Game & Fish

Viewpoint: Attack on Voter Protection Act threatens our valuable initiative process

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[Source: William C. Thornton, Special to the Arizona Daily Star, 3-8-2010] — Voters Beware!  Once again our right to legislate by initiative is under attack in the Arizona Legislature.  Inspired by the progressive movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, framers of the Arizona Constitution provided citizens with the initiative and recall as remedies for an unresponsive Legislature and direct means of removing corrupt or incompetent public officials from office.

It’s no secret that many legislators don’t like initiatives.  Many voter-approved measures provide evidence of a gap between an electorate with a progressive streak and the conservative legislative leadership.  Examples include the Arizona Heritage Fund, which passed by a 2-1 ratio in 1990.  With Heritage Funds, the citizens of Arizona have invested more than $400 million of lottery revenue in Arizona State Parks and Game and Fish, and earned many additional millions of dollars in matching grants.  If you hunt, fish, hike, camp, boat or picnic, you have benefited from the Heritage Fund at no cost to taxpayers.

By initiative we have also banned the barbaric blood sport of cockfighting, the hideously cruel use of leg-hold animal traps and mandated more humane conditions for factory-farmed hogs.  These measures all passed with overwhelming public support when the Legislature couldn’t or wouldn’t act.

Through the mid 1990s legislators engaged in a series of fund transfers and other actions designed to undermine the initiative process.  Matters came to a head when, in a particularly outrageous display of contempt for voters, legislators took it upon themselves to “fix” an initiative that legalized the limited use of medical marijuana.  The backlash produced the “Voter Protection Act” of 1998 that rendered voter-approved initiatives immune from legislative tampering.  [Note: To read the full opinion, click here.]

Record 40,499 sandhill cranes counted in southern Arizona

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[Source: Outdoor News Daily.com, 2-13-2010] — The Sulphur Springs Valley in Arizona attracted a record 40,499 wintering sandhill cranes, providing an unparalleled wildlife watching opportunity in southern Arizona this year, say Arizona Game and Fish Department biologists.  “In 2008 this agriculturally-rich valley in southern Arizona drew a record 36,708 sandhill cranes.  This year circumstances and conditions conspired for this 80-mile-long valley to attract thousands more of these magnificent large birds,” said Mike Rabe, the department’s migratory game bird program manager.

Sandhill cranes are some of the largest birds in North America and have a wingspan of six to eight feet across, allowing them to fly and soar up to 100 miles in a single day in their quest for food.  Huge V-shaped flights of sandhill cranes plying the skies provide a thrilling sight for wildlife viewers.  When standing on the ground, adult sandhills can reach six feet tall.  “Experiencing the morning sandhill crane launch at the department’s two wildlife areas, especially Whitewater Draw, is truly spectacular.  Witnessing the cranes return to roost at these wildlife areas can be equally spectacular, especially during one of Arizona’s brilliant sunsets,” Rabe said. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

Glendale looks at next phase of park

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[Source: Michelle Gingerich, yourwestvalley.com, 11-29-2009] — The Glendale parks and recreation commission will consider both budget issues and community feedback as it begins to plan the next phase of construction for the Western Area Regional Park at 83rd Avenue and Bethany Home Road.  When construction is completed, the Western Area Regional Park will be an 81-acre park with an assortment of amenities.  “The park gives a community aspect to Glendale’s sports and entertainment district,” said Bill Schwind, the deputy director of parks and recreation.

The city has plans to add a branch library, multi-generational recreation center, an aquatics complex, soccer, softball and little league baseball fields, an urban fishing park, a dog park, tennis courts and additional basketball courts to the park.  The park and all of the amenities are not expected to be completed until 2020.  “We are now evaluating what the costs will be for each additional future amenity,” said Mike Gregory, the park’s project coordinator.  “We will be evaluating not only the construction of the amenities but the costs to operate it once it’s built.”  [Note: To read the full article. click here.]

Discovery Garden starting to take shape at Esperanza

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[Source: Arizona Republic, Coty Delores Miranda, 10-6-2009] — After more than two years in the planning, the Kyrene de la Esperanza Discovery Garden and Outdoor Classroom is getting underway with a pond building and tree planting set for Saturday.  Volunteers are still being sought to help all day or anytime from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

With the expert guidance of Paul Holderman, founder of Pond Gnome and creator of the Koi Pond in the Phoenix Zoo entrance, volunteers will help lay the liner on the 25-foot-long pond, install a pump to recycle water in a free-falling stream over rocks, line the edges with river rock and incorporate water plants.  If possible, small native trees will also be planted in an effort to move to the second and third phases of the Discovery Garden creation.

In 2006, the Esperanza Discovery Garden began with an application to the Arizona Game and Fish Department for a $10,000 Heritage Fund grant — monies derived from Lottery ticket sales.  They received the grant in May 2007. [Note: to read the full story, click here.]