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Volunteers Help to Restore Wildlife
Habitat in Big Lake Area
AZ Elk Society, Game & Fish, Forest Service Work Together
By Karen Warnick
The Pioneer
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Members of a Boy Scout Troop from St. David, came up 2 days to help out the AZ Elk Society
clean up the area. From left to right are: Tyler Kempton 12, Zackary McGrath 14, Trevar
Jonke 14, Seth Morrison 14, Jacob Mayberry 13, and Scout Master David Morrison
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Close to 60 volunteers from around the state, the youngest 9 and the oldest 75 spent the weekend
camping and working in the forest around Big Lake. The Arizona Elk Society organized the event
and brought equipment, supplies and food to feed everyone for the whole weekend. Most of the
volunteers are members of the AES, and this weekend was one of many that they set up around
the state every year.
Working in cooperation with the Forest Service and the Game & Fish Department, the group is
clearing out old barbed wire fencing and posts to open up the area to more freedom of movement
for the wildlife. The Forest Service has many challenges grazing these allotments, so the AES
makes agreements to buy back the grazing permits from the ranchers and returns them to the
Forest Service to rest the grazing conflict areas. They then go into the areas and remove all the
unneeded pasture fencing and any other projects that need to be done. Restoring riparian areas,
tearing down old corrals and fixing stock tanks and wildlife trick tanks are just some of the
projects they work on besides the fence removal. The area they are working in will open up over
30,000 acres for wildlife exclusively.
Steve Clark, President of the Arizona Elk Society, says that the benefits of their projects help all
wildlife as well as recreational users of the forest, ranchers and government agencies that manage
the areas. “Our number one priority is to help all wildlife and restore habitat and riparian
areas.” It’s not an easy job. The terrain is rough with few roads that are not in the best of shape,
rocky hills, deadfall, and miles and miles of solitude. The goal for this weekend, says Steve, was
to clear 8 miles of fencing. He and a small crew come in a few days early, go over the maps with
Forest Service personnel and map out the areas for the work crews. The Forest Service also goes
in early and clears debris from the fences and removes fallen trees so the work crews can get to
the fences. Members of both the Forest Service and the Game & Fish work with the groups
during the weekend. Eight or nine work areas are planned and spread out over many hundreds of
acres. Everyone has radios, and Steve Clark travels back and forth checking on all the crews,
helping when needed and basically keeps things running smoothly.
Fence posts must be pulled, the wire taken off the poles and rolled up into bundles and all of it
needs to be hauled out to the roads where a truck and dump trailer from the Game & Fish come
by and pick everything up. Vincente Ordonez is a wildlife biologist with the Springerville Forest
Service Ranger District and has nothing but praise for the AES volunteers. “The Elk Society
volunteers are phenomenal partners to work with and they are much appreciated. They aren’t
afraid of rolling up their sleeves and working hard and partnering with them has been very
successful. We hope more groups jump on board like they do.”
Gary Schafer works for the Game & Fish and along with his wife Cyndi, came up from Phoenix to
film the event. A video will be created for Arizona Wildlife Views TV, which will be broadcast on
several local channels, including PBS. Mr. Ordonez was interviewed for the film and said the area
is too difficult for grazing anymore.
The Arizona Elk Society is an all volunteer 501C3 nonprofit organization that raises money for elk
habitat and youth programs. Besides member dues of $40 a year, the group does an annual
fundraiser, a raffle, and applies for grants. Corporate sponsors help with supplies and equipment.
Besides post pullers and wire bailers, the group has an equipment trailer and a kitchen setup.
Currently there are about 1500 members statewide. Volunteers from other organizations also
help on the AES projects.
Stan Bembenek is a retired professional engineer from Oracle and spends a lot of time helping out
wildlife groups. He said that all the various organizations help each other out. Some of those
organizations include the AZ Big Horn Sheep Society, the AZ Antelope Foundation, Arizona Deer
Association, AZ Wildlife Federation and more. Stan doesn’t hunt anymore but he enjoys helping
for the sake of all wildlife.
Also present this year were 5 members of Boy Scout troop 411 from St. David, Arizona, between
Benson and Tombstone. The boys were working on their merit badges for Community
involvement. The boys researched various nonprofit groups and picked this one to help. They
earned 8 hours of back-braking credits and seemed to enjoy the whole experience. Saturday was
the longest work day of the weekend and everyone was treated to a rib-eye steak dinner when
they came back to camp.
Over the weekend of June 21-22, The Arizona Elk Society puts on a youth camp, named Wapiti
Weekend, on the Sipes Wildlife Ranch. Over 125 kids from 8 to 16 have signed up this year learn
more about wildlife, fishing, hunting and to have a great weekend. The AES volunteers run the
camp and feed everyone that shows up, which is estimated at over 300 people this year. Besides
this youth camp, the AES holds a hunting clinic for kids in the fall. Yearly scholarships for kids
are another thing this wonderful group does for the community of Arizona.
Anyone wishing to join this organization or find out more information on volunteering or to help
support their efforts can go to www.arizonaelksociety.org.
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