Davis returning to stage for the third consecutive year, this time with the timely "Snags are for Wildlife," a kickoff to the upcoming 1983 Snag Habitat Management Symposium. It was Mr. Enthusiasm at his best, a born bandleader if wildlife ever had one. Chapter members Jerry Day, Ron Horejsi, and Richard Ockenfels got together in the field and produced "The Dos and Don'ts of Handling Dangerous Drugs Used in Wildlife Capture" presented by Jerry Day. Other important talks presented were "Determining the Size of Minimum Viable Populations of Wildlife," and "An Evaluation of the HEP Procedure." Both were very current management topics. Attendance at the Annual Meeting was outstanding to say the least, as 226 people registered. Eastern Arizona College at Thatcher, Arizona was the site for the February 2 - 4, 1984 Annual Meeting. A change was made in the hosting schedule as the Arizona-New Mexico Chapter of the American Fisheries Society organized and presented the meeting. Attendance jumped up again, to a record 287 registered. The meetings were dedicated to Rick Seegmiller, a University of Arizona Doctoral student who was killed in an aircraft crash a day after the 1983 meeting in Silver City. Many were touched deeply, as less than 24 hours after joking and discussing wildlife issues with him, he was gone. For those of us who worked directly with Rick on the bighorn sheep project, and his other close friends, it was an extremely difficult time as friend John Morgart delivered the dedication. The 1984 general session was "Biological Mitigation - What, When, and How?", as the topic was relevant to both fisheries and wildlife professionals. John Carr chaired the session. The wildlife technical sessions were started by papers of international concern. South American habitat destruction, Yugoslavian bear management, tropical ecosystems, Thailand wildlife, and polar problems were topics, as well as "African Wildlife Problems," by Southwest Section Representative Lytle Blankenship, from Texas A & M University. The last speaker, who could still be talking, was Rich Glinski. This historian must be sure to record the "fact" that many people could have followed Rich's footsteps one-at-a-time during his "Impressions From a 20,000-mile Raptor Expedition in South America" presentation. If South America had mileposts we would have seen them all. He lasted 57 minutes for the 30-minute talk. One of the more interesting talks during the regular sessions was by Bob Henry, who implanted radio transmitters into rattlesnakes and followed them, as they slithered across the desert floor. The 1983 business year was highlighted by a decision to work on an operations manual for the Chapter by President Greg Goodwin, the distribution of the personnel directory, the very successful Snag Habitat Management Symposium and the number one national question, "Unified dues." The dues issue was hot - and four alternatives were submitted to the Chapter and its membership. Option I was that TWS and the Chapter were unified and a biologist must belong to both, #2 was belong to TWS, with/without the Chapter, #3 was any combination of membership, and #4 was open to comment. The Executive Board supported alternative 3, believing that the solutions proposed did not answer the question of who is a "professional" and what is a professional society and feared that Chapter membership would be reduced up to 50 percent if #1 was enacted. The 1985 Annual Meeting set the stage for the completion of the 17th year as a Chapter. The meeting was held January 31 - February 2 at Western New Mexico State University in Silver City, New Mexico. Unified dues was a dominant feature of the year, placing second to riparian issues. The keynote address at the meeting was by William Platts, President of The American Fisheries Society, who spoke on riparian work done at the Inter-mountain Forest and Range Experimental Station. A panel discussion on integrating timber-wild life management in the Southwest, moderated by William Zeedyk, also highlighted the meetings. Papers included topics like the "Effects of Broadcast Burning on Snag Densities", "The Effect of Artificial Oasis on Nocturnal Desert Rodents", and a "Mule Deer Environmental Model for New Mexico." Outgoing President Richard Ockenfels noted that Conservation Affairs remained the Chapter's number one asset. During the 1984 year the Chapter stressed disciplines other than management or research. Disciplines such as administration, education, and law enforcement were the Executive Board's major concerns. The year also saw the start of this history, as The Wildlife Society prepared for its 50th year. Each Chapter was requested by The Society to help in the completion of the first 50 years of the professional organization of wildlife biologists. Incoming President Bruce Jones wished to continue the inclusion of all disciplines in Chapter business: "We want the active support of all wildlifers in the state ranging from law enforcement biologists to lizard labelers." The 1986 Annual Meeting saw a return to Arizona, at Thatcher again, held at the end of January and beginning of February. Traditionally, the first full weekend in February has been the time of the meeting, but conflicts moved the meeting up, to January 30 - 31 and February 1. The push for sound riparian management dominated the meeting again, with keynote speakers Wayne Elmore and Chris Maser from Oregon's Bureau of Land Management staff. The general session was on riparian issues. Another record attendance was recorded, with 305 people registering. The Arizona Chapter was the host, as New Mexico hosted the previous year, and AFS the year before that. The topics were various, ranging from Bruce Morrison's "Hoofs Across the Border", New Mexico Game and Fish's venture into Mexico, the educational "Project Wild" and why people should be involved by award-winning Kerry Baldwin, facts, fallacies, and status of compound 1080, and Bob Hall's "Hualapai Mexican Vole: Our Next Endangered Species?", a lead-in to the upcoming summer meeting in the Hualapai Mountains. The main accomplishments for the Chapter in 1985 were noted by outgoing acting president Bill Kepner: "1985 was a busy year for the Arizona Chapter, especially in regards to sponsored symposia and workshops. ....Our attention in Conservation Affairs mostly centered on the Land Management Plans (LMPs) drafted for the Arizona National Forest. ....Other Chapter activities included our annual Summer Meeting in the Chiricahua Mountains. ...Lastly, a working draft of our Operations Manual was completed this year...." The 20th anniversary of the Arizona-New Mexico Chapter, AFS, occurred at the 1987 Annual Meeting, and AFS hosted the 30 January - I February gathering, which included a mixer for TWS/AFS members at the Buffalo Bar on Friday, January 30, at their expense. At the general session, Bud Bristow, retired Director AGFD, presented a resolution supporting the two societies from AGFD (signed by Duane Shroufe, Acting Director), NMDGF (Harold Olson, Director), and USFWS Region 2 (Mike Spears, Regional Director). Each agency committed financial and technical assistance and agency liaison to the Executive Boards upon request. Jerry Burton, 1987 Program Chairman for AFS, chose volunteerism as the general session theme. Region 2 USFWS, Nature Conservancy, Tonto National Forest, ASU Student Chapter TWS, Rio Grande Nature Center, and AGFD each presented information on their volunteer efforts in fish and wildlife conservation programs. Technical session papers included data on bighorn sheep transplants, Merriam's turkey habitat use, dove feeding, mule deer drownings, elk calving habitats, wildlife rehabilitation, Arizona raptor management priorities, and habitat mapping. Carolyn Engel-Wilson shared the "Okavango Swamp: A Surviving African Wilderness" with the audience, Reed Tollefson had people enjoying his rambling Ranger Reed approach to "Vegetation Type Mapping of the Lower San Pedro...", and Terry Johnson presented the outstanding "Thick-Billed Parrot Releases in Arizona", for which he deserved an award for quality. Nongame-related papers outweighed game-oriented ones 15 to 11. It is clearly time for game and fish agencies to change hats and names to wildlife conservation agencies. AWARDSThe Chapter has traditionally recognized outstanding accomplishments in wildlife management, both by professionals and laymen, by bestowing awards. For many years the awards were passed out through the Section or Subsection, with the Chapter finally assuming full control at the dissolution of the Subsection. During most years, Section or Subsection awards for Professional, Old-Timer, Nonprofessional, and Student categories were presented. Such was the case in 1969 - 70 for the Section, however, the early records are poor in the keeping of what awards were issued by year and who the recipients were. The tradition of Chapter awards started with the establishment of the Doug Morrison Award. Doug, a past president of the Arizona Chapter (1969), retired from the National Forest Service in 1971 as their Wildlife and Watershed Staff Officer on the Coconino. After his death in September of 1973, the family requested that donations be sent to the Arizona Chapter. Working with the Morrison family, a committee was used to determine the proper uses of the monies. The outcome of the committee was the establishment of the award. The Doug Morrison Award was designed to reward Arizona field biologists, specifically those in a non-supervisory position. Doug Morrison was interested in those people at the technician or field level and was known to recognize them as best he could. The family and committee agreed that such an award would be appropriate. At the 1975 Annual Meeting the first recipient of the Doug Morrison Award was Arizona Game and Fish Department Wildlife Manager Fred Phillips. The Chapter has recognized professionals each year since with the Doug Morrison Award. Recipients of the award can be found on the Awards page of the website. Interesting notes are the double awards in 1978 and 1982 and the awarding of Pat Morrison in 1981, Doug's daughter. In 1975 the Doug Morrison Award Fund had $198.00 and the committee purchased a traveling award to go for one year to the recipient, along with the permanent plaque the recipient keeps. The October 1983 Chapter Newsletter described the award as such: "The Doug Morrison Award, established by Doug's family and friends, is a framed numbered print of wild turkeys by Larry Toschik, Arizona's outstanding wildlife artist. A traveling award, the name of the recipient is inscribed on the rear plaque. A wooden plaque ... serves as the permanent award. The Chapter's Executive Board makes the final selection on the basis of the received nominations ..." The award has traditionally been presented at the annual meeting by one of the nominators. The wooden plaque is in the shape of Arizona and has The Wildlife Society logo on it. Doug himself was an award-winning biologist, presented the McCullough Award in 1969 from the Arizona Wildlife Federation and the Section's Old Timers Award in 1973 before his death. Arizonians were recipients of many Section and Subsection awards before the Chapter upgraded its own system of rewarding outstanding work for wildlife. Willcox farmer Jack Robison, Jr. was the Section's 1973 Non-professional for his assistance on the Arizona Game and Fish Department's Mexican Duck research in the early 1970's, the owners of the Buenos Aires Ranch were nominated for their interest in wildlife on private land in 1976, and wildlife activist Frances Werner of Tucson (later a Commissioner for Arizona) was awarded the non-professional in 1978. In 1979, Bob Furlow of the Bureau of Land Management became the Chapter's first recipient of its own Professional Wildlifer Award. The 1979 Chapter discussed clarifying awards, establishing guidelines, and removing itself from the Section system. Logos were ordered from the Oregon Chapter of TWS at $20.00 each, to be placed on wooden plaques. For 1980, the Chapter asked for nominations for three awards, the Doug Morrison, Professional Wildlifer, and the Conservation Award, established for the layman. Al LeCount received the Doug Morrison Award for his black bear work and education-related activities, Gary Ferrier of the Yuma District of BLM captured the Professional Wildlifer, and Charles Beeler became the Chapter's first non-professional recipient of the new Conservation Award. President Baucom also presented Judy Hohman and Cindy Edwards a President's Special Award for their work in conservation affairs for the Chapter and TWS. Taxidermist Jack Wight, owner of Wildlife Studios in Phoenix, received the 1981 Conservation Award for his assistance in research efforts on black bear and mountain lion and conservation education. Bruce Jones of the Phoenix District of BLM was the outstanding professional in 1981 for his work on environmental assessments and wildlife impacts during the late 1970's and 1980, a lizard labeler made good. The non-professional Conservation Award was not used in 1982, vanishing quickly into history. Bob Hernbrode joined son Bobby as a Chapter recipient, as he was the 1982 winner of the Professional Wildlifer Award for outstanding work in conservation education for the AGFD and upon retirement, the Oracle Wildlife Refuge, a private educational facility near Tucson. For the 1983 Annual Meeting, the Chapter returned to a full compliment of awards; the Doug Morrison continued, the Professional Wildlifer was now the Professional Award, the nonprofessional returned as the Conservation Award, and a student award was named after Roger Hungerford. The decision for four awards was made at the 1982 Annual Meeting. The Chapter's structure now was identical to the old Section structure. Years of experimentation finally ended and stability of awards was asked for by the members. If you were male in 1982 you needed the name Tom to be a recipient. As noted in Table 6, Tom Deecken of the Coronado National Forest won the Doug Morrison. Joining him in 1983 were Tom Britt of AGFD as the Professional recipient and Arizona State University Student Chapter President Tom Ohmart as the first Roger Hungerford recipient as the State's outstanding student. The Conservation Award recipient was not named Tom, nor was this small package of energy male. Barbara Van Cleve, chairperson of the Save Our Public Lands Committee, was recognized for her efforts in opposing the Sagebrush Rebellion movement. Four awards were used again in 1983, as Pat O'Brien (Doug Morrison), Jerry Davis (Professional), Kerry Christensen (Roger Hungerford), and Ace Peterson (Conservation) were recipients at the 1984 Annual Meeting. Stability continued on the surface, as four awards were presented at the 1985 Annual Meeting, and were available for the 1986 Annual, but only three were rewarded. The Chapter's award history can be found on the Awards web page. During the years following the breakup of the Section (1978) the award structure created considerable friction for the executive boards and membership of the Chapter. As an Executive Board member in 1982-84, the senior author witnessed much heated discussion on the subject of presenting awards. Finally, in 1986, President Bill Kepner, upon the advice of former presidents of the Chapter, created an Ad Hoc Committee to study the problem and make recommendations to the Executive Board. Headed by 1983 President Greg Goodwin, with members 1982 President Tice Supplee, 1984 President Richard Ockenfels, and 1986 president-elect Paul Krausman, the Committee investigated the problem, clarified the issues, and proposed changes for the 1986 Executive Board to act upon. Poor documentation of nominees and incorrect category were major problems to be addressed and the recommendations for four awards to continue corrected the issues for the Board. FINANCIALFor any society or organization to function properly, monies must be gathered for the executive board and various committees. The Arizona Chapter is no different, needing funds for stationary, postage, and other administrative functions. At the end of 1968, the Chapter's first year, because of three donations, the coffers contained a total of $15.00 -- a very humble beginning. In 1970, the Chapter continued to have financial problems, as there was no provision for operating capital in the bylaws. Donations were still the source of funds, as the year started with $22.28 and ended with $103.08. Donations stayed the major resource for monies in 1972, totaling $39.00 of the $57.08 at the end of the year. The year started at $83.08. Resources started to climb so that by 1974's beginning balance, the Chapter noted $285.08. A majority of the total ($148.00) was contained in the Doug Morrison Fund. The $137.08 in the Chapter "kitty" was due to the provision of each attendee at the 1974 Annual Meeting paying $1.00 to the Chapter. A total of 130 people attended. Of the $148.00 donated for the Doug Morrison Award, the trustee committee spent $99.75 for a Larry Toshick print as a traveling award. The steady climb upward in funds noted 1976 fiscal assets of $198.00 for the Doug Morrison, an income of $275.00 from the Nongame Habitat Symposium, and an operating budget of approximately $350. Nineteen-seventy-seven started with $350.45, showed an income of $1,897.99, expenditures of $1,532.84, which left a balance of $715.60. Activities generally keep pace with monies, so the steady rise in financial holdings since 1968 reflected the interest in the professional society by Arizona's wildlifers. An income of $3,377.20 in 1978 was noted by Secretary-Treasurer Ron Horejsi, with expenditures of $2,564.44. During 1978, the executive board loaned the Arizona-New Mexico Subsection $833.76 for printing the annual meeting transactions. The money was reimbursed, and the year ended with a balance of $1,587.76. The Communication Workshop turned into the major fund-raiser for the Chapter. A total of $716.37 was brought into the Arizona Chapter's 1980 coffers by the Communications Workshop, allowing the executive board and members to donate $600.00 toward the purchase of a building for The Wildlife Society. In most years, income was greater than expenditures, but the reverse was true for 1980. The ending balance of 1979 showed $2,471.06, but the ending balance of 1980 was only $1,145.27. Expenses of $3,093.24 were listed, with only $1,767.48 noted as income. The importance of the Communication Workshop is reflected in the 45 percent gained income for the year from the Workshop. With these available monies, the Chapter has been able to accomplish many good things. An example occurred in 1981, as $200.00 was donated to the University of Arizona's Student Chapter for hosting the 1981 Western Student Conclave in Tucson. Approximately 138 future biologists attended the conclave, many members of the Arizona Chapter today. Major expenses of $2,000 were spent on the sagebrush rebellion issue in 1982, including $1,200 from The Wildlife Society. This was the first time the Council assisted a Chapter monetarily in an environmental issue. At the February annual meeting, assets of only $547.04 were noted, but income from two Communication Workshops accounted for a large part of the year's income of $9,643.89. Expenses during the active year totaled $7,847.19. The ending balance of 1982 was at $3,322.42 on 31 December. Income for 1983 nearly hit 10K again, at $9,577.13. Expenses of $7,440.56 left the Arizona Chapter with a net worth of $5,843.48, including assets not received at the time of the audit. Each year, the bylaws call for an annual audit, as does the tax-exempt status of The Wildlife Society. Thus, the financial history of the Chapter is fairly "clear cut". For the 1984 fiscal year, the Chapter's activities produce an income in excess of 10K, with $11,599.54 listed on the fiscal statement. Expenses nearly reached the magical 10K total, with $9,729.25. On 31 December, the Chapter listed assets of $7,176.02. For the third consecutive year, the Chapter was extremely active and assets climbed enough for the Chapter to move into major sponsorship of important meetings and other functions. A slight decrease in major fund-raisers is reflected in the 1985 fiscal statement. Activities were high, but the planning of the "Raptor Symposium" and the inter-agency database for nongame neither produced nor spent money. Most of the Chapter's assets ($12,201.95) were encumbered for the upcoming activities. The 1985 statement noted an income of $7,218.21 and expenditures of $5,916.37, the smallest total since the early 1980's. Assets were listed at $8,498.37 on hand, and $4,290.00 outstanding. Income for 1986 nearly reached 15K ($14,147.98), as the highly successful "Raptor Symposium" accounted for slightly over 50 percent (7.5K). Expenses were high ($12,424.32), because of the back pay owed to ASU for the Communication workshop. In fact, on the surface of yearly statements, the Workshop lost money. However, all bills were paid and future accounting for the Workshop should prevent outstanding debts. Ending year assets, as of 30 December 1986, showed $10,221.14 in the Chapter coffers. COMMUNICATION WORKSHOPSIn order to properly manage wildlife and their associated habitats, wildlife biologists need to convey information to the publics they serve, for in the final analysis, the people of Arizona and the United States determine how resources are to be utilized. Thus, the ability to communicate to the public is the most important trait that a profession can obtain. Don Seibert recognized this, and the Chapter started on the path of educating its members. A letter was sent to Dr. Eugene Decker of Colorado State University in 1976, regarding a course in communications. In 1977, the Chapter, under Seibert's guidance, undertook one of the most important steps in its history; the creation of the Communications Workshop. The first workshop was held at Arizona State University on 6-10 June 1977, with Gene Decker as the instructor. Sixteen attendees (18 paid), each registered for $85.00, learned the basic principles of using slides to convey scientific information to the public. Seibert reported to the Executive Board on 10 July: "The Workshop was well received. A second Workshop is planned to be held next year." At the annual meeting, the committee reports noted that the Communication Workshop is: " ... aimed at improving the skills of wildlife biologists making public slide talks." The Communication Workshop turned a profit the first time around, to the tune of $461.04. The second Workshop was held 22-26 May 1978, on the ASU campus with Gene Decker the instructor. Decker set a maximum of 18 people for the training so that one week was sufficient for the course. The 1978 Workshop was attended by 17 professionals and was ruled a success. The Executive Board decided that the program should be carried out regardless of profit/loss because of its benefits to agencies and the Chapter's membership. Registration was set at $100.00/person, and income totaled $2,311, and expenditures came to $1,369. The instructions for the course centered around four main points:
The third Workshop was held 8-12 January 1979 on the ASU campus. Registration increased to $125.00 and 17 attended, plus one student paid $40.00. Agencies, such as AGFD, USFWS, USFS, BLM, ASU, and private sent personnel. Income totaled $2,165.00, while expenses were $1,564.70 for the after-expense profits of $600.30. (1980 data missing) The 1981 Workshop was prepared by Linda Richardson for ASU and Gene Decker continued as instructor. This was the fifth sponsored by the Chapter, and with the 15 attendees and one student listed, a total of 88 had been trained in the techniques of quality communications via effective slide presentations. A profit of $716.37 was noted for the records, as registration was set at $200.00 and $50.00 for a student. The same course has been taught for college credit at Colorado University, under the College of Forestry and Natural Resources, by Associate Professor Eugene Decker. The sixth Annual Communication Workshop was again handled by Linda Richardson at ASU, for 15-19 March 1982. Sixteen paid the $250.00 registration fee. The 1983 Workshop saw a switch to an earlier time of the year, being held on 3-7 January. A total of 14 paid for the Decker course. Two attendees from Virginia (of 16 attendees) were in Tempe for the eighth Communication Workshop on 9-13 January 1984. Decker was the instructor, as always, and Linda Parsons (Richardson) was the ASU mainstay. One student also attended. January seemed like the best time, as the next Workshop was held on the 6- of 1985. Decker and Parsons, by now a working team, set a maximum attendance at 16. The Workshop had developed a waiting list, even with the $265.00 fee. The quality of the training was the best judge of price, and over 135 people were trained by this time. The 10th Workshop followed the lead of previous ones, with the same instructors and format. ASU again hosted the increasingly important training session. Sixteen participates, plus one student, attended at $265.00 ($50.00 for student). The Linda Parsons and Eugene Decker duo produced another batch of biologists with improved communication skills, revolving around a well-prepared slide show. The 11th Annual was on the ASU campus, from January 5-9, 1987. Sponsorship was shared for the 11th time, by the Chapter, ASU Student Chapter TWS, and ASU. A capacity of 16 attendees was reached, and a waiting list of 16 alternates was set up for a possible 12th workshop during the spring. Utah and Wisconsin sent participants to our nationally -recognized training session. Multiagency support remains the key to success, with Linda Parson's devotion to the workshop firm. A second Communication Workshop was held in 1987. Because of the large backlog of people applying for the annual winter CW, the Board and Linda Parsons decided an extra CW would be helpful. The CW was organized for 19 and was carried out. Unfortunately, the turnout was lower than expected, and the workshop was not the success of the normal winter one. Seems one agency, the Chapter's biggest customer, forgot to check with everyone registered about the dates. One sour grape out of 13 isn't bad; the unlucky 13th strikes again! Nevertheless, the intent of the CW was still carried out as 9 biologists received excellent training. MEETINGS, WORKSHOPS AND SYMPOSIAOne of the first official actions of the newly formed Chapter was the 26 April 1968 "Deer Symposium," cosponsored with the Arizona Wildlife Federation (AWF). Ron Smith arranged the Sunday program for the Phoenix area. Entitled Deer Management in Arizona the symposium looked at the federal/state management controversy, deer habitat, research in Arizona, habitat management, and a deer management summary. Bill Winters of AWF helped arrange. The event was not well attended. Another co-sponsoring event with AWF was held in 1969, following the deer program idea, and coordinated by Dave Brown. The "Quail Management" program used a field trip to stimulate member interest. Topock Gorge was the site of a 27 March 1971 "Show Me Trip" for members of the press and conservation groups. The purpose was to illustrate the continued loss of habitat in marsh areas. Bud Bristow headed up the event. The year jumps to 1975 and the Chapter assisted the Forest Service for the Symposium on Range and Forest Habitat for Non-game Birds held in Tucson on 69 May. The proceedings were published by the Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experimental Station (Gen. Tech. Rep. WO-1. Field trips were made to the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum and a Santa Rita Experimental Range to Madera Canyon to Arivaca route. Les Pengelly (1978 TWS President-Elect) and Fred Evenden (Ex. Director TWS) attended a 10 July 1977 Tucson meeting at the Tucson Marriott Hotel. They were guests of the Chapter to discuss the upcoming North American Conference in Phoenix. Phoenix was the site of the 1978 North American Conference and the Chapter assisted TWS and the Wildlife Management Institute. The major meeting was held at the Del Webb Townhouse and Chapter members worked with publication sales, tickets, messages and general information. The Chapter also cosponsored a tour of Southern Arizona in which 45 people participated. A 1979 event was the co-sponsoring of the "Western Black Bear Workshop" in Tempe. A total of $50.00 was given to help the Arizona Game and Fish Department on the 20-22 March program. Scenic Jacob Lake on the North Kaibab was the site of a 25-26 August 1979 gathering of members. The business meeting was a series of agency activity reports at the Jacob Lake Inn. Twenty-nine members or agency representatives attended. With the success of the 1979 Jacob Lake gathering, the Chapter established a 1980 Summer Meeting. The site was the Dairy Springs Campground near Mormon Lake. Speakers for the get together were: Jim Walters updating the attendees on the Grand Canyon National Park burro capture, Tom Britt on AGFD's elk tagging project, and Howard Hudak briefing on the LMP process. The Chapter attempted to establish a summer meeting again in 1981 with the August Pine Hill get together. Don Neff of AGFD talked to the 12 attendees (1 from California in Ron Thompson) about pronghorn antelope research project on Anderson Mesa. Richard Ockenfels demonstrated a mobile telemetry tracking system that the University of Arizona and the Arizona Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit were experimenting with in Central Arizona. The Chapter finally got into the meeting concept in full force in 1982. The Executive Board, under President Tice Supplee, authorized three events for the year. The first meeting was the highly acclaimed Biotelemetry Workshop, held at Arizona State University 18-.'L9 May. Thirty-five people were shown equipment by Dave Beaty and Stan Tomkiewicz of Telonics of Mesa and given a lecture on analysis of telemetry data by Dr. Gary C. White of Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, a world leader in data analysis. Richard Ockenfels, Norris Dodd, and Andrew Smith arranged the program. The second meeting was the now established Chapter Summer Meeting held at Whitehorse Lake 20-22 August 1982. Tim Britt gave a turkey management overview, based on AGFD-USFS data. Attendance increased tremendously, as Chapter members were encouraged to make the outing a family event. The third event of 1982 was a joint meeting with the Southern California Chapter (headed by ex-Arizona members Steve Loe and Ron Thompson), in which 60 people visited Yuma on 16-17 October. The Desert Rat Symposium at the Stardust Motel concentrated on the Colorado River area, basically dealing with desert mule deer, desert bighorn sheep, and desert raptors. SC Chapter President Loe lit a fire with: "A Rebel's View of the Role of Professional Societies." A field trip to ASU's Colorado River re-vegetation study was led by Bertin Anderson of ASU. The Workshop on Home Range and Wildlife Management started 1983 off as the Chapter's banner year for meetings. Norm Smith of ACWRU coordinated the program at the UA, at which 60 people attended on 20 January. Andrew Smith started the program with the theoretical implications of home range (HR), and Paul Krausman detailed the collection of data and how to do a HR study . Ron Smith and Richard Ockenfels discussed the advantages and disadvantages of methods and their statistical analyses, and Dave Brown followed with the application of the data into management. Norm Smith summarized the daylong meeting and noted future needs. June (7-9) 1983 saw the Chapter venture into major sponsorship of a national symposium. Northern Arizona University's campus was the site of the Snag Habitat Management Symposium and other major contributors were the USFS, NAU, AGFD, and the Southwest Section TWS. Planning for the meeting had started at the 1982 Summer Meeting and the meeting grew from the fertile minds of Jerry Davis and Greg Goodwin. A steering committee of Davis, Goodwin, Richard Ockenfels, Gary Bateman, and Glen Dickens arranged the agenda and selected papers. Attendance topped 200, with over 150 professionals registered. The Chapter Newsletter noted: "Many attendees stated that it (Snag Symposium) was the most organized and the best symposium that they had ever attended." Less than 90 days later the papers were published through the USFS (Davis, J.W., G.A. Goodwin and R.A. Ockenfels. 1983. Snag Habitat Management: Proceedings of the Symposium Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-99, Rocky Mtn For Range Exp. Stat., Fort Collins. 226 pp.) and included 40 main papers from 17 states and 27 different organizations/agencies. Papers were split into four sessions: (1) General Session, (2) Management, (3) Habitat and Species Requirements, and (4) Monitoring and Modeling. Activities centered around a dinner banquet with Bill Morse (WMI) as the keynote speaker and a field trip to the Beaver Creek Experimental Watershed, led by NAU's Jeff Brawn. The Chapter had arrived into the world of disseminating information to the members and profession in general. Meetings for 1983 culminated in the Timber Management Workshop Nearly 60 people attended the two-day event. Day one was a class covering the basic principles of timber management, while the second day was out in the field. Cosponsored by the Peaks Chapter of The Society of American Foresters, the 1314 September meeting was arranged by Greg Goodwin and he had the help of the School of Forestry (NAU) and the USFS in presenting silvicultural terminology, management practices in a rotation, sale preparation, sale marking, and reforestation procedures. The 1984 year of meetings did not start until late spring, with the Southwest Deer Symposium in Las Cruces, NM. Paul Krausman and Norm Smith arranged the two-day workshop for deer ecologists to address contemporary issues related to the two species of Southwestern deer, the mule deer and white-tailed deer. Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas organizations/agencies supported the event. Twenty-five technical papers were presented on 16-17 April, and later published by the Chapter and ACWRU (Krausman, P.R. and N.S. Smith. 1984. Deer in the Southwest: A Workshop.. ACWRU and UA. 131 pp.) A total of 500 copies were printed. A month later law enforcement personnel from the nation were in Phoenix for the Chapter's Illegal Commercialization of Wildlife Workshop. Ray Kohls, Larry Voyles, and Richard Ockenfels put together the seminar for 17-18 May, at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #2. Approximately 50 people attended to learn about information on a local, national, and international scope. Speakers from California, Florida, New Mexico, and the USFWS assisted the Arizona enforcement personnel of AGFD and USFWS in instructing officers dealing in wildlife law enforcement and it also was designed to acquaint administrators and non-enforcement personnel with the commercialization problem. Poor attendance by non-enforcement (only four) and administrators rendered the second object unobtainable. The Chapter cooperated with the Arizona-New Mexico Chapter of The American Fisheries Society for the 1984 Summer Meeting. The beautiful White Mountains of Arizona provided a perfect setting for the 23-24 June family outing. Bob Vahle (TWS) and Jim Novy (AFS) put on the evening program on cable logging and Apache trout, respectively. Chapter presidents Bill Kepner (AFS) and Richard Ockenfels (TWS) presided over the events and its planning. Members and family had the opportunity to assist the USFS in its census of spotted owls by night calling. The West Fork Campgrounds were used for the summer campout. On 10 July 1984, representatives of many state/federal and private agencies met to discuss the establishment of a threatened and endangered special database. The workshop was successful in establishing procedures and concerns and forming an official interagency team to be the steering committee. President-Elect Bruce Jones was the chief architect of the workshop. The Chapter's first venture into the international world started off the 1985 year. The Peccary Workshop held 7-9 May in Tucson at the UA, was organized to: (1) synthesize available knowledge on the three species; (2) to discuss future research; (3) disseminate available knowledge to managers; and (4) to express concern for the species outside of the United States. The steering committee of Richard Ockenfels, Jerry Day, Tice Supplee, Lyle Sowls, and William Grant (Texas A&M) put together a program consisting of a James Teer (Welder Wildlife Foundation of Texas) keynote address, status reports from Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Central America and South America, papers from an afternoon session, and one day of intense workshop discussions to prepare guidelines for management. Sixty participants also had the opportunity attend a barbecue at the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum, and a field trip in the Tucson desert area by Eddie Cocking (AGFD). The proceedings were published in June 1986 by the AGFD (Ockenfels, R.A., G.I. Day and V.C. Supplee. 1986. Proceedings of the Peccary Workshop Ariz. Game Fish Dept. Phoenix. 82 pp.). The 1985 Summer Meeting moved south, nearly to the border, in the Chiricahua Mountains' Rustier Park Campground. This 26-28 July meeting was cosponsored by BLM and AGFD and featured island habitats and biogeography as the themes. Vince Roth, American Museum Natural History Portal Field Station, Tom Van Devender, Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum, and Dean Hendrickson and Tom Martin were the speakers. Attendance was approximately 85, and the Chapter's Executive Board served a breakfast of eggs, bacon and sausage - proof of the Chapter's service to the members carried to the extreme! Land management planning (LMP) peaked in 1985 and the Chapter sponsored two LMP workshops, a September Tucson meeting for the Coronado National Forest Plan coordinated by Tice Supplee and an October Flagstaff meeting for the three northern forests (Apache-Sitgreaves, Kaibab, and Coconino) headed by Norris Dodd. These meetings were to be used to explain the LMP process and show members how to review and provide effective comments. More than 60 people attended the two meetings combined. The meetings overviewed the LMP background, explained issues and concerns, economics, reviewing a plan, providing effective input, and summarized the process. Bill Holmes (Coconino Information Officer) provided the key line: "Believe that they (comment or) believe!"(sic) In the review of comments - if the comment or (sic: commentator?) believes a problem exists, so a problem exists! The agency must investigate the comment and correct the concern. A joint venture with the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), in planning for over a year, highlighted the 1986 year. The Southwest Raptor Management Symposium and Workshop, 21-24 May 1986, was held on the UA campus and provided a forum for biology, management, and the status of many birds-of-prey in the Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma), ranging from the diminutive owls, the Elf and Ferruginous Pygmy, to the majestic Bald Eagle. More than 155 people from North America exchanged information in workshops on raptor identification, survey techniques, mining, roads, water projects, grazing, timber harvest, fire management, land ownership, contaminants, agricultural expansion-urbanization, recreation, and aircraft. A field trip to Arivaca Creek and Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge was capped by Rich Glinski calling in a Grey Hawk for about ten people. Chapter members Glinski, Bruce Jones, Tom Gatz, and Bill Kepner put together the meeting, while Bill Mannan deserved special recognition for his effort in arranging the details of the actual meeting. The NWF was editing the information and was publishing the Symposium as the first of six regional meetings. The 1986 Summer Meeting moved to the northwest corner of Arizona, as Bob Hall orchestrated the popular event at the Hualapai Mountain Park, near Kingman. Held 25-27 July, the program included talks by Tom Brady of Mohave County Parks, Barry Spicer, AGFD, "Mr. Hualapai Vole", Roger Taylor, BLM, and Rod Lucas, AGFD, regarding wildlife on the Hualapai Mountains. An estimated 80 people attended and were treated to a big game pit barbecue, with Gary Bateman providing buffalo while others gave whitetail deer, javelina, and beef. Someone actually saw a vole, and we can count the number of people with sightings on our toes and fingers. A real surprise, and it wasn't Barry. Management of elk in eastern Arizona was the 1987 Executive Board's first outlet of energy. Co-sponsoring the White Mountain Elk Workshop with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Apache County Cattle Growers Association, and The Sportsman's Voice (regional sportsman's group), the Chapter presented a workshop that included reports on elk management and research from various agencies and a keynote address from well-known elk researcher L. Jack Lyon of the Forest Service, as well as an afternoon of three facilitated work groups. Each group identified issues, concerns, and problems related to either: 1) Elk-Livestock Grazing Conflicts on Winter Range, 2) Elk Depredation, or 3) Elk Populations and Management. Approximately 149 people attended the 16 May 1987 meeting, and many stayed for a fundraising I banquet that raised nearly $11,000 for habitat improvement projects related to elk. Telescopes and squirrels, two of many important items related to Mount Graham (=Pinaleno Mountains), were the main topic of discussion at the 1987 Summer Meeting. Held 12-14 June 1987 at Treasurer Park on Mount Graham, biologists and families learned about the uniqueness of the sky island in southeastern Arizona, a mixing ground of Rocky Mountain and Madrean flora and fauna. Tom Waddell and Tice Supplee provided information on the Steward Observatory attempt to put telescopes on the various peaks of the range and the high public involvement in the issue. Barry Spicer brought people up-to-date on the newly designated Endangered Species, the Mount Graham Red Squirrel, while Waddell told bear stories around the campfire. Attendance was high again, with 63 people in and around Treasurer Park. A Saturday evening feast and high meadow volleyball (oxygen please!) added to the event. In the mid-1960's, the active wildlifers thought that a training session on technical writing techniques would be beneficial to the overall profession. That thought never passed away, for such a session was held on July 22, 1987. Section Representative Norm Smith and current Journal of Wildlife Management Editor, and current Chapter President, Paul Krausman along with member and Past President Dave Brown, put together a popular and scientific writing workshop (Writing Workshop for Wildlife Biologists). The one-day session was held at the University of Arizona and was attended by 22 people. Dave discussed popular writing, as he has much experience at writing for the masses. It was emphasized to the audience the importance of writing for the general public in order to reach a wide distribution. Norm followed with a session on scientific writing and the importance of following a guide such as the CBE Manual, while maintaining proper writing techniques. The first person was in. Paul lined out the editorial process for refereed journals and encouraged the audience to "plug away" and have heart, for everyone is "ripped apart" at some time in their career. One has to toughen up to the process. Norm finished up with information on tables and figures. Most of the participants expressed interest in a more complete training session, something like the well-established Communication Workshop. August in Phoenix -- I should have been, and everyone else, lounging under a pine in the cool north. Instead 60 people converged on the Holiday Inn for two days of meetings on the rare creatures of the Southwest. The Endangered Species Management Workshop August 13-14, 1987, was cosponsored by the Chapter and the Nongame Branch of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Tom Gatz, in one of the best presentations ever as the keynote speaker, gave us "Perceptions of T&E Species"; from the general public's view, the conservationist's view, and the way the professionals see the situation. He noted that of the estimated 955 T&E species worldwide, only 5 have been recovered, while 5 were extirpated, certainly not a record of noteworthy achievement. Sherry Barrett organized the meeting as a hands-on, case-history workshop and the Thursday session speakers gave the audience insight into the Section 7 Process (Lesley Fitzpatrick), the Mount Graham controversy (Tice Supplee), and on implementing reasonable alternatives for bald eagle management (Bob Mesta). Other speakers, six in all, discussed other aspects of resource use on T&E species. The day was topped off with a mixer at the Inn, with TWS providing refreshments. Day Two of the T&E Workshop was started off with an excellent talk on why listing of the thick-billed parrot (Terry Johnson) should be deferred, lunched out with the downlisting of the Gila topminnow (Dean Hendrickson), and finished the afternoon with other Special Status designations, such as the State's Threatened Native Wildlife of Arizona (Bruce Palmer), BLM's list (Glen Dahlem), and the Forest Service's listing method (Leon Fisher). Six other talks were presented at one time or another. I loved Bruce Palmer's introduction: "Has not done, and likely never will do anything significant." Too bad, Bruce, because now it's history. CONSERVATION AFFAIRSOne of the main objectives of the Arizona Chapter is to insure that wildlife interests are considered as man manipulates the environment for his own interests. The vast majority of professionals understand that political and economic concerns pose a considerable amount of pressure on man's activities and the environment is not of interest to all people on the Planet Earth. Even agencies involved in the management of natural resources are not immune to the realities of the world. Thus, the need for each professional to have an avenue to express himself, clear of political or economical disguise, is recognized. The founders of TWS and the Arizona Chapter understood this and an important part of every chapter was born -- the Conservation Affairs Committee. Although not always called Conservation Affairs, the Chapter has had from the start an avenue to review man's manipulations of the environment, a committee of biologists ready to offer their expert comments. Early on, in 1970, the Chapter reviewed the Public Land Law Review Commission's proposed fee system for sport hunting on federal lands. In 1971 the Chapter supported the inclusion of Cabeza Prieta Game Range into the federal wilderness system. By 1973, activities increased and comments were written in support of the USFS roadless area review's wilderness system, and the Organic Act, which established the legal means for BLM's multiple-use concepts. Chapter members were put on a Professional Standards Committee to review employee compensation levels for biologists. Threatened and endangered species were on the minds of Chapter biologists, as a position statement recommended that the AGFD prepare a list of T&E species in Arizona to meet the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Also, a reintroduction of black-tailed prairie dogs on Coronado forestlands was suggested. In 1975, the Chapter filed a complaint to the Federal Communication Commission and the U.S. Congress regarding the airing of the TV program Guns of Autumn (CBS), commented on USFS Range and Land Resource Planning Act (RPA), an amendment to the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, the Wet Lands Act, and the Navajo Land Settlement Bill (PL 93-531). Members concluded that the RPA was commodity-oriented and not resource/management-oriented, written by economists for economists. Support was given for Goal C and Program Direction 111. The Chapter was a member of AWF (Tom Britt, representative), the Arizona Conservation Council (Rep. John Carr), and the Save the Strip coalition. Donating money ($25.00), the Chapter was extremely interested in the "Navajo Land Grab," a development plan for 250,000 acres in the Houserock Valley-Paria Plateau area by the Navajo tribe. The Save the Strip coalition was opposed to the part of the settlement bill that would allow such development. By 1977, the Chapter was reviewing many environmental issues, producing 15 position statements. The Committee's official name changed from Environmental Action to the current Conservation Affairs. Reviews were made on such documents as the Forest Roadless Planning Act, the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, and National Park Service burro management plans. Bob Barsch replaced Ron Olding as Chairman during the year. Activities in 1978 included the BLM McVickers' transfer controversy, asked for an EIS on Off-Road Vehicle Use on Department of Interior lands, commented on a draft of The Bald Eagle in the Southwest, requested a draft of the Salt-Gila Aqueduct EIS, reviewed the Rare 11 documents, the Palo-Verde-Devers Transmission Line EIS, and CAP documents regarding Orme Dam and Camelback Dam. Member Steve Gallizioli was on the national TWS Conservation Affairs Committee. Central Arizona Project documents consumed much time in 1979, particularly the Tucson Aqueduct DEIS scoping. The Chapter accepted Route 13 of Reach One and Route 8 of Reach Two as the official position, found a closed system or underground pipeline an acceptable method of delivery, and concluded the Bureau of Reclamation lacked sufficient biological data to meet its commitments. Several important longer term issues arose in 1980, one the very complex LMP process, the other the highly emotional "Sagebrush Rebellion." The LMP commitment by the USFS was starting to surface in Arizona and requests for Chapter participation were made and the Chapter geared up to honor the requests. The Chapter was opposed to the passage of the "Sagebrush Rebellion" legislation and $50.00 were donated to the newly established Save Our Public Lands Coalition to set up the mechanism to counteract the legislation. Other 1980 activities of the Committee, headed by Judy Hohman and Cindy Edwards, were the support of the Grand Canyon NP final EIS that called for strict removal and efficient control of feral burros; opposition to Hooker Dam; against aerial spraying of malathion over 170,000 acres; supported FWS DEIS on the Kofa Refuge that called for reduction in cattle grazing and total removal of feral burros; a position opposing the planned John F. Long Hometown Community near Lake Pleasant; and wilderness study areas and riparian issues. With Judy and Cindy at the helm, committee activities, and therefore Chapter environmental activities, burst into full maturity. The organizational structure to provide well-written reviews was in place and the membership network established to write them. The 1981 year was dominated by the Sagebrush issue, an effort by special interests to turnover federal lands into private ownership. Started by the Nevada legislature years earlier, Arizona political interests joined in 1980 and the fight was on. Members Steve Williams and Bob Barsch were the early contacts, with Steve the chair of an ad hoc committee and Bob the active member to the coalition opposing the 1980 bill. The legislative bill did three things: 1) laid state's rights claim to all federal land except parks, forests, and Indian Reservations (thus, BLM public lands at issue); 2) added Chapter 5 of Title 38 to A.R.S. by setting up machinery to administer lands; and 3) appropriated certain monies to fund this act. Passed over the veto of Governor Bruce Babbitt, the law was made to acquire 12.5 million acres of BLM to the State Land Department to manage, then move into private ownership by sale. A coalition of the AWF, Maricopa County Audubon Society, Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society, National Campers and Hikers Association, and the Chapter was established to rescind the bill, needing nearly 54,000 valid signatures on petition for inclusion on the 1982 general election deadline. The coalition held a rally on 4 April 1981 at the Adams-Hilton Hotel in Phoenix, using $200.00 from the Chapter to help fund it. A June deadline of 18,000 of the 54,000 was needed at the Secretary-of -State's office to continue, and Chapter members responded. Thirty percent of the active Save Our Public Lands Committee were Chapter members (Williams, Barsch, Ohmart, Ockenfels). Special recognition must go to ASU professor Bob Ohmart, who volunteered many hours and dollars as he gave many informative and persuasive talks to the public. Beyond the Sagebrush issue, other members aided the Committee on such diverse items as aid to the Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit program; continuation of the Endangered Species Act, RARE II Review Act of 1981; Orme Dam and CAP; and the inadequate USFS SW Region Land and Resource Management Plan. The 1982 year saw the Chapter support the retention of AGFD's present permit system (i.e., deer hunt options), be for inclusion of the San Francisco River as a wild and scenic river and work hard on water issues such as the Central Arizona Water Control Study and the Upper Gila Water Supply Study. Grazing statements, feral burro, and bighorn sheep issues were also reviewed. Like 1981, the Sagebrush Rebellion issue dominated Chapter efforts. The Society Council handed the Chapter $1250 to assist in the fight and the coalition hired future Phoenix mayor Terry Goddard to help collect signatures to meet the deadline of I July 1982. In excess of 64,000 were turned in (needed 53,865 valid), however, a sample check (5 percent) by Secretary of State Rose Mofford's office found a 19 percent error rate and rejected the petition. A lawsuit was filed by Goddard for the coalition asking for a recount, and the issue was put on the November 2, 1982 ballot. Only 43 percent voted "yes" on Proposition 203 to repeal the state's claim, as the "bottle bill" issue bombarded the media and little time was available to educate Arizona's 600,000 voters. The effort of 1980-82 by the Chapter was for a losing cause. Once again the Chapter was called upon to support budgeting for the Cooperative Units, as 1983 started. Federal axemen decided these wildlife and fisheries training systems were not necessary, but pressure from concerned groups resulted in funding. Tice Supplee, together with Coop. help, spearheaded the effort. As before, Judy Hohman chaired the Committee and they reviewed many actions, among them Tucson Phase B of the CAP; the BLM's Habitat Management Plan for the Strip, the Virgin River-Pakoon Basin HMP; the DEIS for the Tonto National Forest Plan; Senate bill S. 626 for BLM's first wilderness at Aravaipa Canyon; BLM actions like Tebuthiuron treatment areas, Bonita Creek Exclosure, Burro Creek Riparian Management Plan; old growth data for LMPs on northern national forests; consideration of the "Gila Box" of the San Francisco River under the Wild and Scenic River Act; and assistance to the Arizona Wilderness Coalition. The 1983 Chapter was busy on the environmental issue front. Although the Chapter was busy on Arizona matters related to the environment, national and international issues also were important to 1984 members of the Executive Board and Conservation Committee. The Chapter supported deauthorization of the Cross-Florida Barge Canal, a federal water boondoggle not unlike western projects. The LMP process at the national level also drew fire as the 1985-2030 Resource Planning Act was reviewed and lambasted for its economical trendencies. State matters for 1984 included a continuation of reviewing the Tucson Phase B of the CAP; EA's for bighorn sheep in Paria-Kanab Creeks, masked bobwhite recovery plans, and the Topock dike work; concern was voiced over BLM's feral horse and burro program; supported Arizona Senate Bill 1396 to reauthorize the nongame checkoff for wildlife. All in all, 30 requests and 11 congressional issues were dealt with by Judy and her network. The greatest furor was caused by the use of skyline or cable logging on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest and considerable time was spent on the issue. The Executive Board also started to investigate the possibility of a statewide T&E database to assist agencies on environmental reviews. The special status database, T&E and listed species, was started on by an interagency team in 1985. Chapter President Bruce Jones pushed through the team. The system was to be patterned after the Arizona Natural Heritage Program (Nature Conservancy) and was to be based on microcomputers linked together. A major issue for 1985 was the proposed Mt. Graham astrophysical site by USFS. The draft Coronado LMP (1982) designated the site as a possibility after a 1980 evaluation by Stewart Observatory of UA and the Smithsonian Institution. The number one action by the Committee was the establishment of a subcommittee on LMP review, headed by Norris Dodd. The subcommittee was to stand for several years as each LMP was reviewed and biologists trained to comment properly. Other 1985 issues were BR's bankline stabilization and armoring on the Colorado River. DEIS for Tucson Phase B, CAP; Gila Box Rock Mountain Bighorn transplant; DEIS for the Bill Williams Ski Area proposal; and a meeting with Arizona Department of Transportation on highway right-of-way clearings. A total of 24 items were reviewed and responded to. President Kepner noted in his outgoing message that: "The Conservation Affairs Committee has always had special significance to the Chapter ... it remains the one committee which can affect land and resource decisions." The 1986 Committee was chaired by Judy Hohman and Bob Hall. They noted that 15 different members provided time and expertise for TWS activities, and they wrote input on 14 key issues, excluding the LMP process, which was handled by Norris Dodd. Select responses were recommending critical habitat designation for the Hualapai Vole, development of a position to the President's Commission on Americans Outdoors with AFS and the newly formed Riparian Council, for reauthorization of the Clean Water Act, designation of the San Pedro Riparian Conservation Area, and review of DEIS Mt. Graham Astrophysical Area. The LMP Subcommittee was busy in 1986 and over 3,000 pages of text were reviewed for four National Forests (Coconino, Prescott, Apache-Sitgreaves, Kaibab) LMP documents. The select subcommittee of Dodd, Cole Crocker Bedford, Keith Menasco, Tice Supplee, and Bob Vahle deserve special recognition for their outstanding and time-consuming effort (270 plus hours). The subcommittee's intent was to provide comments to improve the documents, not to criticize them. Strong points, as well as weak ones, were noted. RESOLUTIONSThrough the Executive Board or the Conservation Affairs Committee, the viewpoints of the Chapter on environmental issues are expressed. However, position statements do not carry the weight nor fully express the Chapter membership's commitment like the passing of a resolution. Webster defined a resolution as: "A formal determination, or expression of opinion, of a deliberative assembly or other body of persons." Unlike position statements, resolutions are passed by membership vote, generally at the annual meeting. The Charter members wasted little time and less than a year after establishment, a resolution was written and passed (February 6, 1969). The issue was phreatophyte eradication projects and the membership was opposed to such practices (Resolution of Arizona Chapter of The Wildlife Society on Phreatophyte Clearing Projects). Some of the resolutions are reproduced in the appendices (Appendix A), others could not be found, as early record keeping practices were not as complete as necessary for historical documentation. The 1970 year was a busy one for resolutions as the membership recommended Arizona law be revised to include the mountain lion as a big game classified animal in the Arizona Revised Statutes, and thus managed properly, instead of being treated as "vermin". Also, the membership opposed the triple expansion of the Grand Canyon National Park and commended U.S. Senators Gaylord Nelson (D-WI) and Pete McClosky (R-CA) for sponsoring a National Teach-In to focus environmental issues to the youth of America, both in resolution form. A 1971 resolution entitled Positive Statement of the Arizona Chapter of The Wildlife Society in Opposition to the Central Arizona Project was passed and distributed to press media, Congress, and conservation groups. Members attending the May board meeting covered the cost of mailing. The 1972 membership took a firm stand on employee compensation, and it directed the Executive Board to develop a resolution in opposition to the inclusion of AGFD in a proposed State Natural Resources Division. It was the major item of the 1973 meeting. Also passed were the following resolutions: Moratorium on Livestock Grazing on Public and State Lands in Portions of Arizona Pertaining to the Introduction of Certain Federal Legislation Concerned with Management of Resident, Marine, and Migratory Solely on the Basis of Protective Concepts Relative to Requiring Environmental Impact Statements for Issuing Grazing Permits on Federal Lands Pertaining to the Transfer of Public Lands to Indian Tribes Pertaining to the Reintroduction of Grizzly Bear into Arizona and New Mexico Pertaining to Permitting Natural Fires on Public Lands The 1972 Resolutions Committee was easily the busiest the Chapter had produced, and they have not been surpassed since. Dave Brown chaired the Committee and was the Chapter's Resolutions workhorse. In 1974, the Chapter membership reaffirmed the "Phreatophyte Clearing Resolution", as they believe it to be detrimental to wildlife. They also passed a resolution to halt new construction of and maintain only its present state Highway 366 (Pertaining to Construction of Swift Trail) and an Executive Board written resolution asking for a revival of the bighorn sheep reintroduction program. The TV showing of CBS' "Guns of Autumn" resulted in a 1975 resolution from AWF asking for equal air time and condemning the network for emotionalism, and the Chapter was a part of the AWF at this time. Changes in the way feral burros and horses were managed was asked for in the 1976 Resolution for Passage of Federal Legislation for Management of Wild Horses and Burros. The Sagebrush Rebellion issue prompted the 1981 membership to be Resolved to Oppose Diverting Federal Lands to Public Ownership The 1982 membership passed a resolution to allow "taxpayers of Arizona to contribute by way of a 'check-off' box on the State Income Tax Form" monies for the AGFD to use in non-game wildlife activities. They also passed one regarding AGFD's hunt options in favor of the existing permit system. The 1983 Annual Meeting attendees debated a resolution on the Preservation of Old Growth Coniferous Forests and the membership finally passed as read. The debate was centered on definitions of terms and if they should be included in text or in a cover letter. The cover letter idea won over the text changes. The 1985 membership passed, unopposed, a resolution on Integrated Resource Management of Arizona's National Forests. With minor changes from the floor, a resolution endorsing the nationally acclaimed Project Wild education program was passed at 1987's Annual Meeting. For many years, the use of resolutions by the Chapter has remained relatively quiet, usually only one per year to vote on. The 1987 Meeting was the same. Not since the early 1970's has the Chapter keyed on this avenue to address issues related to the environment. Most of the resolutions to date were the handiwork of Bud Bristow and Dave Brown. Somebody has to stir the pot! OTHER ACTIVITIESThe preceding sections deal with major Chapter activities over the years, but by no means account for all the effort put forth by members in volunteer service. Newsletters were produced and distributed to the membership, bylaws were revised and voted on, educational activities were set up, and other organizations were the benefit of the time and/or money. Information dissemination to the membership is the goal of any newsletter, and the Chapter publication has continued to improve in that regard. Volume 1, Number I was printed in 1968, the Charter year, and printing has ebbed and flowed ever since. Number 2 also came out in 1968, however, early efforts were impaired by a lack of funding. For example, only the spring newsletter was produced in 1974. The draft operations manual sets four as a goal to obtain; spring, summer, fall, and winter. More than four were written in 1977, 1981, 1982, and 1984. Six (1984) is the highest total noted. Editorship of the newsletter has generally passed on each year and was based in the same area as the presidency, and resulted in a decided lack of uniformity. With the computerization of the membership address file and the rapid growth of the word-processing industry, the ease of producing a newsletter was greatly increased. As the quality of the newsletter got better, so did interest in it. Finally, an editor stepped forward and he has been durable; Jim deVos has become the editor, and a uniform quality has resulted. Hard work and good secretarial staffing are the prime factors to a good newsletter. In order to operate in a professional manner, organizations need strong bylaws to follow. Chapter bylaws are approved first by the membership and then The Wildlife Society Council. All Chapter procedures must meet TWS guidelines. Changes in the bylaws are proposed to the membership when necessary and approval asked of Council, when either the Executive Board or the membership found the existing bylaws to be outmoded. In 1977, major revisions ere made and approved (July 10) in regard to Executive Board alignment an- definition of membership. A switch was made to a President-Elect system instead of the older Vice-President concept, and, for the first time, all state regular members would be assessed an annual dues ($3.00) for administrative funds. Voter apathy in regard to bylaws is strong as only 15 people voted on the 1981 revision. In 1985, the structure of the Executive Board changed again as an amendment added a Recording Secretary and redefined the Secretary-Treasurer position. Education has also played an important part of the Chapter's activities. During the Chapter's first year (1968), it became a member of the newly formed Arizona Conservation Education Advisory Council. The Council was established to aid Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction in the development, implementation and integration of programs designed with a conservation theme into the elementary and secondary school curriculums. Dan Schadle, the President, was the representative and Ron Clothier the alternate. At an "Environmental Teach-in" in 1970, Bob Hernbrode, Steve Gallizioli, Bud Bristow, and Dick Todd carried the word of wildlife management to audiences. During the same year, Bob Hernbrode was a member of the Conservation Education Advisory Council, and they started work on a teacher's manual to management, the start of the "Project Wild" movement. Other Chapter members, like Kerry Baldwin, Cheryl Mollahan, Al LeCount, Mary Gilbert, and others, have continued in this venture of educating the State's new generation in the ways of wildlife and fisheries management. In 1982, Bob Hernbrode was recognized for his pioneering efforts in education as the Chapter's Professionalism award recipient, and his protege Kerry Baldwin received the same award in 1985 for his outstanding contributions to education. The attempts to promote proper management to the youngsters has been recognized by Chapter members as extremely important. Management will be more difficult in the upcoming decades, and positive public support will be necessary if biologists are to accomplish their objectives. Education must "pave the way" for that public support to materialize. For 11 years (1976-86) the Chapter has worked with the Society for Range Management (SRM) on the Yavapai Rangeland Field Day. Today, the name is the Natural Resources Workshop and it no longer is centered in one county. For over 25 years, the SRM has sponsored an event designed to unite students with resource managers, acquaint them with management goals, and provide on-the-ground experience. The Chapter has participated when possible, normally covering the cost of attendance for one student. In 1977, the fee donated was $25.00 for a "Herbicides and Values in Rangeland Management" course in the Rangeland Field. By 1984, the cost per student was $100.00 for the Resources Workshop, and the Chapter covered a student. Steve Williams has been the primary mover with his dual membership in the Societies. The Chapter has always helped the two State Student Chapters in education matters. Financial assistance has been provided during most years to help defray costs of students attending the annual Western Students Conclave a wildlife "GE College Bowl". The Executive Boards' have normally held the position that the Student Chapters should attempt to provide their own way by use of fund-raising events and good fiscal restraint, but assist them in covering shortfalls in funds if the efforts have not resulted in sufficient funds. Other education activities for the Chapter have been signing a special use permit with Tonto National Forest to allow the ASU Student Chapter to construct the Lower Salt River Nature Trail. The 1984 Executive Board was convinced by ASU members Carolyn Engel-Wilson and Connie Hunt that the Student Chapter would be able to handle the project. Carolyn and Connie worked diligently to overcome the Executive Board's tough stance on the issue of long-term student projects, and the author signed the lease, but not without reservations. These doubts were quickly removed as the ASU students worked closely with the Tonto National Forest and AGFD's Nongame Branch for completion. The Maricopa County Audubon Society Board voted to assist on the trail's maintenance and must be recognized for their stance. On an international front, the 1984 Executive Board purchased a 30-year set of the Journal of Wildlife Management from retiring AGFD member Paul Webb and donated the $250.00 set, plus other books collected, to the newly established Chapter in Mexico. Southwest Representative Lytle Blankenship delivered the books during an international meeting in Mexico City. The Chapter had become so active in the 1980's that past president Goodwin (1983) decided to put together an Operations Manual, with the 1985 Executive Board's approval. A working draft was completed in 1985 and finalized in 1986. Guidance to officers and committees was provided, including most procedures and time schedules, including the organizing of the Joint Annual AFS/TWS Meeting. During 1986, an Ad Hoc Committee for Scholarships was formed, following a monetary donation by Pat Morrison. The committee would finalize application and evaluation criteria by the 1988 Annual Meeting. The wish of Pat Morrison was that the scholarship would help individuals obtain outside training for professional certification standards or qualify for certain job descriptions. |
