Arizona Bald Eagle Nestwatch Program wins award

Directing people away from sensitive
nesting areas results in 600 percent
population growth over last 30 years

PHOENIX – The Bald Eagle Nestwatch Program operated by the Arizona Game and Fish Department has received a Showcase in Excellence award from the Arizona Quality Alliance (AQA).

“We are thrilled to have received another Showcase in Excellence Award for one of our most innovative processes,” said Assistant Director Mike Senn, head of the department’s Wildlife Management Division.

Senn said the quality award shows the department is not only doing the right thing for our national symbol, the bald eagle, but also doing it in the right way with an eye toward continuous improvement.

“We strive to have some of the most innovative and progressive wildlife programs around, so it is nice to receive this recognition affirming our commitment to quality,” Senn said.

This is not the department’s first award on its quality journey.

In 2008, the Game and Fish Department received a Showcase In Excellence Award for its Hunt Recommendation process. In 2007, the department received two Showcase In Excellence Awards – one for its Endangered Species Recovery process and another for its Urban Lake Stocking process. The Arizona Quality Alliance also awarded the Department the Pioneer Award for Quality in 2005.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Arizona Bald Eagle Nestwatch Program (ABENWP) is a unique, cost-effective process that involves cooperation from federal, state, local, and tribal agencies as well as nongovernmental organizations and private landowners.

The Nestwatch Program helps conserve Arizona’s small bald eagle population in areas with high recreation pressures. “Nestwatchers” contracted annually by the department monitor bald eagle nests from February to June. They act as a safeguard to the bald eagle’s breeding activities by directing people away from the sensitive areas where they nest, and notifying department biologists when bald eagles are in life-threatening situations.

Due in part to the long-term success of the Nestwatch Program, the bald eagle numbers over the past 30 years have grown nearly 600 percent in the state.

The Showcase in Excellence Award is a specific award within the AQA’s Arizona Performance Excellence Award Program. It recognizes organizations for excellence in specific processes. Organizations may apply on behalf of any organizational process they believe is exceptional.

The department will be presented this prestigious award at a banquet to be held on Feb. 2, 2010 at the Chaparral Suites Resort, 5001 N. Scottsdale Road.