Wildlife

Landowner Relations & Habitat Enhancement Program

The Landowner Relations and Habitat Enhancement Program focuses on enhancing habitat and securing public recreational access throughout state. This is achieved through a variety of programs. Applications for the WHE and LRP Programs funding are due on July 14, and will be received at 9 a.m. in the Pintail Room (limit 7 people) at the Arizona Game and Fish Department headquarters. Applications will be accepted and reviewed until all funding is obligated. If you are interested in applying, see below for contact information for your regional representative.

Habitat Partnership Committee

The Habitat Partnership Committee (HPC) Program’s primary funding source is Special Big Game License-Tag funds. The Arizona Game and Fish Commission annually awards three special big game license-tags per big game species to nonprofit wildlife conservation organizations that auction or raffle these tags to raise funding. The funding is used to benefit the wildlife species for which the license-tag is issued. Learn more

Habitat Enhancement Program

Habitat Enhancement (HE) projects are supported by application fees for Arizona big game tags and Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid funds, apportioned to the state from sales of firearms and ammunition. Annual program funding varies but usually exceeds $1 million. HE projects are designed to bolster populations of game and non-game species at landscape-scale, leveraging diverse partnerships and funding sources. Priority is given to shovel ready projects.

Landowner Relations Program

The Landowner Relations Program focuses on partnering with the State’s private landowners and agricultural producers to implement mutually beneficial habitat projects and secure public recreational access. The Program uses a variety of funding sources, including Identification Inventory Acquisition Protection and Management (IIAPM) $130,000, Pittman-Robertson $130,000, Big Game Donation Fund (usually exceeds $100,000) and various grants awarded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. Priority is given to shovel ready projects that demonstrate benefit to multiple wildlife species and leverage multiple funding sources.

Adopt-A-Ranch Program

The Adopt-a-Ranch Program can offer volunteer labor to perform ranch maintenance with support from the Department. Volunteer groups visit their “adopted” ranches once or twice a year to complete mutually beneficial projects. Watch a video about the Adopt-A-Ranch Program

Landowner Respect Program

The Landowner Respect Program provides signs to landowners to inform the public of laws and etiquette for using ranch lands; the Respect Program can also provide gates, fence ladders, sign-in boxes and kiosks to improve issues related to public access.

Landowner Compact – Read about the Landowner Compact and the ranches that are members. Learn more