On Wednesday we reported that a whole lot of nuttin' was going on with Amity, but maybe that's not precisely true. The drawn-out process of seeking resolution has provided ample opportunity for
OK, but what's the point? I want to illustrate the degradation of institutional memory through staff exodus, a process I expect will continue. Knowledgeable folks leave the agency or are shuffled around the org chart, new staff who have never heard of the Amity case replace them, it becomes that much more difficult for resolution to be reached, and it puts a real damper on figuring out how the hell AZGFD decided it would be a good idea to dig a fishin' hole in a graveyard.
This ought to underscore the need for faster resolution. I can only imagine what this is like for the tribes. Like getting passed from one customer service rep to another and having to explain yourself over and over - except instead of being overcharged on your phone bill, you're talking about the destruction of your ancestors' remains and an insult to your cultural heritage.
Here we go. We'll separate the list into three categories: those who have left their respective agencies, those who have been reassigned within their agencies, and those who have remained in the positions they held during the Amity incident. You may wish to refer to the Field Guide if you need help untangling where some of these positions fall within the AZGFD command structure.
I expect this list is incomplete. If you know something I don't, please let me know.
THE JET SET: THOSE THAT LEFT
Josh Avey - former AZGFD Habitat Branch Chief, now director of a private hunting and fishing club (maybe?): Avey was the Habitat Branch Chief prior to Amity, continuing in that position through the middle of last year (2012). Item 5 in an April 15, 2011 commission meeting agenda shows that Mr. Avey, listed under the title of Habitat Branch Chief, broached the subject of an agreement with the Town of Eagar for construction and management of a new fishing pond (yes, that pond). Searching AZGFD's web site, he disappears from documents around the middle of last year, with this August 3, 2012 agenda being the most recent mention I can find. Keep in mind - as Habitat Chief, he oversaw PEP, the agency "compliance" unit. One could imagine the discomfort of that position after the New Times article broke. He appears to have left the agency to direct a hunting and fishing club, North American Legacy, incorporated in Texas but headquartered in Phoenix. Here is their TX Corporation Commission filing record. I note they registered in 1999 and are listed as "not in good standing," so it's unclear if that's actually what he's up to these days.
Jack Husted - former Arizona Game and Fish Commissioner, now retired from public life and "spending more time with his family": You might have noticed by now that at the time of this writing, there are only four active commissioners. That is because the fifth, Springerville resident Jack Husted, resigned his post earlier this year amid allegations of sexual harassment. Husted previously was cited for encouraging a minor to shoot a prairie dog out of season, which the kid subsequently accomplished. In fairness to Husted, he is hardly the only agency official to have been picked up on hunting violations, most recently this guy.
Husted is the only commissioner who is on record talking about the project - speaking in favor of the pond at the April 2011 commission meeting. He also made an interesting statement reminding the commission to not forget their commitments to Becker Lake improvements. Waitaminute, Becker Lake? I thought we were talking about Lee Valley Pond? See, this here's what we call horse trading, son.
More on that later. In case you haven't yet formulated the notion that Husted is a Good ol' Boy of the first water:
Kirk Young - former AZGFD Fisheries Branch Chief, now working for USFWS Southwestern Region: Two official announcements, one from 2010 and one from 2012, identify Mr. Young as the AZGFD Fisheries Branch Chief. Remember they were responsible for identifying funding to build the pond. Looks like he's found employment with the feds as a USFWS Project Coordinator.
Kim Ryan - former AZGFD Archaeological Project Specialist, now a field office archaeologist for the BLM: Ms. Ryan appears to have been the lucky winner of the selection process that followed this job announcement during the summer of 2011, following the Amity "discovery." It's hard to say how she was involved though, as she doesn't appear in any agency documentation that I could find. She was the addressee of Northland Research, Inc.'s (NRI's) site assessment report, so probably she had something to do with the coordination efforts that went on in 2012. She is listed as being employed by the BLM as of 2013.
Bill Greenwood - former Town of Eagar Manager, now division manager of a materials company: Mr. Greenwood managed the Town for the 20 years ending in April 2012, and is noted here talking about the pond. He cited problems with adopting new technology as a reason for leaving. He now manages a division of the Northern Arizona Wood Products Association.
Miles Gilbert - former NRCS Archaeologist, now retired: The federal archaeologist AZGFD "borrowed" to inspect the pond construction site as part of the project review process (on state land without a permit). I won't provide any links, but take my word for it that he has recently entered the golden years of retirement.
PICK A CARD, ANY CARD: REASSIGNED WITHIN RESPECTIVE AGENCIES
Gary Hovatter - Former AZGFD Deputy Director, now Special Assistant to the Director: Hovatter held the agency's No. 2 leadership position, just below Director Larry Voyles in the org chart. Alonzo's New Times article quotes Hovatter extensively. In that article, he offered apologies and accepted responsibility on behalf of the agency, stating "we should have known better, but we didn't." He participated in the initial meeting with the tribes (August 2012). Public documents reveal little else about Hovatter's involvement with Amity, but it does seem likely as an upper-level manager active through the Macho B trapping incident, investigation, and subsequent agency restructuring, he probably had something to do with implementing the project review process that is, in my opinion, flawed.
Another possibility is that Hovatter became involved only in his capacity as AZGFD's go-to bulldog, called in when the agency needs to defend itself from reports of such unpleasantness as ESA violations, embezzlement, and creeps. Anytime the agency is under fire in the media, you'll see Hovatter front and center trying to deflect the shots.
He's still with the agency, but I can only speculate as to the nature of his appointment. The June 12, 2013 commission meeting agenda lists him as "Special Assistant to the Director" under item 9A. If you don't know what that means exactly, that makes two of us. Note the letterhead indicates someone named Ty Gray has replaced Hovatter as Deputy Director.
Jon Cooley - Former Region 1 Supervisor, now AZGFD Endangered Species Coordinator: Cooley was Region 1 Supervisor at least as early as 2010 and continued in that position through May of this year (2013) according to this meeting agenda. He might have represented a supervisory figure over pond construction, though that's not clear from the records. In any case he was Kelly Meyer's boss. We can at least say as the supervisor of the AZGFD Region in which Amity took place, he probably had his hands on the project to some extent. He is pictured in the groundbreaking article photo. He is now listed as AZGFD's Environmental Species Coordinator.
HOLDING THE LINE: THOSE THAT STAYED PUT
The entire Project Evaluation Program (PEP) team: This document identifies PEP as consisting of Laura Canaca, Daniel Nelson, Ginger Ritter, and Chip Young. Ms. Canaca is still listed as the PEP point of contact. Ritter's and Young's LinkedIn pages show that both are with the agency, though they may have taken on some new duties. Nelson sat on the City of San Luis small area transportation study TAC group representing AZGFD as recently as 2013 (that's when the document was last updated, anyway).
Kelly Meyer - Region 1 Fish Specialist, probably still Region 1 Fish Specialist: I have heard – and this is hearsay, so I can't prove it – that Meyer was the one AZGFD employee on the ground during the desecration, serving I guess as a project manager/inspector type. I have also heard that FISH SPECIALIST Meyer assisted Miles Gilbert with the pre-construction survey of the location. Again, I cannot prove either of those things. That said, consider these excerpts from NRI's site assessment.
Page 31 quotes a personal communication from K. Meyer to NRI staff: "The pond was excavated using a "ripper" to first break up the ground and then belly dump trucks were used to remove the fill. Smaller front end loaders and backhoes were also used during the pond construction."
And Page 27, "Elements of another in situ burial were removed during the construction of the pond and were not examined by Northland or [NRI's subcontracted bioarchaeologist] during the current phase of the assessment. The location for this burial was mapped based upon information provided by K. Meyer of AZGFD. Although no surface evidence was present for this burial, it was included on the maps but was not considered in our assessment of identifiable human remains or in the calculation of the minimum number of individuals (MNI)."
Sounds like a guy who is pretty familiar with the site and the construction that went on there.
Even if he wasn't involved with the arch survey or the earth moving, he is on record talking about changes to regulations at Becker Lake and the agency's intention to compensate for resulting impacts to the local community by building a pond on the AZGFD's 26 Bar Property. He is listed as a presenter representing AZGFD on this conference agenda from May 2013. It appears he hasn't left the agency, though it I can't say for certain he is still with Region 1. He may have been repositioned to another region or the Phoenix headquarters.
Steve Robertson - Regional Chief of USFWS Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR) Program: Alonzo's article notes that Steve's shop put up the cash to build the pond, granting the money to AZGFD out of the Dingell-Johnson fund, a federal program intended for this sort of project and funded by taxes levied on the sale of boats, fishing gear, and so forth. He was mentioned in the New Times article several times and appears to still be in place at WSFR. AZGFD recently nominated him for an award.
Again, please point out omissions or errors as warranted.
photo credit: AZGFD 2009. http://www.azgfd.net/wildlife/commission-news/senate-confirms-appointment-of-jack-husted-to-commission/2009/04/23/
Mr. Jack Husted
(you can call him Daddy)
Kim Ryan - former AZGFD Archaeological Project Specialist, now a field office archaeologist for the BLM: Ms. Ryan appears to have been the lucky winner of the selection process that followed this job announcement during the summer of 2011, following the Amity "discovery." It's hard to say how she was involved though, as she doesn't appear in any agency documentation that I could find. She was the addressee of Northland Research, Inc.'s (NRI's) site assessment report, so probably she had something to do with the coordination efforts that went on in 2012. She is listed as being employed by the BLM as of 2013.
Bill Greenwood - former Town of Eagar Manager, now division manager of a materials company: Mr. Greenwood managed the Town for the 20 years ending in April 2012, and is noted here talking about the pond. He cited problems with adopting new technology as a reason for leaving. He now manages a division of the Northern Arizona Wood Products Association.
Miles Gilbert - former NRCS Archaeologist, now retired: The federal archaeologist AZGFD "borrowed" to inspect the pond construction site as part of the project review process (on state land without a permit). I won't provide any links, but take my word for it that he has recently entered the golden years of retirement.
PICK A CARD, ANY CARD: REASSIGNED WITHIN RESPECTIVE AGENCIES
Gary Hovatter - Former AZGFD Deputy Director, now Special Assistant to the Director: Hovatter held the agency's No. 2 leadership position, just below Director Larry Voyles in the org chart. Alonzo's New Times article quotes Hovatter extensively. In that article, he offered apologies and accepted responsibility on behalf of the agency, stating "we should have known better, but we didn't." He participated in the initial meeting with the tribes (August 2012). Public documents reveal little else about Hovatter's involvement with Amity, but it does seem likely as an upper-level manager active through the Macho B trapping incident, investigation, and subsequent agency restructuring, he probably had something to do with implementing the project review process that is, in my opinion, flawed.
Another possibility is that Hovatter became involved only in his capacity as AZGFD's go-to bulldog, called in when the agency needs to defend itself from reports of such unpleasantness as ESA violations, embezzlement, and creeps. Anytime the agency is under fire in the media, you'll see Hovatter front and center trying to deflect the shots.
He's still with the agency, but I can only speculate as to the nature of his appointment. The June 12, 2013 commission meeting agenda lists him as "Special Assistant to the Director" under item 9A. If you don't know what that means exactly, that makes two of us. Note the letterhead indicates someone named Ty Gray has replaced Hovatter as Deputy Director.
Jon Cooley - Former Region 1 Supervisor, now AZGFD Endangered Species Coordinator: Cooley was Region 1 Supervisor at least as early as 2010 and continued in that position through May of this year (2013) according to this meeting agenda. He might have represented a supervisory figure over pond construction, though that's not clear from the records. In any case he was Kelly Meyer's boss. We can at least say as the supervisor of the AZGFD Region in which Amity took place, he probably had his hands on the project to some extent. He is pictured in the groundbreaking article photo. He is now listed as AZGFD's Environmental Species Coordinator.
HOLDING THE LINE: THOSE THAT STAYED PUT
The entire Project Evaluation Program (PEP) team: This document identifies PEP as consisting of Laura Canaca, Daniel Nelson, Ginger Ritter, and Chip Young. Ms. Canaca is still listed as the PEP point of contact. Ritter's and Young's LinkedIn pages show that both are with the agency, though they may have taken on some new duties. Nelson sat on the City of San Luis small area transportation study TAC group representing AZGFD as recently as 2013 (that's when the document was last updated, anyway).
Kelly Meyer - Region 1 Fish Specialist, probably still Region 1 Fish Specialist: I have heard – and this is hearsay, so I can't prove it – that Meyer was the one AZGFD employee on the ground during the desecration, serving I guess as a project manager/inspector type. I have also heard that FISH SPECIALIST Meyer assisted Miles Gilbert with the pre-construction survey of the location. Again, I cannot prove either of those things. That said, consider these excerpts from NRI's site assessment.
Page 31 quotes a personal communication from K. Meyer to NRI staff: "The pond was excavated using a "ripper" to first break up the ground and then belly dump trucks were used to remove the fill. Smaller front end loaders and backhoes were also used during the pond construction."
And Page 27, "Elements of another in situ burial were removed during the construction of the pond and were not examined by Northland or [NRI's subcontracted bioarchaeologist] during the current phase of the assessment. The location for this burial was mapped based upon information provided by K. Meyer of AZGFD. Although no surface evidence was present for this burial, it was included on the maps but was not considered in our assessment of identifiable human remains or in the calculation of the minimum number of individuals (MNI)."
Sounds like a guy who is pretty familiar with the site and the construction that went on there.
Even if he wasn't involved with the arch survey or the earth moving, he is on record talking about changes to regulations at Becker Lake and the agency's intention to compensate for resulting impacts to the local community by building a pond on the AZGFD's 26 Bar Property. He is listed as a presenter representing AZGFD on this conference agenda from May 2013. It appears he hasn't left the agency, though it I can't say for certain he is still with Region 1. He may have been repositioned to another region or the Phoenix headquarters.
Steve Robertson - Regional Chief of USFWS Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR) Program: Alonzo's article notes that Steve's shop put up the cash to build the pond, granting the money to AZGFD out of the Dingell-Johnson fund, a federal program intended for this sort of project and funded by taxes levied on the sale of boats, fishing gear, and so forth. He was mentioned in the New Times article several times and appears to still be in place at WSFR. AZGFD recently nominated him for an award.
Again, please point out omissions or errors as warranted.
photo credit: AZGFD 2009. http://www.azgfd.net/wildlife/commission-news/senate-confirms-appointment-of-jack-husted-to-commission/2009/04/23/
A curious staff reassignment has occurred at the Arizona SHPO.
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