>Õ>ÀÞÊÓä£ÈÊ >âLÜ°VÊÊUÊÊÜiÃÌiÀÕÌ`ÀÌiðV BOATING | CAMPING | FISHING | HUNTING | RVING | WATERSPORTS | WILDLIFE 2016 Launching A New Year Land Cruising Western Pages 12-14 Tackle Boating Wildlife Pages 4-6 & Target Pages 10-11 Pages 7-9 January 2016 Vol. 11, No. 9 Ringing In A Happy New Year New Powerboat Sales Continue Surge In 2015 Boating Industry To Approach Pre-Recession Levels In 2016 Boats larger than ON THE COVER 40 feet, saltwater ‘Backbone’ Of ÀVKLQJERDWVVHH sales resurgence. America’s Boating New powerboat sales are on a multi-year Safety, Angling rise with pre-recession levels on the horizon in several boat segments as early as 2016. Conservation The National Marine Manufacturers As- EARLY WINTER BOAT SHOW -- The San Diego 2016 Sunroad Boat Show, Thursday, Jan. sociation (NMMA), the leading trade as- 21- Sunday, Jan. 24 at Sunroad Resort Marina is one of those that marks the start of boat-show sociation representing the North American season across North America. They are important indicators for sales and buyer trends for the Re-Authorized coming year. recreational boating industry, estimates new In a victory for boaters and anglers, “A steadily improving economy and president. “We anticipate six to eight per- powerboat unit sales will be up as much as the recent passage of the Fixing Ameri- eight percent in 2015 when the industry tal- ÀXUU\ RI SURGXFW LQQRYDWLRQ KDYH ERRVWHG cent growth in 2016 which would take total ca’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act OLHVLWV¿QDO¿JXUHV7KH100$DQWLFLSDWHV new powerboat sales, which is encouraging new powerboat sales back to pre-recession also includes re-authorization of the the industry will continue its growth spurt to see as we head into the winter boat show OHYHOVRIXQLWV´ Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust with an increase in new powerboat sales of season, one of the busiest selling periods of Fund through the year 2020. six to eight percent in 2016. WKH \HDU´ VDLG 7KRP 'DPPULFK 100$ See POWERBOAT SALES, Page 19 $IWHU VLJQL¿FDQW OREE\LQJ E\ %RDW Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) along with other boating and Governor Proper Federal Resources Needed angling organizations, in 1984 Congress passed legislation establishing what was Ducey Makes then called the Wallop/Breaux Trust To Address Stubborn Burro Issue Fund. Now called the Sport Fish Restora- tion and Boating Trust Fund, it continues Commission and 2014, the BLM has spent more than to serve as the backbone of boating safe- $216 million to gather, house and feed ex- W\LQIUDVWUXFWXUHFOHDQZDWHUDQG¿VKHU- Appointment FROM KURT R. DAVIS cess animals until someone adopts them, ies conservation funding in the United AZGF COMMISSION yet the sad reality is that the vast majority States. *RYHUQRU 'RXJ 'XFH\ KDV DSSRLQWHG CHAIRMAN are never adopted. The practical “user pay, everyone Eric Slocum Sparks to the Arizona Game Storing and feeding burros does very EHQH¿WV´SURJUDPXVHVIHGHUDOERDWIXHO and Fish Commission. little to tackle the real threat looming over DQG¿VKLQJWDFNOHWD[HVWRSURWHFWQDWXUDO Sparks is an attorney practicing in our wildlife. If the federal government and aquatic resources, enhance boating safety Tucson since 1987, specializing in debtor It is the role of the Arizona Game and horse and burro advocates had the resolve DQGSURYLGHPRUHUHFUHDWLRQDO¿VKLQJDQG bankruptcy law and business reorgani- )LVK 'HSDUWPHQW WR FRQVHUYH SURWHFW DQG to control the overpopulation of burros, boating opportunities. Since its inception, ]DWLRQV %HIRUH RSHQLQJ KLV RZQ ¿UP LQ manage more than 800 wildlife species imagine how that $216 million in federal more than $7.5 billion has been collected 1990, Mr. Sparks served as general coun- within the state’s boundaries – more than funding could be better spent. It could mean and allocated to the states. sel to several corporations, such as the any non-coastal state in our nation. To ful- extra dollars to support veteran services, in- More recently since 2004, over 3.8 bil- Wilson Companies, GHR Energy Corpo- ¿OOWKDWSURPLVHWKH$UL]RQD*DPHDQG)LVK frastructure needs of our National Parks or OLRQ¿VKKDYHEHHQVWRFNHGERDW ration, Bayou Asphalt Corp., and corpo- &RPPLVVLRQDQG'HSDUWPHQWPXVWVWDQGDV programs for our nation’s vulnerable chil- ramps and access sites have been cre- rate counsel to Tenneco Inc. in Houston. a barrier against all threats to our wildlife. dren and the elderly. DWHGRUUHQRYDWHGDQGRYHUWUDQ- Additionally, Sparks has served as an It’s a heavy responsibility carried out by sient boating facilities built, 4.7 million international advocate for sustainable DOO ZKR VHUYH DW WKH 'HSDUWPHQW DQG LW¶V Growing Imbalance students taught aquatic education, over wildlife and habitat management. He has why we are pressuring the federal govern- Because the problem has gone unabated DFUHV RI ¿VK KDELWDW SURWHFWHG contributed extensively to conservation ment to provide the U.S. Bureau of Land for decades, we are now in a position where and over half a million boaters, sailors and resource projects, boards and com- Management (BLM) with the resources an overabundance of burros, which is a and anglers have completed an approved mittees, including Water for Wildlife needed to meet its obligations and return non-native and feral species, now outnum- state boating safety education course. Foundation and Safari Club International. the state’s burro populations to appropriate bers our native iconic bighorn sheep popu- BoatUS, as a longtime champion of Sparks also has served as Legal Com- management levels. lation in the Black Mountains near King- the Trust Fund along with other mem- mittee Vice Chairman of Safari Club In- man. This growing imbalance is having a bers of the Angling and Boating Alliance ternational (1999-2009), the Safari Club direct impact on the state’s native wildlife (ABA), has worked tirelessly to make International Museum, Boys and Girls Overpopulation Costly Under the Wild Horse and Burro Act of and that is utterly unacceptable. certain it continues to be used for key &OXERI7XFVRQ%RDUGRI'LUHFWRUV 1971, the state should have no more than As their populations grow by up to 20 ERDWLQJDQG¿VKLQJSURJUDPV 1999), Golden Eagle Firearms Corpora- 1,316 burros within its borders. Yet surveys percent per year, burros continue to devas- Said BoatUS President Margaret Pod- WLRQ%RDUGRI'LUHFWRUVDQGWKH:DWHUIRU estimate the population at 4,411 – more than tate fragile desert ecosystems and compete lich, “Some in Washington might have :LOGOLIH )RXQGDWLRQ %RDUG RI 'LUHFWRUV 235 percent above the appropriate manage- with sensitive wildlife species for forage (1987-1997), among others. His enthusi- and water. That’s in addition to damaging ment levels established by Congress and See , Page administered by the BLM. Between 2012 BACKBONE 19 See APPOINTMENT, Page 19 See BURRO, Page 19 In This Month’s Issue Boating Wildlife Downstream ..........................2 Life-Jacket Arizona Deer Boating ...............................4-6 Exchange A Success Association Tackle & Target ..................7-9 AZGFD swapped approximately Helps Out Western Wildlife ............10-11 800 old and tattered life jackets Volunteers create walk- RV/Land Cruising ..........12-14 with new ones during life jacket in water troughs to help Classifieds........................... 16 exchange events at area lakes this provide a water supply Business Spotlight ............. 18 past summer/Page 4 for wildlife/Page 10 Recipients of 2008 and 2013 THE CREW AZGFC Media of the Year and $= &$ www.azbw.com 2009 National Water Linus www.westernoutdoortimes.com Safety Congress Award of Merit As we begin a New Year, we once again want to thank all of our advertisers, readers, contributors, staff, family and friends for their support over the past ten (going on eleven) years. 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