Prepared by: Ralph Hudson, President
The CPNHA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of the State of Arizona for both charitable and educational purposes. The CPHNA Employer Identification Number, also known as its Federal Tax Identification Number, is: 731687944. Please see our website, cabezaprieta.org, to read our bylaws and find out more about our mission.
The CPNHA is dedicated to:
Membership is open to any person paying the annual dues or being granted honorary status by the Ex. Board. Associate members are those people who may work at the refuge or another organization and contribute to our work by speaking or some other activity. They are part of our friends and support. CPNHA had 124 active, 22 associate, and 5 honorary members in FY 2010, up slightly from the prior year. Most members are part-time residents of Ajo that also reside in over 20 states in the U.S., at least 4 Provinces in Canada, in several foreign countries, plus those that reside full time in Arizona and in Ajo itself. We have membership categories of Life ($60), Family ($15), Student (free), our regular memberships ($10) and we offer a corporate support category ($100). Members joining at the December annual meeting could get a membership and a hat for $20, Life memberships came with a free mug (Ralph broke one!). Lynn Cooper is the membership coordinator.
The Executive Board is the decision-making body legally responsible for the decisions of the CPNHA. It consists of four officers, three Board members and an ex officio Refuge representative. The Committee held six meetings, open to the members, from November through April five in the Refuge offices and one at the offices of the International Sonoran Desert Alliance.
A nominating committee presents a slate of officers for the annual meeting. Officers are elected by the members attending the annual meeting the first Tuesday in December and can serve for three consecutive one year terms.
* appointed by the board to complete the term of Jim Hedrick
New Board Members are elected by the sitting Executive Board at the first Board meeting following the annual meeting in December. The Refuge representative is appointed by the Refuge Manager.
Four member meetings were held the first Tuesday of the months December to April (except for March) at 7 PM. These meetings were popular and over 120 attendees came to the four meetings. Meeting highlights include:
December - This was our annual meeting, held at the Pima County Community Center and open to all who have an interest in our group. A volunteer slideshow was shown with slides from many members. The officers were elected. It was a welcome back event at which Ron and Brooke Chesley did brats and the members provided potluck food. Thanks to all who contributed to a fun evening. We had a hat deal and mug deal to encourage membership signups. Lynn Cooper signed up renewing and new members and, with John, coordinated the event.
January - John Cooper was MC and opened the meeting with a welcome. The finances were presented with a healthy balance of over $7,000 available. The winter calendar of events was presented with a focus in sixes, that is six Lectures, six Childs Mt tours, six hikes and more. Jim Atkinson gave an update on the Proghorn rearing program with a release of 17 animals including 11 does. Of the 52 captured and treated animals none were lost due to handling. Jim noted the captive breeding pen may need to be enlarged due to the increased population. A second population is planned for KOFA refuge. Cindy Holtz, Refuge biologist was introduced. Cindy is working on a five year study to better understand the effects of humans on Pronghorn. Steve Barclay, Biologist and now refuge Assistant Manager, described his work inventorying and monitoring the flora and fauna of the Cabeza Refuge and the impacts they are receiving. Margot requested volunteer help and announced training for all volunteers. Mimi Phillips gave an overview of the Outdoor Adventure Camp (OAC) for kids.
February - As usual we started the evening with decaf coffee and cookies and a welcome. Ralph presented on the topic: what our organization does and used a “What Guides Us” slide show. Announcements of upcoming plans and volunteer work were made. A review of our OAC grant and what it has done was presented.
March - An open house was held to see and enjoy the renovation of the visitors’ center in the Refuge offices. This meeting was postponed until late in the month due to the rescheduling of the installation of the visitor center displays. This also became our appreciation night with certificates and gifts for three of our members.
Bookshop: The Bookshop is a joint venture of the CPNHA and the CPNW Refuge. The Refuge provides the space, utilities and the majority of the on-site selling activities at no cost to the CPNHA. The CPNHA purchased the display equipment and also purchases merchandise for sale. Our organization also manages the inventory, pricing, bookkeeping and banking.
In addition to the fiscal gain, an important outcome of the bookshop is that the print merchandise sold helps buyers and gift recipients be better educated about, and appreciative of the Refuge and the Sonoran Desert. The product list includes books, cards, DVDs, maps, seeds, walking sticks hats and T-shirts. Each hat and T- shirt logo depicts a significant specie of the Refuge. This year we added Gila Monster shirts and four new hat designs. Our bookshop products were also sold at the first three lectures. In April the bookshop had approximately 1,200 items for sale with a wholesale value of about $4,200 and an estimated retail value of $8,000. See page 5 of this Report for financial information regarding the sales and costs associated with the bookshop. In fiscal year 2011 we purchased the final equipment for the point-of-sale system begun in fiscal year 2009, a major expense. That should keep the store up an running for several years. Profits from the store are used to support the Refuge and further the work of the Association. The bookshop manager is Helen Matthews and she is assisted by Lynn Cooper.
Internet Site www.cabezaprieta.org: This scientifically-focused site is a service to members and others throughout the world with an interest in the Sonoran Desert and/or the CPNWR. This site contains a wealth of information about, and pictures of, the flora, fauna and geology of the Refuge and Sonoran Desert. It also contains current and background information regarding the Refuge and the Association. Updates were limited in 2011. Detailed information, including many photos, of Sonoran Desert native plants, birds, reptiles, mammals, insects, spiders, butterflies, geology/geography and climate are included. There are search pages to assist in the identification of unknown desert plants and unknown birds.
Many of the hikes lead by the Association are described there as well as the Childs Mountain site, our tours to the top and its History as an Air Force Radar base.
The internet site is the World’s portal to our organization and received over 700,000 hits last year. Most searches were for information on the Flora and Fauna of the Sonoran Desert. Our efforts to maintain and enhance the site keeps it growing. We are linked to our Webmaster Tom Powell’s excellent Ajo weather section on his website. Thank you to Tom for your continued support. Our content is the equivalent of over 900 pages. We also have a small banner on our home page to allow a user to click through to REI.com, a member owned outfitter, and when that is done a percentage of any internet purchase is earned by our association. We received our first payment for sales this year. Ralph Hudson is the content manager for the website.
Lecture Series: The CPNHA partnered with Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation (PCNRPR) in conducting six free public lectures in January, February, and March that were held in the Ajo Community Center using the Refuge’s projector. The lectures attracted over 300 Ajo area residents and visitors. Ralph Hudson was the program coordinator. At our first Lecture we honored Tim Lengerich who died in the Growler Valley, August 2010. Tim was the producer of the series of some time. A video of the Tim Lengerich memorial slide show is on Youtube. At the March Board meeting it was voted that each year a lecture will be dedicated to Tim. Tim’s family made a donation to the Association to be used as a memorial and to further the work Tim believed in. We will support the Lecture Series with that donation. Hozho friend.
The presentations were:
Unfortunately Steve Barclay’s March 22 talk had to be canceled due to a scheduling conflict. He will be encouraged to participate in 2012
Childs Mountain Tours: The CPNHA led six tours to Childs Mountain late in the afternoon on the Saturday following each lecture. Attendance was consistent and exceeded 300 for the season. Start times were 4 PM in Jan. 4:30 in Feb. and 5 PM in Mar. New informational posters to better share some maps and pictures were developed in 2010 by John Cooper. Regina Browne coordinated with help from, John Cooper and Aaron Mayson.
Desert Hikes: Guided field trips were conducted to help CPNHA members and the public participate in unique Desert experiences. Trip destinations were: Little Ajo Mt. (near Ajo) and the unnamed peak south of it, Crater Range, and Estes Canyon. We had one weather cancelation! Hikes Coordinator was Ekkehard Fischer with help from Aaron Mayson.
Shindig: The Shindig was moved to the Plaza and was well attended by both organizations and the public. Our organizations sponsored booth space for the Cabeza Prieta NWR Refuge, Buenos Aires NWR, and Liberty Wildlife. An evening concert was also added to the events this year and was ably done by Roland Trenary. The CPNHA co-sponsored the Sonoran Shindig desert celebration with the Chamber of Commerce and Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation. The CPNHA booth focused on selling books and sharing Desert Information. The volunteer turnout to help set up, operate, and take down booths was outstanding. Aaron Mayson coordinated. The CPNHA also facilitated the photo exhibit that was in one of the Plaza shops. The Photo Exhibit was well received with over 160 entries. Ribbons were given for first, second and third place in six categories. Loni Lockwood and Joyce Morrison coordinated the Photo Exhibit.
Outdoor Adventure Camp and the new equipment: We joined with the International Sonoran Desert Alliance (ISDA), the Refuge, Organ Pipe Cactus NM, and Pima County NRPR, in supporting an outdoor education program for youngsters in the Ajo area. The program has existed for several years and needed support in the form of outdoor equipment and volunteer involvement. In 2010 Bruce Davis, a former board member, had applied to the Fish and Wildlife Foundation for a funding grant. His efforts were rewarded with $5,000 to purchase camping and outdoor gear such as GPS units, binoculars, cameras, tents, packs, hydration bladders and bottles, compasses, and much more. This year those resources were put to full use by the program. Our board approved funds to purchase snacks and food for the program as well. Lauralee Bell worked to see the snacks and food were there when needed with help from Judy Mason. The board also purchased six additional cameras that were requested. Mimi Phillips is our OAC coordinator.
Some Volunteer Activities: Pronghorn enclosure building and repair- Aaron Mayson showed his leadership in preparing a large temporary holding pens and both the covering of the Bohma trapping system along with a dedicated group of shade cloth wizards.
Charley Bell well cleanup- Two members Michael Cochran and Loren Wells collected bags of trash and kept this area we have worked on in the past clean.
Childs Mountain ramada and trail repair- A crew of our volunteers repaired the ramada at the Wildlife watching area of Childs Mt. The picnic area was cleared and the grill was dug in and cemented to secure it. Lauralee Bell and John Cooper did the preparation to make the job easy.
Pupfish and birding site development along the headquarter’s nature trail- additional work was carried out to repair the irrigation, add plantings and irrigation and to develop a plants list for interpretive purposes. Hank Jorgensen and John Cooper lead this. On the same day the Refuge headquarter’s property was cleaned of refuse and the land along SR85 and around the corner of Rasmussen road got attention as well.
BLM event- In honor of the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Sonoran Desert Monument an event was held at the Auxiliary field of the Barry M Goldwater Range-East by the Phoenix office of the Bureau of Land Management. We took our booth and distributed information about our work and programs. Helen Matthews and Lynn Cooper welcomed visitors and shared information.
Crater Range graffiti removal- Helen Matthews returned with a small crew and removed a small amount of new graffiti. This area is often noticed and its pristine outcroppings are a sharp contrast to its former condition.
Other work was planned but due to a Refuge policy change concerning off-highway vehicles on the refuge roads, volunteerism was down for projects that would occur on Refuge lands. This change in volunteer response prompted us to request help from the Fish and Wildlife regional office to work towards a renewal of our volunteers’ response but unfortunately they denied us assistance. The board at its April meeting discussed how we move forward with volunteer activities in light of this and it was decided to explore participating with other stakeholders in the Sonoran Desert, to support OAC and the refuge on projects that are consistent with our volunteers’ wishes.
Appreciations: The CPNHA gave tokens of appreciation to each of our speakers and special certificates with a small gift to Ekkehard Fischer, Mimi Phillips and Lynn Cooper this year. Ekkehard has lead most of the Naturalist hikes for many years and continues to be a major resource for our members and visitors. Mimi is the board lead for Outdoor Adventure Camp and did extra last summer when the program needed leadership and workers. Lynn has been our event coordinator and membership monitor. She makes the November Street fair, the potluck/annual meeting and other events happen and collects your dues and publishes a member list several times a year which gets all members on our email list. Thank you to all three of these dedicated members.
Conclusion: This has been a bittersweet year in some respects. As an educational non-profit we try to avoid the politics of the refuge, local, regional, and national issues. The decision to open the refuge roads to ATVs by the refuge manager conflicted with the interests of our mission and frustrated many members and volunteers. As your association leadership we believe there is a positive and productive path forward.
CPNHA FISCAL YEAR SUMMARY REPORT OCT 2010 – SEPT 2011 PREPARED BY L. RENZ, TREASURER CPNHA CASH ACCOUNTING CASH BALANCE SEPT 31, 2011 = $ 7,254 REVENUE SALES $ 7,357 MEMBERSHIP 915 CONTRIBUTIONS 735 (Tim L family 725) REBATES/REFUND 1,139 (Refuge repaid 1,000) INTEREST 7 TOTAL $ 10,153 DISBURSEMENTS MERCHANDISE $ 5,739 PROGRAM EXPENSES 957 (Lectures, Childs Mtn, pot luck, oac, etc.) EQUIPMENT 772 (Bookshop & oac) MEMBERSHIPS 80 (C of C, etc.) REFUGE DONATIONS 632 (NWRA, petty cash, etc.) TOTAL $ 8,180
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Thomas R. Powell