Daily Archives: April 9, 2016

AZGFD to display world-record desert bighorn sheep

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PHOENIX — The most magnificent desert bighorn sheep in the world now stands regal among the wildlife mounts on display at Arizona Game and Fish Department headquarters in Phoenix.

On loan from the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society, the massive ram joins the bull elk, pronghorn, black bear, mountain lion and more, including small game and several sportfish, in the customer service area for all to see.

Scrivens_Ram“This is the ideal place for this ram,” said Pete Cimellaro, whose organization delivered and assembled the mount in advance of this weekend’s meeting of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission. “It’s home. It’s just the epitome of what a desert bighorn sheep looks like – and a really, really big one.”

The backstory behind the “Scrivens” ram is almost as extraordinary as his immense horns that scored at 205-1/8 points when they were first measured unofficially in 1946 by the Boone and Crockett Club – a world record that hasn’t been challenged for 70 years.

While on a hunting trip in 1942 on a remote ranch on Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, Carl Scrivens and his brothers were taking a stroll around the ranch when they spotted the skull and horns in the back of a dilapidated wagon. According to vaqueros at the ranch, the ram had been killed a year or so earlier by a Native American who was hunting for meat and left the head.

Scrivens_Ram_-_1The brothers, knowledgeable about the size of desert bighorn rams, were not about to leave without the head and acquired it for a mere eight pesos — and a wool sweater Scrivens was wearing at the time that caught the eye of a vaquero.

“That goes down with things like the Louisiana Purchase,” Cimellaro said, laughing.

The ram was bequeathed in 1992 to ADBSS, of which Scrivens had been a lifelong member. In fact, he and his wife, Anna, often would come from their home in Afton, Wyo., to help with water catchment projects.

“They loved the desert,” Cimellaro said. “They shared many campfires with members of the sheep society. That affinity is what gave Carl the idea to allow us to be custodians of the ram. He said, ‘This is the perfect place because the sheep society is always going to care about sheep.’ ”

After obtaining a suitable cape for the ram from Game and Fish, the restored mount was put on display in 1992 at the Boone and Crockett Club’s National Collection of Heads and Horns at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyo. In recent years, the mount had found its way to the headquarters of Bass Pro Shops in Springfield, Mo. It was Cimellaro who recently made the trip back to Missouri, crated the world-record ram and brought it back to Arizona.

Cimellaro still marvels at the size of its thick, heavy horns.

“Nothing really has approached it,” Cimellaro said. “That might change someday, who knows? At this time, it’s one of the longest-standing records out there.”

Game and Fish headquarters is located at 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phoenix, 85086. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, except for holidays. For more information, visit www.azgfd.gov, or call (602) 942-3000.

Recycle bins rejoice: Innovation moves ADOT bid process from paper to PDF

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PHOENIX — Who says doing business with a government agency has to involve lots and lots and lots of paper?

Thanks to improvements to how the Arizona Department of Transportation presents project opportunities online, contractors’ recycle bins are getting lighter. Those interested in bidding for projects now can simply determine which projects they want to pursue and download related documents.

It replaces a process that was more than a little heavy on paper, requiring contractors to drive to ADOT and pay for copies of construction plans and specifications. For example, bidders hoping to work on a six-mile section of Loop 303 several years ago hauled away more than 1,700 pages of plans.

“This is another example of our commitment using the latest technology to continuously improve processes and create better experiences for our customers,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said.

The improvement is saving both ADOT and contractors time and money. While contractors had paid a fee to help cover ADOT’s printing costs, the agency often wound up with more stacks of plans than bidders.

For contractors, the innovation also eliminates the need to scan 24-by-36-inch plan sheets. This saves time and effort, making it easier to do business with ADOT ‒ and to do business in general.

“The benefits are numerous, from the simple ability to look at plans quickly and assess whether the job is a fit without having to have plans mailed or have a runner go down to pick them up,” said Carlos Gonzalez, executive vice president of Rummel Construction, a member of the Arizona chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America. “It makes it easier for general contractors to get plans distributed to subcontractors, allowing more time to develop comprehensive bids.”

The new system, available at azdot.gov/business (see Contracts and Specifications > Current Advertisements), went live in February with the help of ADOT Contracts and Specifications and Information Technology Group team members. In addition to including a variety of plan documents and other important information, the site allows contractors to receive automatic notifications of any project changes.

Steve Boschen, director of ADOT’s Infrastructure Delivery and Operations Division, said that while ADOT is still determining exactly how much the improved process will save the state in direct printing and labor costs, it’s already providing better customer service to Arizona contractors and subcontractors.

“We’re excited to have a new process that will make it easier for contractors to do business with ADOT,” he said.