Third quarter grant applications were presented and voted on at the August 25, 2025 AZSFWC Board meeting. Funding for the grants is available through sales of our special Conserving Wildlife license plate. More information about the license plate and how you can obtain one can be found HERE.
Two grants were approved and included the following:
$4,200 was awarded to the Arizona Deer Association for the 2026 Youth Deer & Elk Camp. The purpose of the camps is to provide support in locating, harvesting, game care, as well as, educational seminars. Experienced and seasoned mentors will be available to go afield with tag holders if needed and an AZ Game & Fish wildlife manager will be on hand to answer questions. Emphasis will be on hunter education, safety, ethics, hunting and glassing skills and will include seminars on map reading, compass use, first aid & survival, food & nutrition, gun & field safety. AZ Deer Association will fund a portion of the event.
$4,500 was awarded to the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society for their 2026 Hunter Information Clinic. Anyone can attend the clinic where they will learn about Habitat Projects, Aging, Judging and Scoring a ram in the field, How to Hunt Sheep, Gear and Equipment, Optics, Taxidermy and Photography and Hunter Ethics. Each attendee is also provided with an instructional manual and handouts from presenters and various land management agencies. The Society is providing additional funding.
$15,000 was awarded to the National Forest Foundation for Aquatic and Riparian Habitat Enhancement for Chiricahua Leopard Frog.The Aquatic and Riparian Habitat Enhancement for Chiricahua Leopard Frog project will implement on-the-ground restoration at up to five (5) degraded spring and wetland sites on the Tonto National Forest in Gila County, Arizona to improve water permanence, aquatic habitat structure, and riparian vegetation. These sites – Rock Spring, Bottle Spring, Ramer Wetland Wildlife Area, Pieper Hatchery Spring, and Wildcat Spring – are located within the Parallel Canyon-Cherry Creek Watershed Restoration Action Plan (WRAP) area, a priority sub-watershed within the greater Salt River Basin. Many of these sites are currently unoccupied by Chiricahua leopard frogs due to altered hydrology, sedimentation, and loss of riparian function. The Foundation will provide additional funding for the project.
$4,020 was awarded to the Arizona Raptor Center for their 2026 Raptor Education program. for their 2025-2026 Raptor Education Program. Raptors in their care that cannot be released back into the wild are utilized in education programs around the state. These programs aim to inspire conservation-minded thinking by showing how raptors are vital indicators of ecological health; enlighten young minds through interactive, age-appropriate learning tools that foster curiosity and respect for wildlife; increase public knowledge of food webs, predator-prey dynamics, and the challenges facing raptor populations today; connect ecosystems to action, helping people understand how land use, pollution, and human activity affect birds of prey—and what they can do to help; and strengthen community support for raptor rehabilitation, research, and responsible wildlife stewardship. Additional support will be provided by Castle Hot Spring Resort, Dove Mt Ritz, General Public Contributions.
$2,150 was awarded to Wildlife Water Works for water tank repairs in Unit 9. This project will fund the purchase of Bentonite to seal several dirt tanks that are seeping excessive water through the ground. Project partners include AZ Game & Fish Department, rancher and Wildlife Water Works.
$1,000 was awarded to the Great Arizona Puppet Theater for the Hotel Saguaro Education Program. Hotel Saguaro was originally created in 1988 with support from the Desert Botanical Garden to teach children about the unique ecology of the Sonoran Desert. It tells the story of Sammy, a young saguaro cactus who is just beginning to discover the incredible plants and animals that share his home in the Sonoran Desert. Through engaging puppetry, music, and storytelling, students discover the remarkable adaptations that allow desert species to thrive and learn how their own actions can help protect Arizona’s unique wildlife and habitats. Grant funding will provide free transportation, admission, educational study guides, and post-show activities for approximately 400 students from Title I schools throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area. Funding will also provide half-price admission for approximately 360 members of the general public attending twelve public performances during Arizona Month in February. Additional funding partners include SRP and the AZ Desert Botanical Garden.
$9,500 was awarded to the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection for Opening Wildlife Corridors. This “project” is an ongoing effort to remove un-needed fence from the landscape with the permission and support of the landowners. Since 2021, Desert Fence Busters has removed over 100 miles of un-needed barbed wire fencing, opening up important corridors for wildlife migration. Additional funding is provided by Desert Fence Busters and private donors.
$1,950 was awarded to Tucson Bird Alliance for Improving Bluebird Habitat in Santa Rita Mountains. As climate change and human development continue to reshape landscapes, understanding how birds interact with one another and distribute themselves across habitats is increasingly important. Through this grant, Tucson Bird Alliance proposes to: (1) recruit volunteers to build and prepare nestboxes for installation; (2) organize a volunteer workday to install 20 nestboxes at Boulder Crest Foundation within Gardner Canyon; (3) provide educational materials and outreach on responsible nestbox ownership and installation through brochures and hands-on learning; and (4) monitor nestboxes throughout the 2026 spring breeding season to document occupancy, nesting success, and reproductive outcomes. The Alliance will provide additional funding.
$3,000 was awarded to the AZ Shooting Sports Education Foundation to fund custom state champion vests for 2026 winning squads in each of 5 divisions for the Sporting Clays, Trap, and Skeet Commissioners Cups. These vests are worn at the SCTP Nationals in July by the winning athletes. These athletes then represent the state as well as their individual SCTP club at nationals. Earning these vests by SCTP athletes is a source of great pride and an incentive for the shooters to work as a team to earn them. Additional funding will be provided by AZ Shooting Sports Education Foundation.