Andrew Kimmerle Award

Troy has worked for the Arizona Game and Fish Department for 35 years. He started with the Department as a summer intern, baiting and trapping desert bighorn sheep from around Lake Mohave for relocation to other parts of the state. His first permanent position was as a Wildlife Habitat Construction Technician, doing a variety of work

including building and maintaining water catchments and hauling water during periods without enough rain. In 2000, he was promoted into the Department’s Landowner Relations Program. For over a year, he was the only employee in the program – he administered grant projects, cooperative habitat improvement agreements, volunteer

projects, area closure petitions, public access issues, and a committee which brought together landowners, sportsmen, and the land management agencies.

Over the last 24 years, the effective Landowner Relations Program has grown to include several positions, with specialists based out of each regional office and the Phoenix headquarters. Troy took the Public Access Coordinator position where he focuses on building working relationships. He does outreach at various farmer and rancher events

each year to promote programs the Department has for cooperatively working with landowners – this includes the Habitat Partnership Committees.

Troy works on hundreds of different ranches and farms to help manage recreational use and inform the public about good stewardship and ethical treatment of the land they use to recreate. He helps maintain access for us hunters by installing swinging gates, fence ladders, cattle guards, and signs to mitigate the access issues the landowners experience.

Troy also administers the successful Adopt-A-Ranch Program, where he brings on a large force of volunteers to not only help maintain and enhance public access but also to complete many wildlife habitat improvement projects. Each year, Troy facilitates around 25 volunteer projects. He works many weekends alongside hundreds of volunteers

from many sportsmen groups (including the AZ Deer Association) plus several OHV clubs and other organizations. Troy also oversees lots of habitat enhancement projects

involving the Boy Scouts of America, introducing many youth to the benefits of good stewardship of the land, the mission of the Department, and the importance of collaboration between agencies, landowners, and the public to effectively manage Arizona’s wildlife populations. He has assisted 60 scouts in earning their Eagle Scout rank.

Troy possesses an outstanding working relationship with hundreds of ranchers, farmers, and recreationists His work ethics and decades of dedication do much to contribute to initiating, maintaining, and enhancing relationships between the Department, user groups, and the agricultural community.