Monthly Archives: October 2016

FCC Requesting Public Comments on amateur vanity call signs

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ARLB039 Rule Making Petition to FCC Calls for Vanity Call Sign Rule Changes

The FCC is inviting comments on a Petition for Rule Making (RM-11775) from a Nevada radio amateur that seeks changes to the rules governing the Amateur Radio Vanity Call Sign Program. Christopher LaRue, W4ADL, of North Las Vegas, is proposing that any licensee obtaining a vanity call sign be required to keep it for the full license term. LaRue contends in his petition that excessive and frequent vanity call sign filings are hampering the ability of other qualified licensees to obtain vanity call signs in one of the more desirable 1 x 2 or 2 x 1 formats. LaRue said that since the FCC dropped the fee to file for a vanity call sign, some applicants are taking advantage by regularly obtaining new call signs, thereby keeping them out of circulation.

The petition can be found on the web in PDF format at, https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/1004220986407/Petition%20.pdf.

“Some are changing call signs almost monthly, just to keep the newer code-free Extra class operators from obtaining a shorter call sign,” he said in his petition. “I even saw an older operator that said he does it all the time and has not even owned a radio in over 6 years. When I looked him up, he has had 16 different [call signs] in 18 months.”

LaRue said his proposed minor rule change would require any licensee applying for and obtaining an Amateur Radio vanity call sign “be required to keep it for the duration of the license, which is currently 10 years.”

He said this would “alleviate a lot of the stress on the ULS system and manpower requirements” at the FCC. “It will also keep inactive amateurs from changing call signs regularly, thereby tying up call signs for 2 years after dismissal of said call.”

Interested parties may comment using the FCC Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) at, https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/. Comments are due within 30 days of the October 26 posting date.

Got five minutes? You can help shape ADOT’s Long-Range Transportation Plan

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PHOENIX — In transportation, we are constantly looking ahead. What needs will emerge over the next 25 years? What new technologies will influence how our transportation system operates? How will we fund necessary improvements?

One of the ways the Arizona Department of Transportation looks to the future is “What Moves You Arizona,” the Long-Range Transportation Plan we update every five years. And we need your input to do that.

ADOT has developed an interactive online survey that’s easy and engaging. It gives you the opportunity to rank six transportation priorities: preservation, expansion, safety, technology, accessibility, and maintenance and operations. You get a budget and determine how much of it you’d allocate for each priority. Then you decide tradeoff scenarios that further define your priorities.

This survey lets you experience what we face as transportation planners: setting priorities and making difficult choices with limited resources.

Those who’ve participated so far have ranked safety and expansion highly. And when it comes to managing funds, preservation and expansion get the most dollars for transportation investments.

But we want to hear from more of you! The survey is available until Nov. 11 at whatmovesyouarizona.metroquest.com. It only takes a few minutes and can be completed on a computer, smartphone or tablet. A Spanish-language version of the survey is also available via the link.

While ADOT’s Long-Range Transportation Plan isn’t project-specific, it does identify investment priorities based on current and projected transportation funding over the next 25 years.

It’s up to the public, policymakers and communities to tell ADOT what’s important to them throughout the long-range planning process, and to prioritize projects and funding.

Maintenance scheduled Wednesday, Oct. 26, on southbound Interstate 17 near Table Mesa Road and New River

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The Arizona Department of Transportation will perform routine pavement maintenance between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, on southbound I-17 in two locations:

Between mileposts 237 and 236, near Table Mesa Road; and
Between mileposts 233 and 232 near New River

Minimal delays are expected during work hours. The speed limit through the work zones will be reduced to 45 mph during work hours. Drivers should proceed through the work zone with caution, slow down and watch for construction equipment and personnel.

ADOT works to inform the public about planned highway restrictions, but it’s possible that unscheduled closures or restrictions might occur because of weather or other factors. For the latest highway conditions around the state, visit the ADOT Traveler Information Center at www.az511.gov or call 511, except while driving.

Will Haunt for Food

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WILLIAMS — Spooky and fun Halloween events continue through the weekend to the big event on Monday. It is the final weekend for the events Bearizona and Grand Canyon Railway. A haunted house will spook up some food for the Williams Food Bank. Businesses and houses throughout the community are ready to distribute candies.

This weekend is the final chance to visit the Howly, Owly, Growly festival at Bearizona. It is also the final weekend for the Pumpkin Patch train at the Grand Canyon Railway. This special train this weekend features the steam engine.tunneldoom-16-10-19-01
Starting Friday the 29th and running through Halloween you can take a walk through The Tunnel of Doom. The fee is a non-perishable food item to be donated to the Williams Food Bank. The Tunnel of Doom is at 1066 Allston Way in Williams (MAP). We got to visit the “skeleton” of the Tunnel earlier and it looks to be a spooky experience.800-161024_175623Safe Halloween alternatives are planned by Churches on Monday. The Williams First Baptist Church and Family Harvest Church across the street from Safeway will hold their annual Fall Festival. The Methodist Church on 2nd Street will host their Trunk-or-Treat event. Kids can get candy from Halloween-mobiles and get a hotdog or hamburger at the bbq.800-161024_175529Of course the big day is Monday, the 31st. We urge all parents to trick-or-treat with their children or another responsible adult. There are safety tips available here and here. You should check to make sure the house has decorations outside indicating that they are welcoming visitors. Remind your children not to eat any treats until you check them out yourself.800-16-10-19-01On Saturday, you can drive around and check for houses appropriately decorated. Don’t forget that businesses downtown also may be handing out treats.800-16-10-19-03Have a SAFE Halloween.scan10-19

Court mandates new recovery plan for endangered Mexican wolf

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wolvesPHOENIX — An Arizona judge has approved a settlement agreement in a lawsuit filed by the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office against the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to develop a new recovery plan for the endangered Mexican wolf.

“I’m encouraged this issue is resolved,” said Governor Ducey. “This is yet another example of top-down, out-of-touch management from Washington D.C. that was directly affecting Arizonans and others across the Western United States. We’re looking forward to working with other western states to develop a new recovery plan that makes sense for us and provides real-world guidelines for measuring success.”

Under the terms of the settlement, approved Tuesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is mandated to update a decades-old recovery plan by Nov. 30, 2017.

The current recovery plan, developed in 1982, fails to provide for several key legal requirements, such as identifying criteria that are required to downlist and delist this subspecies of wolves from the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Without these criteria, it would be impossible to remove Mexican wolves from endangered status.

Additionally under the terms of the settlement, the federal agency also must provide the court and other litigants in the case with regular status updates on the planning process, and must complete an independent peer review of the draft plan, through which it will solicit and consider all available scientific information from appropriate state agencies and other entities, including the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah.

The state of Arizona, on behalf of the Arizona Game and Fish Department, filed the lawsuit in June 2015. Game and Fish had repeatedly requested an updated recovery plan for several years that would utilize the best available science, as legally required by the ESA.

“Arizonans know what is best for our state and its wildlife,” said Attorney General Mark Brnovich. “This settlement ensures we have a seat at the negotiating table as the federal government develops an updated Mexican wolf recovery plan.”

“Arizona Game and Fish has long been committed to Mexican wolf recovery in balance with other wildlife and the people who live or recreate on the land where wolves are found, and we are pleased with the court’s approval of the settlement” said AZGFD Director Larry Voyles. “We’d reached a point where, without a current recovery plan to provide a framework by which to operate and objective science-based goals to target, the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Project would continue to be faced with unwarranted litigation with little regard for how biologically successful our efforts become.”

Game and Fish maintains that to measure success of the recovery program, an updated recovery plan must include an integrated, bi-national approach that incorporates the recovery work already being done in Mexico. More than 90 percent of the Mexican wolf’s historic range is in Mexico.

Arizona Game and Fish’s involvement in Mexican wolf conservation began in the mid-1980s. Since that time, the department has spent more than $7 million on wolf recovery in the state and has been the predominant on-the-ground presence working to manage Mexican wolves.

ADOT’s ‘Drive For Them’ campaign aims to curb selfish driving habits

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dms-2_cropPHOENIX – Traffic fatalities on Arizona roads are rising and selfish drivers are too often to blame.

Unless drivers stop making bad decisions – driving impaired, driving distracted, driving aggressively and speeding, and not wearing a seat belt – Arizona will continue on its year-to-date pace and top 900 traffic deaths by the end of the year. The Arizona Department of Transportation’s “Drive For Them” campaign aims to reduce traffic fatalities by reminding drivers that their actions can have tragic, yet entirely preventable, consequences for those they share the road with, which includes their families, friends and neighbors.

Historically, impaired driving, speeding and aggressive driving, and distracted driving are among the leading factors in traffic deaths in Arizona. Still, too many drivers continue to engage in these selfish driving behaviors. If some motorists will not drive in a safe manner for themselves, perhaps they will alter their driving habits when confronted with the impact that poor decisions behind the wheel can have on loved ones. Through the weekend, ADOT will display the following messages on overhead highway signs:

YOUR FAMILY
TRAVELS THIS ROAD
DRIVE FOR THEM

YOUR FRIENDS
TRAVEL THESE ROADS
DRIVE FOR THEM

YOUR NEIGHBORS
TRAVEL THESE ROADS
DRIVE FOR THEM

According to preliminary data, from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30 this year, 690 people have died in vehicle crashes in Arizona. Tragically, many of those deaths were preventable. If drivers did not drive impaired, drive aggressively, drive distracted or speed too fast for conditions, traffic deaths would be significantly reduced.

Relict leopard frogs not in need of federal protection

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relict-leopard-frogPHOENIX — A frog species in Arizona and southern Nevada does not need federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, thanks to the multi-partner conservation efforts of the Arizona Game and Fish Department, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other federal and state agencies that make up the Relict Leopard Frog Conservation Team. The Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that relict leopard frog populations are stable or increasing.

The Service was petitioned in 2002 by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance to list the relict leopard frog and designate critical habitat for it. The Service, Arizona Game and Fish and other partners were already involved in coordinated conservation efforts for the frog before the petition was filed. Those efforts include ongoing habitat management, establishment of new sites, and restoration activities, which have resulted in an overall reduction of most threats and an improvement in the species’ status.

“This shows that collaborative, on-the-ground efforts lead to conservation successes,” said Jim deVos, assistant director for Game and Fish’s Wildlife Management Division. “By taking proactive measures that preclude the need for listing a species under the Endangered Species Act, we have much more flexibility in actively managing the species so it can ultimately thrive.”

Members of the Relict Leopard Frog Conservation Team have included the Arizona Game and Fish Department, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Nevada Department of Wildlife, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Bureau of Reclamation, Environmental Protection Agency, Clark County (Nevada), the Southern Nevada Water Authority (including the Las Vegas Springs Preserve), the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the University of Nevada, Reno.

The relict leopard frog is currently found in springs in southeastern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. The frog historically occupied a variety of habitats, including springs, streams, and other wetlands. Nonnative predators such as crayfish, American bullfrogs, and fish have reduced the relict leopard frog’s range.

ADOT prepared to keep highways open, safe during snow season

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towplow-in-action_cropPHOENIX –– With winter and the promise of snow in the high country rapidly approaching, preparation throughout the year means the Arizona Department of Transportation is ready to keep highways open and travelers safe.

Through its certification and training programs, ADOT has 400 certified snowplow operators ready for winter storms.

Regular maintenance by ADOT Equipment Services has the agency’s 200 snowplows ready to go. Last winter, ADOT spent $2.2 million, an average of $11,000 per vehicle, to keep its snowplows in top condition.

“It’s always difficult to predict not only how severe winter weather will be but where problems will occur,” said Dallas Hammit, ADOT’s state engineer and deputy director for transportation. “With our operators trained and our snowplow fleet up and running, however, ADOT has the resources necessary to respond to snow and ice around the state.”

ADOT’s snowplows working on Interstate 40 between Williams and Flagstaff will include a second TowPlow, a steerable trailer that allows one driver in a snowplow to clear two lanes. Attached to the back of a snowplow and steered by the snowplow driver, the TowPlow allows ADOT remove snow and ice more efficiently while using less fuel, and it frees another snowplow and driver to work elsewhere.

As with any snowplow, drivers approaching a TowPlow should slow down and pass only when the operator pulls over to allow traffic to get around. Remember: The road behind a plow is the safest place to be when snow and ice are on the highway.

While ADOT is ready to keep the roads open and as safe as possible in challenging conditions, motorists can do their part by preparing for travel in winter weather.

ADOT’s “Know Snow” website at azdot.gov/KnowSnow has tips that include adjusting your speed to conditions, leaving extra room between your vehicle and the one ahead, carrying plenty of food and water, and packing an emergency preparedness kit. Tips include carrying a small bag of cat litter or sand to provide traction if your vehicle becomes stuck along the roadway.

Ribbon-cutting at Willow Beach hatchery celebrates successful partnership

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willow-beachWILLOW BEACH — A ribbon-cutting event on Thursday at the now functioning Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery celebrated the renewed collaborative efforts by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Mohave County that will boost economic activity and preserve trout fishing on the lower Colorado River in Mohave County for future generations.

On Wednesday, Arizona Senator John McCain continued his staunch support for the project as he watched thousands of rainbow trout pour from a stocking truck into the Colorado River below Davis Dam.

Trout stockings at the hatchery, which had ceased in 2013 due in part to a water intake system failure, support approximately 1,700 jobs and generate $75 million in economy activity along this stretch of the river.

“Significant collaborations were needed to rebuild the water intake system at the hatchery,” said AZGFD Director Larry Voyles. “We’re particularly grateful to Senator John McCain, Representative Paul Gosar and Mohave County Supervisor Hildy Angius for their ardent support in bringing trout propagation back to Willow Beach. The collective efforts of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Game and Fish Department, and local stakeholders have come to fruition.”

Stockings from the Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery are anticipated in early 2017. AZGFD’s commitment to anglers for great trout fishing opportunities on this area of the Colorado River is evidenced by great relations with local businesses and organizations. Ongoing stockings have been made possible by donations from local pest abatement districts.

Willow Beach NFH had been unable to rear or stock sport fish after sustaining pipeline and infrastructure damage in November 2013. After the failure, the Arizona Game and Fish Department worked collaboratively with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Senator McCain, the Arizona Congressional delegation, and Mohave County to solve the problem.

In August 2014, Senator McCain toured the hatchery and was briefed on a variety of engineering plans to repair the hatchery’s damaged pipeline. Preliminary cost estimates for repairs totaled up to $9 million. Senator McCain urged USFWS to coordinate with Mohave County and AZGFD to develop an affordable and reasonable solution to move repairs forward.

In March 2015, USFWS and AZGFD finalized an agreement to begin restoring trout stocking operations at Willow Beach.

Rainbow trout eggs are anticipated to arrive at Willow Beach NFH in November 2016 to augment the 50,000 fingerlings the AZGFD provided in August. The eggs will come through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Fish Hatchery System, and are expected to be of catchable size in the autumn of 2017.

Commission Appointment Recommendation Board to meet Oct. 25

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PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Commission Appointment Recommendation Board will meet on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016, beginning at 9 a.m., to review and select for interview applicants for the 2017 vacancy on the Arizona Game and Fish Commission. The meeting will be held at the Arizona Game and Fish Department headquarters at 5000 W. Carefree Highway in Phoenix and is open to the public.

The meeting agenda is posted at www.azgfd.gov/board.

The board will meet again on Wednesday, Nov. 9, beginning at 9 a.m., to conduct interviews with the candidates who were selected at the Oct. 25 meeting. That meeting is also at 5000 W. Carefree Highway in Phoenix and is open to the public. The board will select from two to five finalists at the Nov. 9 meeting and forward those names to Gov. Doug Ducey for his consideration.

Members of the Commission Appointment Recommendation Board are Susan E. Chilton (chair), W. Hays Gilstrap, Charles I. Kelly, William J. (“Jim”) Lane, and Phillip D. Townsend.

Per Arizona State Statute 17-202, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission Appointment Recommendation Board shall assist the governor by interviewing, evaluating and recommending candidates for appointment to the Arizona Game and Fish Commission. The Commission Appointment Recommendation Board shall recommend at least two, but no more than five, candidates to the governor. The governor must select and appoint a commissioner from the list submitted by the board.

For additional information about the Commission Appointment Recommendation Board, contact the Governor’s Office of Boards and Commissions at (602) 542-2449 or toll free at 1-800-253-0883 or on the web at www.azgovernor.gov.