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Welcoming Remarks1
Bud Bristow
The Arizona Game and Fish Department is
pleased to be a co-sponsor of this Symposium on
Snag Habitat Management . That seventeen states,
numerous Federal and State Agencies and Universities are represented is testimony to the
interest at all levels in s nag management .
The Arizona Game and Fish Department has long
rea lized the value of snags to many species of
our state's wildlife . For example, over 70
species of birds and mammals use snags on the
Coconino Forest . l~ork done on turkeys by Fred
Phillips, one of the Department ' s Wildlife
~~nagers
focused on the importance of snags as
roosting ' sites . The value of snags to Ar izona ' s
cavity nesting birds are well documented.
We ar e also aware that many of our existing
snags may be jeopardized by cur ren t commercial
timber and fuelwood management practices . Cable
suspension logging is s tar ting to cut into
resources of. s nags in canyons and on the steep
hills. Improper removal by the public for fuelwood is t aking its toll. The Game and Fish
Department is not a land management agency and,
therefore , is limited to how it can directly
affect the management and protection of snags .
Currently , we do not have a s nag management
policy. The Department is, however , moving
toward a policy on commercial timber harvest
that will i ncrease our involvement in timber
1 Paper presented at the Snag Habitat
Management Symposium, [Northern Arizona University ,
Flagstaff , Arizona, June 7-9 , 1983].
2sud Bristow is Director of the Arizona Game
and Fish Department , Phoenix, Az .
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managemen t practices , and will hopefully provide
for maximum diver si t y of age- classes in all
forest types .
A term I ' m sure we're going to hear mor e and
more is holistic . This concept is old ; as old
as wildlife management , and as old as a land
e thic. It s till is no t an accepted practice in
principle on our public land . It is a term we had
better see in us e , however, if our resour ce responsibility, wildlife , is to survive . We must continue
to plan and negotiate m anagement methods benefi cial
to wildlife. Otherwise, we can lose more during this
current production-oriented period than we gained in
all the accumulated restoration of decades of good
management .
Several questions come to mind whe n snags are
considered. The f irs t and most obvious is where
will tomorrow ' s come from? The 12" saw timber
cutting cycl e?
t~ha t are we doing to stop the rapid loss from
illegal fue l wood cutting? Are we to have a natural
complement of age classes s urrounding the snags?
We have t he answer s we need for most management decisions. Refinement of particulars is
desirabl e, but management won't wait until all the
answers are in. We must make a commitment t o
management of our future snag and old grow th resource . Hopefully , this symposium will act as a
catal yst to develop a strong interest in snag
management at all levels and generate further
study .
Again , I wish to welcome you on behal f of the
Arizona Game and Fish Depar t ment and I look forward
to an enl ightening and invigorating symposium .