Heritage Fund

Attempt to revive voter-approved Heritage Fund stalled in House

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[Source: Jessica Testa, Arizona Capitol Times] – A lawmaker’s attempt to have Arizonans decide whether to revive the voter–approved Heritage Fund is stalled in the House. HCR 2047, authored by Rep. Russ Jones, R–Yuma, earned unanimous approval from the House Agriculture and Water Committee in early February, but the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee has declined to hear it.

The measure could potentially reinstate the $10 million annually that the Heritage Fund provided to Arizona State Parks. The agency used the money to expand and improve its parks and provide grants to communities for trails, parks and historic preservation.

In 2010, lawmakers eliminated the Heritage Fund and reallocated the money to the general fund. Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said the bill wouldn’t be approved because the Legislature needs that $10 million for other natural resources funding, such as state trust land purchases and treatments to prevent forest fires. In addition, he said, the November ballot already has limited space. “The voters don’t like to see 20 or 30 ballot questions,” Kavanagh said. “We get criticized for that all the time. There has to be some triage.” Jones didn’t return phone calls seeking comment.

The Heritage Fund, established by voters in 1990, provided $10 million annually from the Arizona Lottery to the Arizona Game and Fish Department, which used the funds to promote recreation and environmental education and help endangered species, and $10 million to Arizona State Parks. The Heritage Fund was approved too early to fall under the 1998 Voter Protection Act, a constitutional amendment that prohibits the Legislature from reallocating voter-created funds.

“Voters fought for 20 years to protect this fund,” said Beth Woodin, president of the Heritage Alliance. “We’re doing everything we can in our waking hours to bring it back to them.” Woodin said Heritage Fund supporters are attempting to bypass Kavanagh, forming a committee of local political players and airing their concerns directly to House Speaker Andy Tobin, R–Paulden, and Senate President Steve Pierce, R–Prescott.

“The Heritage Fund has a huge economic impact,” she said. “For legislators who are cranking the line about job creation and community pride, this is something really positive to have on your resume.”

The Heritage Fund benefited groups such as Patronato Mission San Xavier del Bac in Tucson, which was granted $150,000 in 2007 to renovate its east tower. The grant was canceled before construction began. Now, with the building rapidly deteriorating, renovations could cost between $1.5 and 2 million, said executive director Vern Lamplot. “The longer it sits, the worse the condition of the east tower gets,” he said. “It’s a shame that voters passed this and legislators saw it fit to undo it.”

Woodin’s group has formed a political committee with members such as Grady Gammage Jr., lawyer and senior research fellow at Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy, and Richard Dozer, former president of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Heritage Fund supporter Lattie Coor, chairman and CEO of the Center for the Future of Arizona and former ASU president, said access to public space plays an essential role in the lives of Arizonans. “We have to stay attentive to that, protecting it and preserving it as the population continues to grow,” he said.

A House concurrent resolution would allow reinstatement of The Heritage Fund, which would help with renovations on buildings such as the Mission San Xavier del Bac in Tucson. Often called “White Dove of the Desert,” this building was founded in 1692. (Cronkite News Service Photo by Brittny Goodsell)

Game and Fish seeks public input at meeting on Heritage Fund wildlife areas

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[Source: Karen Warnick, White Mountain Independent] – Five large wildlife management areas in Apache County are owned and operated by the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Four of the areas are Heritage Fund sites: Becker Lake Wildlife area, Wenima Wildlife area, Sipe Wildlife area, and the Grasslands area. The fifth is the Springerville Marsh Wildlife area.

Employees of Game and Fish held a public meeting March 6 at the Eagar Town Hall for a property management review and to encourage the public to comment on the next six years of operation in the five areas.

Clarke House in Florence saved with help of the Heritage Fund

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[Source: Bonnie Bariola, Florence Reminder & Blade Tribune] –The Historic William Clarke House was saved for future generations to enjoy, thanks in large part to the Heritage Fund. The William Clarke house was built in 1884 as the home to newlyweds, William and Ella Clarke. The house was furnished with elegant new furniture from California. Except for three years, 1885-1888, the Clarkes resided in the Clarke House on Main Street in Florence. Ella first taught school and later became the postmistress while William worked in prospecting and mining.

During this time the Clarke House gained social prominence when the Clarkes hosted many tea parties, ice cream socials, musicals, and concerts. The last of the Clarke relatives passed away in 1956 at which time all the fine furnishings were sold at auction.

This territorial adobe house was abandoned for three years. The first real preservation effort in Florence began in 1959 when a group calling itself “The Go-For-Broke Associates” purchased the Clarke House from the estate of the last member of the Clarke family, for the purpose of “preserving it for its historic interest.” Unfortunately, this group was unable to rehabilitate or make an attempt to preserve the building.

Over the years rain caused the adobe walls to become unstable. Because of the potential danger to the public, the Town Council began discussions of condemnation of the building. In 1973 Miss Shirley Weik, Extension Agent of the Cooperative Extension Service at Casa Grande, paid to have a new iron fence constructed around the entire perimeter of the property. At that time portions of the roof were in serious need of repair yet the basic fabric and interior detailing remained intact.

Grant awarded

The house remained abandoned until 1994 when the town attorney, with assistance from Realtor Joe O’Betka and Ophelia Padilla, were able to gain title to the building and grounds from the descendants of the original twelve Go-For-Broke investors. At that time the town’s grants writer applied for and received a Heritage Fund grant for $105,000 to begin rehabilitation of the Clarke House.

With title to the property and a Heritage Fund Grant, the town was looking for someone to take over title and provide the match of $45,000 to begin rehabilitation of the property. Fortunately the owner of the Casa Grande Valley Newspapers, Donovan Kramer Sr., agreed to assume title to the property and provide the match for the existing grant and rehabilitate the property as home to the Florence Reminder and Blade Tribune.

In an agreement with State Parks and the town of Florence, The Florence Preservation Foundation, a nonprofit organization, agreed to be the sponsor and administrator of the grant. An additional grant was written by the Foundation in 2000 for $52,000 with Mr. Kramer providing match of $52,000. It should be emphasized that Mr. Kramer contributed far more money to this project than just the $97,000 match for the grants. The $157,000 Heritage Funds provided leverage for approximately $300,000 in private funds to be spent.

Proud to preserve history

Donovan Kramer, Jr., publisher of the Florence Reminder and Blade-Tribune, said, “Restoring the Clarke House as a home for the Florence newspaper was a project that was dear to the heart of my late father, Donovan Kramer Sr. He was proud to join many Florence residents in their quest to preserve the history of such a special town, so integral to the history of Pinal County and Arizona.”

This is yet another example of how the Heritage Funds were used to save a historic property in Florence. In 1990 the voters of Arizona voted to use $10 million of lottery funds for historic preservation, conservation, and trails. Due to difficult economic times, the Legislature deleted the verbiage from the Arizona Revised Statutes in 2010. HRC 2047 would send the Heritage Fund verbiage back to the voters to let them vote once again, to return them to the Arizona Revised Statutes. Please contact your legislators asking them to please support HRC 2047 to Restore the Voters’ Heritage Fund.

The passage of the Heritage Fund would create jobs in this difficult economy as well as help save more historic properties the same as the William Clarke House.

Sandhill cranes benefit from Heritage Fund

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Arizona’s winter sandhill crane population has boomed from about 4,000 in the late 1970s to more than 34,000 today, in large part because of the state’s Heritage Fund.

Money from the Heritage Fund has secured ideal habitat for the birds in southeastern Arizona. Voters created the fund in 1990 and authorized Game and Fish to use Arizona Lottery dollars to support wildlife conservation. The fund gets as much as $10 million annually. Game and Fish doesn’t get any state general fund money.

“One reason for the increasing number of cranes in the Sulfur Springs Valley is the availability of prime wetland habitat that the birds require and that the Game and Fish Department has provided,” said Mike Rabe, a migratory bird biologist with the Arizona Game and Fish Department. “Cranes that used to fly south to Mexico now stop in Arizona because of those habitats.”

The impressive increase in sandhill cranes is good news for wildlife enthusiasts. Seeing hundreds or even thousands of cranes take to the skies, feed in the fields or come in to land is a thrilling sight. Adult sandhill cranes can have wingspans of 6-7 feet and stand five feet tall.

The Heritage Fund’s direct impact on wildlife conservation is compounded by the economic benefit that wildlife viewing has on communities across the state, especially in rural areas.

The city of Willcox estimates that $60,000 to $80,000 comes into the local economy from hotel, gas, restaurant, and other related purchases just during Wings over Willcox, an annual four-day bird viewing event. Two state wildlife areas – the Willcox Playa Wildlife Area near Willcox and the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area near Douglas – offer visitors good viewing facilities, including bathrooms.

The Wings Over Willcox website at Wingsoverwillcox.com features maps of viewing sites and all kinds of information about sandhill cranes. The cranes migrate to southeastern Arizona in September and stay as late as March, with most of the birds present between November and February, according to the Wings Over Willcox site.

Sandhill crane viewing tips:

• The best viewing time is at first and last light when the cranes head out to feed, although it is possible to see them throughout the day during winter.

• Listen for the birds: They are very vocal and can often be heard before they are seen.

• Don’t forget your binoculars, spotting scopes, cameras and bird field guides.

For more information on wildlife viewing opportunities in the state, visit ww.azgfd.gov/wildlife.

For more information on the Heritage Fund and other state wildlife conservation programs, go online to azgfd.gov/w_c.