Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 24

C12 THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2008 OUT THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC MS Doing their Arizona hunters are helping clean some of the state's heavily trashed wildlife areas Next 7 days Fishing Sunday: Orvis fishing manager Cinda Howard will give a PowerPoint presentation at 1 p.m. on flyfishing the small streams of Arizona. This will cover where to fish, how to get there, how to rig and techniques. Orvis is located at 7012 E. Greenway Parkway in Scottsdale.

Information: 480-905-1400. General Friday-Sunday: The Arizona Wildlife Federation will conduct its third annual Becoming an Outdoors Woman three-day workshop at Saguaro Lake Ranch. The workshop will focus on the Sonoran Desert. The fee is $420. Information: azwildlife.org.

Coming up Archery Feb. 3: The 4 by 4 bowhunters will have a 3D shoot at dawn at Ben' Avery Archery Range, 4044 W. Black Canyon Blvd. Information: 602-943-6506. Fishing Feb.

14: Cinda Howard, fishing manager from the Scottsdale Orvis store, will be the guest at the Arizona Flycasters Club meeting at 7 p.m. at Cortez High, 31st Avenue and Dunlap in Phoenix. Information: 602-739-2385. Hunting Feb. 6: The Phoenix Varmint Callers will meet at 7 p.m.

at 12851 N. 19th Lodge No. 2 in Phoenix. Predator-calling demo included. Information: pvci.org.

Results Cold weather and blustery winds made bass tough to find, much less catch, as only three quarters of the field were able to weigh a fish and only six limits were caught during the AHStar Bass tournament Saturday at Lake Pleasant. Karl Harris of Surprise and Kenny Bryant of Payson teamed to win the event. Harris and Bryant used crankbaits to locate and boat six bass from the Agua Fria River area for a limit weighing 9.08 pounds, including a 2.86-pounder. Second place went Jamie Bialik of Surprise and Jeff Guerrette of Glendale for their limit weighing 8.97 pounds, including a 2.51-pounder. They fished drop-shot rigs with finesse worms on various rock piles in 20 feet of water.

Quinton Roark of Sierra Vista and Greg Garman of Prescott weighed a limit totaling 8.96 pounds to take third place. The next AHStar Bass fishing team tournament is scheduled for March 1 on Roosevelt Lake. Information: 928-783-6502. br fm Uv-' ijf IJfi '1 5 LANCE ALTHERR PHOTOS LANCE ALTHERR PHOTOS Hunter Lance Altherr was given the Arizona Game and Fish Commission's award for Conservation Organization of the Year for his efforts to help clean wildlife areas in the southern region of the state. Altherr and his Arizona Hunters Who Care group have picked up an estimated 500,000 pounds of trash.

Lake levels 12 full 3.196 surface acres 94 2,564 Alamo Apache Baniett Canyon 94 62 91 Havasu 2,694 755 19,100 1,876 95,800 26.700 7,772 92,000 15.868 1,224 7,433 Horseshoe 42 Mead 47 Mohave 89 Pleasant 68 Powell 46 Roosevelt 62 Saguaro 95 San Carlos 19 reached the point where the organization needed a board of directors, Altherr said. They named their group Arizona Hunters Who Care, and they get donations and help from many hunters groups and corporations. The group provides everything that the volunteers need, from gloves and masks to bags and lunch and drinks. All one has to do to help is show up, Altherr said. "People will say they can't make it out that day, but they want to donate a few arrows, or a rifle or something.

We use those for drawing prizes. Tickets for the drawing are free, and we give them to the volunteers," Altherr said. They have a special raffle for children, and each bag of trash a child collects is worth one ticket. "Nobody believes it until they see it," Altherr said of the amount of trash in the lands near the border. The ranchers in the area are grateful for the Altherr said many have told him that they will keep the ranch open to hunting in appreciation for the help.

Some of those ranches have been in the families for generations, he said. Expanding the help One year, somebody told Altherr about an area near Lake Pleasant that was Award winner The Arizona Game and Fish Commission each year recognizes outstanding Arizonans who have contributed to the welfare of Arizona's wildlife and the mission of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. This year, the award for Conservation Organization of the Year went to Arizona Hunters Who Care and was accepted by Lance Altherr. "But it's not just me," Altherr said. "Gabe Paz, a Game and Fish officer in Unit 36, works his tail off, and he's the one who gets us all the help from the county and other organization.

I couldn't do it without Gabe. Lots of other hunters help, too." Altherr intends to continue cleaning the desert with help from other hunters and conservationists. They are planning another cleanup in March. If you'd like to help, you can e-mail Lance at azhunterswhocare (Sihotmail.com. Margie Anderson shade tree, every wash, is full of trash." With four or five of the hunters grousing about the garbage, one suddenly suggested that they quit talking and start acting.

They decided to go out and clean up at least one area. That first year, Altherr said, seven hunters and a couple of Game and Fish workers trashed. "I couldn't believe it," Altherr said. "That's 200 miles or so from the border." But he checked it out, and it was true. The site had been discovered by a hiker who also found a dead body in the area.

Altherr and his crew organized a cleanup, and a total of 22,000 pounds of trash was removed. "I was told that the smugglers use the desert to hold the illegal immigrants because that way they don't have to rent houses and worry about nosy neighbors," Altherr said. Since the Lake Pleasant cleanup, they have found other desert holding sites, including one inside Tucson city limits. Altherr also works with the Minutemen patrolling the border whenever he can. When they spot illegal activity, they notify the Border Patrol.

Once they sighted 1,600 illegal immigrants 38 miles north of the border. He said the border fence is a blessing. "It has made a huge difference in the Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge," Altherr said. "The border crossers now go around the ends of the seven and a half miles of fence, but at least the situation at the Wildlife Refuge is getting better." showed up removed 5,000 pounds of trash. The next year, 20 hunters took part.

In March 2006, 288 people came out and cleaned up an estimated 24 tons of trash from Units 36 and C. "Ninety-nine percent of what we pick up is from undocumented aliens," said Gabriel Paz, an officer with the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Stepping up After the second year, Pima County stepped up and supplied dumpsters, portable toilets and other supplies using money from a Federal grant earmarked for cleanup of waste from immigrants. Altherr gets a lot of help from other hunters, especially Safari Club International and the Arizona Deer Association. About 1,000 people have participated in the cleanups, many showing up repeatedly.

The 2006 cleanup took place about 12 miles north of the Mexican border, and people were sent in all directions. Four dumpsters donated by Pima County were filled up, as were the trailers that the Game and Fish Department brought. One particular saddle in the foothills was solid trash a foot deep. Word of the hunters' efforts spread in chat rooms and hunting forums. It By Margie Anderson Special for The Republic In the past eight years, hunter Lance Altherr and his Arizona Hunters Who Care group have picked up an estimated 500,000 pounds of trash almost all of which has been from Units 36 A and which are near the U.S.Mexico border -mostly left in the Arizona desert by illegal immigrants.

For his efforts, Altherr was awarded the Arizona Game and Fish Commission's award for Conservation Organization of the Year on Saturday night. It all started in 2000. Like most hunters, Altherr is a conservationist and a lover of wild places, especially the desert near his home in southern Arizona. More and more, he had stumbled across areas where large amounts of trash and human waste littered acres of desert. Other bow hunters who had found similar sites were bemoaning the fact in an online chat room.

Trash from border crossers was reaching critical levels, and the land and wildlife were suffering. "You might not even know it was all out there unless you're a hunter or a rancher," Altherr said, "but you can't walk 50 yards in some places without coming across a footpath leading north. Every Solunar table This schedule of solunar periods has been taken from Mrs, Richard Alden Knight's Solunat Tables. p.m. Diy minor nyijor minor major Today 6:05 6:35 12:20 Friday 7 05 12:55 7 25 1:10 Saturday 7:50 12:35 8:10 1:55 Sunday 8:30 2:20 8:55 2:40 Monday 9:15 3:05 9:40 3:25 Tuesday 10:00 3:50 10:25 4:10 Wednesday 10:55 4:40 11:15 6:00 Thursday 11:30 5:20 5:45 LET US KNOW Have an event to announce, a story idea, question for Game Fish, or want to nominate a sportsman or sportswoman to be profiled? Include all pertinent information, along with your full name and phone number (with area code), and send it at least two weeks in advance to azoutdoors Fishing report Information for the Fishing Report is provided by the experts at the Arizona Game and Fish Department, Bass Pro Shop, Fisherman's Choice Pro Shop in Phoenix, Arizona Flyfishing in Tempe, Liar's Korner in Mesa and Phoenix Fishing Supply.

CAN'T GO WRONG Lake Pleasant Check Humbug Creek for largemouth bass hitting drop-shot rigs. Striped bass, which prefer threadfin shad, usually prefer anything that looks like a shad. Use three-eighths-ounce yellow spoons in 40 to 60 feet of water for stripers. Information: 602-977-7377. Roosevelt Lake Things should be settling down with the big runoff.

The lake is sure to rise as the current snowpack melts. Bass are available in the Windy Hill area around the sheriff's station to anglers throwing cranks and spinnerbaits. Information: 928-467-2245. Alamo Lake A recent tournament produced a near 7-pound bass and a few others just a bit smaller, but overall fishing has been tough, as it took only nine pounds to win. Information: 928-669-2088.

SHORT CASTS Golden alga has caused a fish dieoff at Tempe Town Lake, however the problem can be treated with an algaecide, a solution not viable for much larger lakes such as Saguaro and Canyon when the alga was present there. The alga is not considered harmful to humans. Incentive trout planted recently in the urban lakes are showing up. Two big trout, one a 5.29-pounder from Water Ranch Park in Gilbert and a 3-pounder from Red Mountain Park in Mesa, were checked into the Game and Fish Mesa office. Anglers should not forget to purchase the proper license before they wet a line this year.

Volunteers are needed for a cleanup of Alamo Lake on March 1. State Parks will waive camping fees for volunteers. Call Stewart Kohnke of Game and Fish at 928-684-3763 or 928-342-0091 for more details and to volunteer. WORTH A TRY Canyon Lake Still closed to boaters, but the lake is com- ing up and is about 65 percent full. Information: 480-288-9233.

Saguaro Lake Although recently planted trout are keep? ing many anglers busy, bass fans will have trouble finding fish of a decent size. Spoons are doing most of the damage on the bass, and they are good for yellow bass. Information: 480-986-0969. BartlettLake Anglers fishing uplake are finding lots of chocolate water, but those throwing craw-dad and firetiger shallow cranks are finding fish in the lower sections. Information: 602-316-3378.

ELSEWHERE Colorado River Willow Beach below Lake Mead and the area at Bullhead City along Casino Row are good trout spots. At Casino Row use drift, cheese, PowerBait, lures and worms with the current, Information: 928-692-7700, White Mountains Silver Creek does not become ice covered during the winter and is open to catch-and-release fishing. Native Apache trout are in the stream. There are some snow drifts in the shady areas of the creek. Regulations allow artificial lure fishing with barbless hooks.

Information: 928-367-4281. Go to outdoors.azcentral.com for more fishing report..