On December 29, 2008, at approximately 4:45 P.M., Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office Communications received a cell phone call from two hikers stranded in an area near the Turkey Creek Trail, Village of Oak Creek. The hikers, identified as 30-year-old Amy Benson and her friend, 29-year-old Rochelle Lablanc who are both from Wisconsin, indicated they were at least 3 miles from the nearest road and lost. Although dispatchers and a Forest Patrol Sgt. told them to remain stationary, both hikers continued to move in an attempt to find a road out. The hikers had already been out on the trails for over 4 hours.

After a decade of research, monitoring and planning the restoration project in Watson Woods Riparian Preserve has begun. Prescott Creeks, a local not-for-profit organization and preserve manager, has secured most of the necessary funding through a series of grant and private donations.

Watson Woods Restoration Project is a five year project designed to restore, enhance and recreate the riparian (creek side) habitat just south of Watson Lake. Re-establishing a functional riparian habitat will help enhance water quality in the lower portion of Granite Creek and Watson Lake. This will be accomplished by allowing riparian vegetation to naturally filter out bacteria and other toxins that may have been collected upstream.

Project activities will include relocating four sections of the creek, creating a tiered floodplain that will encourage backwater and wetland habitats and the planting of over 15,000 cottonwood and willow trees, as well as, native grasses and wetland plants. Exotic weeds and illegally buried trash will also be removed during the construction phase. Long term habitat and water quality monitoring will be done to measure the success of the project and to help future projects.

Ever wonder where eagles go during the wintertime?  Find this out and more at the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s annual Bald Eagle Workshop in Flagstaff on Saturday, Jan. 17.

The free workshop will be divided into two sessions; each one will include a lecture followed by a field trip to observe eagles. The first session will begin at 9 a.m. and the second at 11 a.m. The lectures will be held at the Arizona Game and Fish Department office at 3500 S. Lake Mary Road.

Guest speakers James Driscoll, raptor management coordinator, and Valerie Horncastle, research biologist, will talk about Arizona’s bald eagle program, wintering bald eagles, the state’s resident eagle population, and eagle identification.

Free Wednesdays and a $40 annual pass remain as consolations.

Prescott National Forest officials are passing budget deficits to the public by raising camping and day-use fees beginning January 1, 2009.

“We went through a state review and we were approved,” said PNF Recreation Program Manager Bruce Fahrni. “The good thing though is that we still offer annual passes for $40. We did not change those prices, and we still offer free Wednesdays at all our day use sites.”

Fees will increase for several area day use sites and campgrounds due to budget deficits PNF has faced in past years, according to officials.  Beginning January 1, day-use sites including Thumb Butte will more than double from the present  $2 to $5, and campgrounds, including Lynx Lake and Granite Basin, will nearly double from the present $10 to $18.

Officials said PNF spends $396,903 annually to operate and maintain these sites, but fee revenues in 2007 were only $311,127, roughly 78 percent needed.

Benjamin Scott, a Verde Valley resident, was found guilty on Nov. 17 in the Prescott Justice Court for possessing an unlawfully taken mule deer and using another individual’s big game permit.

Due to Scott’s history of wildlife violations, Yavapai County Deputy Prosecutor Eric English asked for a separate sentencing hearing, held Dec. 15.

After reviewing Scott’s previous wildlife convictions, Prescott Justice Court Judge Arthur Markham sentenced Scott to 10 consecutive days in jail, three years of unsupervised probation, $600 in jail fees, $250 for possession of an unlawfully taken mule deer, $250 for using another individual’s big game tag, and 40 hours of community restitution to be completed at a nonprofit organization.

For the past two years, Scott has been the focus of a long-term investigation by the Arizona Game and Fish Department and has recently received court fines in Coconino and Yavapai counties that totaled $4,220 for violations of wildlife laws.

After spending two years capturing the habits of native javelinas, nature-lover Boyce Davis has launched a website to introduce the public to his colorful and informative DVD, Javelina Family Life.

Until now, very little film footage on the javelina (Collared Peccary) was available to the public. Prescott resident, Boyce Davis, has spent hours behind his camera lens capturing a javelina family in its natural setting. His filming includes many rarely-seen nighttime environments.

An accomplished photographer and ardent nature lover, Davis first became interested in javelinas when he found them making their characteristic duck-like sounds outside his home in Prescott Arizona.

"I have been photographing these interesting little animals since 1996 and this family herd was coming to our property long before we moved into our home. We live in TimberRidge and this family herd visits us almost every night," stated Davis.