2002 ARIZONA SPECIAL ANTELOPE TAG FUND
Updated 04/11/02

In 2002, one of our special antelope tags was auctioned for $51,000 at the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society's fundraiser, while the other was auctioned for $39,000 at the Arizona Elk Society’s fundraiser. Because we are the organization to which the tags were awarded, however, we sit on the committee that decides how the money will be spent.

In the last issue of the Pronghorn, we gave you an overview of the special tag fund projects approved in the summer of 2000 for the current year.  In August of this year, representatives of the Foundation met with the Arizona Game and Fish Department to get a report on those projects and review the project proposals for the coming year.  The two special tags that were auctioned this spring generated a total of $74,000, and with carryover from previous years, something in the neighborhood of $115,000 was available for antelope projects in the coming year.  One of the projects approved last year, unit 10 predator management, was unable to get the necessary clearances and was cancelled.  Two others, the Sinks/Sterling burn in unit 6B and the Goodwin Mesa burn in unit 18B, are still awaiting the necessary environmental clearances but are scheduled to go forward. All the other projects that we approved have either been accomplished or will be in the very near future. Here is a listing of the special tag fund projects approved for the upcoming year:

Ellsworth trick tank construction and reconstruction of Cottonwood trick tank.  This project will provide two reliable water sources in a portion of game management unit 3C that has a good population of resident pronghorns and also has been identified as critical winter range. 

South Pasture tree shearing.  Mechanical shears, sometimes known as an agra-axe (see pictures in the last issue), will be used to clear encroaching brush from approximately 300 acres in unit 3A.  Mechanical shears offer a significant advantage over past methods of brush clearing because they don’t disturb the soil in the area being treated to any significant extent.  This makes getting the necessary environmental clearances, especially the archeological clearances, much easier to obtain.

Bar-T-Bar soil stabilization project.  In this project,dead junipers from a recent4,000 acre chaining will be moved into a drainage to act as check dams.  In addition to controlling erosion, vegetation will grow in the sediment that builds up behind the check dams.  The project will take place on private and state lands of the Bar-T-Bar Ranch in unit 5B.

Brannigan Flat vicinity grassland restoration.  This project will involve the use of mechanical shears to remove encroaching pine, pinyon, and juniper trees from approximately 390 acres of grasslands in the Brannigan Flat area of game management unit 7 West.

Highway 180 pronghorn crossing corridor.  Pronghorns have traditionally used a one-mile corridor on Highway 180 between Flagstaff and Valle to move between their summer and winter ranges. Babbitt Ranches has proposed doing a forage enhancement project in the area that will also facilitate movement through the corridor.  About 1,200 acres recently invaded by pinyons and junipers will be treated with an agra-axe, creating a mosaic of treated and untreated areas.

Truxton Flat dam repairs.  This project involves moving earth to reinforce the dams and deepen the basins of three earthen tanks in the northwestern portion of unit 18A.  These tanks, Antelope, Cherokee, and Dead Cow, were all damaged by a summer thunderstorm that created extremely high runoff.

Huff grassland restoration.  Another agra-axe project. In this case, pinyon and juniper will be removed from an area of roughly 500 acres of state land surrounding Huff Reservoir in unit 9.  Two or three years after the project is completed, a prescribed burn will be done.

Perrin Pasture prescribed burn.  This prescribed fire will be conducted in the Perrin Pasture area of the Kaibab National Forest in unit 9.  The object of the burn is to open up the habitat and improve forage and visibility for pronghorns in the area.

Arizona Strip fence inventory.  To accomplish this project, two summer interns will be hired to use GPS technology to map livestock fences in game management units 13A and 13B, noting which ones need modification to make them more antelope-friendly.  Since antelope generally won’t jump a fence, they need to slip underneath, and many livestock fences have barbed wire so close to the ground that the antelope can’t get through.  Ideally, the bottom strand should be 16” to 18” above the ground and it should be slick, rather than barbed, wire.  Most of the land in the project area belongs to the Bureau of Land Management or the state.  The plan calls for modification the following year of fences that don’t meet wildlife standards.

Yellow Jacket solar well improvement.  The Yellow Jacket well has been a critical water source for the Marlow antelope herd in unit 21 since it was installed in 1993.  The well is currently inoperative because of a lightning strike.  This project will replace the damaged well pump and solar panels, as well as increasing the capacity of the solar unit.

Davis Pasture water catchment.  The herd of 30 or so pronghorns in the portion of unit 34B just west of the Mustang Mountains doesn’t have a reliable perennial water source because of the ranch management practice of draining waters to aid in the movement of livestock. This project will provide a year-round water source with a livestock exclosure, hopefully allowing the herd to expand its range and increase in size.