{"id":21344,"date":"2025-09-16T14:39:41","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T21:39:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/?p=21344"},"modified":"2025-09-16T14:44:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T21:44:31","slug":"commission-award-recipients-announced-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/09\/16\/commission-award-recipients-announced-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Commission Award recipients announced"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>NEWS RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sept. 16, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Commission Awards Banquet set for Jan. 17, 2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Arizona Game and Fish Commission announced the recipients of the 2025 Commission Awards at its Sept. 5 meeting in Eagar, Ariz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The awards recognize Arizonans who have contributed significantly to the conservation of the state\u2019s wildlife, its outdoor heritage, and the mission of the Arizona Game and Fish Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year&#8217;s recipients are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Award of Excellence<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Ed Sanchez and David Fernandez<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Youth Conservationist of the Year<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Matthew Hong<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Media of the Year<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Mike Russell<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Conservation Organization of the Year<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Tom Hannagan, Desert Fence Busters<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Conservationist of the Year<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Chuck Podolak<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Natural Resource Professional of the Year<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Elvy Barton<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Volunteer of the Year<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Cosimo Ingrande<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Educator of the Year<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Vatsal Chikani<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mentor of the Year<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Jonathan Ochoa<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>State Advocate of the Year<\/strong>\u00a0&#8211; Senator T.J. Shope<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Business Partner of the Year<\/strong>\u00a0&#8211; Rio Salado Sportsman&#8217;s Club<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Buck Appleby Hunter Education Instructor of the Year<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Michael Zaccardi<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Wildlife Habitat Steward of the Year<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Gail Steiger of the Spider Ranch<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>North American Model Commissioner&#8217;s Award<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Anne Justice Allen<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The awards will be presented at the annual Commission Awards Banquet on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, at the Hilton Phoenix Tapatio Cliffs Resort, Highland Plaza, 11111 N. 7th Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The banquet will begin with a social hour at 4 p.m. followed by dinner at 5:30 p.m. and the awards program starting at 6 p.m. The cost is $90 per person.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sponsorships are available. Sponsors receive logo placement in the event program and on-screen presentation, recognition on the Arizona Game and Fish Department\u2019s website (which receives more than 1 million views annually), and exposure to an influential audience of conservation leaders, outdoor recreation supporters and state decision-makers. To be included in the printed event program, sponsorships must be confirmed by Dec. 26, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your sponsorship not only helps celebrate Arizona\u2019s conservationists but also ensures that this important event is possible, as all banquet costs are covered through ticket sales and sponsor contributions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To reserve your attendance or a sponsorship, use the&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/links-1.govdelivery.com\/CL0\/https:%2F%2Fsecure.lglforms.com%2Fform_engine%2Fs%2F9yK-G7OlZw1WB-nEwr32QA%3Futm_medium=email%26utm_source=govdelivery\/1\/0100019953e5378f-3108c7d0-edb8-4de3-9624-14b48dbdf8d5-000000\/ZRDLHT355JYVRuNkn-BJzY0rlQdc3zvhaOioVkrXb_s=422\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">2026 Commission Awards Banquest Registration Form<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Arizona Game and Fish Commission held its first annual awards banquet on Jan. 12, 1991. Since then, more than 400 recipients have been recognized with Commission Awards.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Awards to be presented at annual banquet on Jan. 17, 2026, at Hilton Phoenix Tapatio Cliffs Resort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":20433,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main-site"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Commission Award recipients announced - Arizona Game &amp; Fish Department<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/09\/16\/commission-award-recipients-announced-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Commission Award recipients announced - Arizona Game &amp; 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