New Arizona OHV Laws and Places to Ride booklet available

August 19, 2009

PHOENIX – Are you confused about the new OHV laws or need the dust abatement actions clarified? Do you just want to know where to ride OHV’s?

There is a new booklet just for you thanks to the OHV programs from the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the Arizona State Parks Department working together. This new booklet contains all of the OHV management laws currently in effect in Arizona as well as a list of places to ride across the state.

The booklet includes explanations about Arizona titling, registration and the OHV Decal, information about equipment and protective gear needed to ride as well as educational and training options and opportunities.

“This booklet has a little something for everyone, including information about wildlife and wildlife habitat protection, new dust laws and ordinances, land management agencies and tips about safe, ethical and responsible use that can help keep access to riding and hunting areas open are also in the new guide,” said Jim Harken, the OHV Public Information Officer for the Game and Fish Department.

An updated “Places to Ride” section shows you the various riding opportunities available across the state, complete with a free map to help you pinpoint the use area location.

To obtain a copy of the new booklet go to many locations including National Forest Service offices, Bureau of Land Management offices, the Arizona State Land Department Office, State Parks offices and all Game and Fish Department Offices. The booklet is also in downloadable PDF form on both the State Parks and Game and Fish Department Web sites at www.azstateparks.com/ohv and www.azgfd.gov/ohv.

Funding for this project came from the new OHV Decal program that was part of the OHV management legislation that was passed in 2008 and went into effect Jan. 1, 2009.

And as always, remember: Nature Rules! Stay on roads and trails.

Custodians reminded to keep an eye on desert tortoises in the summer

August 19, 2009

PHOENIX – Despite being a desert dweller suited to the extremes of summer, desert tortoises also require special attention during Arizona’s hottest summer months.

While the species’ human companions stay indoors in the air conditioning, tortoises are active during the hot summer months and need to be checked frequently. They can become dehydrated without an adequate water supply and often escape their enclosures. Every year, the Arizona Game and Fish Department receives many calls from the public about lost or found tortoises, some of them exotic, non-native species.

“It is imperative to check on your tortoise daily when it is really hot. Just because it is in its burrow doesn’t mean that it is OK,” says Debbie Gibson from the Phoenix Herpetological Society. “It is critical that the animal has access to water, gates are kept closed and enclosures are designed to prevent the tortoise from burrowing out and escaping.”

The Phoenix Herpetological Society (PHS) works with Game and Fish to help reunite lost tortoises and other reptiles with their owners.

PHS can also provide custodians with information on proper care and diet, as well as help families that want to adopt a tortoise.

In these tough economic times, custodians are also reminded that releasing a captive tortoise or reptile into the wild can be detrimental to both the captive animal that will not know how to fend for itself in unfamiliar surrounding and to wild populations. Captive tortoises can transmit a potentially fatal upper respiratory disease to native populations.

For more information on tortoise care and adoption, visit www.azgfd.gov/tortoise or www.phoenixherp.com.

Copyright © 2009 Sonoran News