Hello,
I received an email from Brian Wakeling responding to my concern this afternoon. His email seemed to include some decision makers so I feel confident they have given the issue some attention. Considering the short timeframe and the other competing priorities that were going on this week at AZGFD (draw results/Expo cleanup), I am impressed with the speed of response to say the least. I would advise anyone that questions the value of raising a concern and it falling on deaf ears to read the following play by play. I realize the story isn't over on this issue but things seem to be moving along at this point. I will continue to keep everyone posted if/when I get more updates. By the way, I am just a grunt hunter like everyone else. I drive a 5-year old truck, shoot a 6-year old bow, and wear 10-year old camo, just a regular guy.
Anyway?here is the play by play so far?.
Monday 3/29/10, checked my draw results, no antelope or elk this year, ANGER followed by acceptance?.oh well, lets look at the leftovers. Wow, those are SOME leftovers. Called Game and Fish, yep, confirmed that even non-Hopis can use a leftover Hopi tag. Sure is fishy that they are going out via the mail in process, this isn't good. I stewed most of the afternoon and couldn't focus on work.
Monday, 3/29/10, about 3:30-4PM. I sent the following note of concern to all of the AZGFD Commissioners (this was still the day the results came out)
Name: Ryan K
City: Peoria
State: AZ
Subject: Leftover Permits
Comment: There are several quality tags on the 2010 Elk & Antelope leftover list as a result of undersubscribed hunts for the Hopis. This is a unique situation that will almost certainly not be duplicated next year. I would strongly recommend the AZGFD Dept to post the successful applicants for the leftover tags publicly as it will looks very fishy if these extremely high demand tags are allocated through the standard mail in process. The public list should include the full last name, first initial and the hunt number. I would also put a notice on your website prior to the due date of 4/26/10 that reminds those applying for these tags that the successful applicants will be publicly posted. Besides improving customer experience, and maintaining the credibility of the department, it will also prevent sneaky people from trying to game the system in the first place. The quality of these tags is unprecedented. These tags are worth big bucks and the fact that they are available with no bonus point impact is sure to put a public microscope on the process and the provoke interest of those that are inclined to abuse the process. I think the Game and Fish Dept is an honest group and I think a little proactive transparency would prevent future bad publicity and public mistrust.
Tuesday, 3/30/10, about 9 PM. After some deliberation, I decided start this thread on Monster Muleys. My new thought was to have these permits issued by raffle since my original thought of publicly posting the names of the successful permitees didn't pass the ?sleep on it? test from the night before. I must have still been grumpy from not drawing an elk tag when I demanded the public list.
Wednesday 3/31/10, stomped on a cricket in the backyard, no other action or long winded posts.
Thursday 4/1/10, about 3:25 PM. Frustrated by a sense that my point was unclear on the thread, I posted another long winded post for clarification.
Friday 4/2/10 (Today), about 12:46 PM, I received the following response from Brian Wakeling at AZGFD.
From: Brian Wakeling <
[email protected]>
Add to Contacts
To:
[email protected]
Cc: Jennifer L. Martin <
[email protected]>; Mike Senn <
[email protected]>; Robert Woodhouse <
[email protected]>; Leonard Ordway <
[email protected]>; Rulemaking <
[email protected]>; John Bullington <
[email protected]>... more
________________________________________
Ryan:
Commission Chair Martin forwarded your idea to me and asked that I respond to you on her behalf.
The leftover tags that you referenced in your email are primarily those permits allocated first to the Hopi Tribal members in the Commission?s agreement to collaborate with the Hopi Tribe on Hopi Trust Lands. This was a very innovative arrangement that allowed the general populace continued access to sovereign Hopi Trust lands, and provided Hopi Tribal members with an allocated proportion of the permitted hunting opportunity within Units 4A, 5A, and 5B.
Any permits left unissued to Hopi Tribal members became available to the general populace through the first come, first serve process by this agreement.
The first come, first serve process is governed by Arizona Administrative Code R12-4-114 (specifically subsection C.2.d), which describes the first come, first served process. It follows a schedule approved by the Arizona Game and Fish Commission at the December 2009 meeting, which identifies an acceptance date by mail of April 26, 2010 for first come, first served applicants. Any remaining permits may be acquired at a Department office (as well as by mail) beginning on May 3, 2010.
Any applications received prior to that date are returned to the applicant (no fees deducted), and any applications received after all the permits are issued are also returned to the applicant (no fees deducted).
This is the system governed by Commission Rule (Arizona Administrative Code) and Commission-approved application schedule, which the Department must adhere to. The system has worked well in the past, and we believe it will meet our needs for this application period.
Because you have suggested some ideas that may worthy of further analysis, I am also copying our rulemaking section so that your comments will be part of the next Article 1 rulemaking review.
Should you wish to know specifically who draws these permits after the first come, first served assignment of permits, this information is available simply by making a public records request. We do not routinely post this information on our web site because some individuals may be sensitive to releasing their names.
Let me know if you have any further questions.
Brian Wakeling
Game Branch Chief
623-236-7385
Friday 4/2/10 (Today), about 5PM (didn't notice Brian?s response until late this afternoon), I replied to Brian and the rest of his distribution list with the following.
To: Brian Wakeling <
[email protected]>
Cc: Jennifer L. Martin <
[email protected]>; Mike Senn <
[email protected]>; Robert Woodhouse <
[email protected]>; Leonard Ordway <
[email protected]>; Rulemaking <
[email protected]>; John Bullington <
[email protected]>... more
________________________________________
Brian,
Thank you for your timely and considerate response. My initial input was a little knee-jerk and I have since revised my position to be more supportive of changing the process to issue these permits through a raffle. I now believe the best option (barring any legal or regulatory conflicts) would be to add these tags to the Arizona Big Game Super Raffle. This would generate more interest in ticket sales and would seem to require very little additional work to implement on your end in my opinion (and probably result in far more dollars and far less processing). I realize these permits reside in separate allocation pools and this is almost certainly more complex than I probably realize. I hope the rulemaking committee meeting occurs in the near future as this situation is almost certainly a fluke and unlikely to occur again in the future (and April 26th is coming up fast). I still believe the mail-in process is still a bad option for these valuable permits under any circumstances.
I am documenting my communications with you guys on a public forum called monstermuleys.com in the Arizona section. I have no connection with this website other than the fact that it tends to attract a pretty sophisticated group of AZ hunters and I was looking for input from some of the heavy hitters. I have not shared this concern anywhere else on the internet. The name of the thread is ?Leftover Hopi tags should be distributed through raffle or auction?. The discussion board does not require membership or registration to read a response or thread. I have only had positive experiences with AZGFD in the past and I had a feeling early on that there would be solid resolution of this. You definitely exceeded my expectations by responding this quickly during what is probably a pretty busy week for you guys (draw result week and the week following the Expo). Thanks again and please feel free to contact me directly or respond to my discussion thread if you feel it would be worthwhile.
Best regards,
Ryan
Just a regular guy, 4 days in......AND NOW WE WAIT