{"id":23295,"date":"2025-11-07T13:25:43","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T20:25:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/?p=23295"},"modified":"2025-11-07T13:29:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T20:29:10","slug":"make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/","title":{"rendered":"Plan to attend the Commission Awards Banquet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>NEWS RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nov. 5, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mark your calendars: The Arizona Game and Fish Commission\u2019s annual Commission Awards\u00a0Banquet\u00a0will be held 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 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. Fifteen award recipients chosen at the commission&#8217;s Sept. 5 meeting in Eagar, Ariz. will be honored at the&nbsp;banquet:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Award of Excellence \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Ed Sanchez and David Fernandez<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Youth Conservationist of the Year \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Matthew Hong<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Media of the Year \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Mike Russell<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Conservation Organization of the Year \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Tom Hannagan, Desert Fence Busters<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Conservationist of the Year \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Chuck Podolak<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Natural Resource Professional of the Year \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Elvy Barton<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Volunteer of the Year \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Cosimo Ingrande<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Educator of the Year \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Vatsal Chikani<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mentor of the Year \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Jonathan Ochoa<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>State Advocate of the Year &#8211;\u00a0<\/strong>Senator T.J. Shope<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Business Partner of the Year &#8211;\u00a0<\/strong>Rio Salado Sportsman&#8217;s Club<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Buck Appleby Hunter Education Instructor of the Year \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Michael Zaccardi<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Wildlife Habitat Steward of the Year \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Gail Steiger of the Spider Ranch<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>North American Model Commissioner&#8217;s Award \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Anne Justice Allen<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To reserve your attendance or a sponsorship, use the 2026 Commission Awards&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\/0100019a52ac6b23-c23672be-80c7-4bd4-b1a6-5b6a88a06ab4-000000\/58_n7HQYRmViiU36Cql4wrKPGqJY5Cr4U9B5fjuQNnY=430\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Banquet&nbsp;Registration Form<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;banquet&nbsp;will begin with a social hour at 4 p.m. followed by&nbsp;dinner&nbsp;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><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\/2\/0100019a52ac6b23-c23672be-80c7-4bd4-b1a6-5b6a88a06ab4-000000\/u6zUEKgntRiE951tTui5Mk6zQMU_glBsaAw0d9M_X90=430\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Sponsorships are available<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;(scroll down the form). 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&nbsp;banquet&nbsp;costs are covered through ticket sales and sponsor contributions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Arizona Game and Fish Commission held its first annual awards&nbsp;banquet&nbsp;on Jan. 12, 1991. Since then, more than 400 recipients have been recognized with Commission Awards.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Event is set for Jan. 17, 2026, at the Hilton Phoenix Tapatio Cliffs Resort in Phoenix.<\/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-23295","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>Plan to attend the Commission Awards Banquet - 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\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Plan to attend the Commission Awards Banquet - Arizona Game &amp; Fish Department\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Event is set for Jan. 17, 2026, at the Hilton Phoenix Tapatio Cliffs Resort in Phoenix.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arizona Game &amp; Fish Department\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-07T20:25:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-07T20:29:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/azgfd-portal-wordpress-pantheon.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/11144746\/Commission-Awards-banquet-2025-edited_360.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1671\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1671\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tcadden\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tcadden\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/\",\"name\":\"Plan to attend the Commission Awards Banquet - Arizona Game &amp; Fish Department\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/azgfd-portal-wordpress-pantheon.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/11144746\/Commission-Awards-banquet-2025-edited_360.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-07T20:25:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-07T20:29:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e4f5030d8d438479f13a1f15a784c47a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/azgfd-portal-wordpress-pantheon.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/11144746\/Commission-Awards-banquet-2025-edited_360.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/azgfd-portal-wordpress-pantheon.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/11144746\/Commission-Awards-banquet-2025-edited_360.jpg\",\"width\":1671,\"height\":1671},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Plan to attend the Commission Awards Banquet\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/\",\"name\":\"Arizona Game &amp; Fish Department\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e4f5030d8d438479f13a1f15a784c47a\",\"name\":\"tcadden\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/003831402a777d7d8fa61b21ec4ecd54b062f57a6d16d125e822dddf6f5e98be?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/003831402a777d7d8fa61b21ec4ecd54b062f57a6d16d125e822dddf6f5e98be?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"tcadden\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/author\/tcadden\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Plan to attend the Commission Awards Banquet - Arizona Game &amp; Fish Department","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Plan to attend the Commission Awards Banquet - Arizona Game &amp; Fish Department","og_description":"Event is set for Jan. 17, 2026, at the Hilton Phoenix Tapatio Cliffs Resort in Phoenix.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/","og_site_name":"Arizona Game &amp; Fish Department","article_published_time":"2025-11-07T20:25:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-07T20:29:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1671,"height":1671,"url":"https:\/\/azgfd-portal-wordpress-pantheon.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/11144746\/Commission-Awards-banquet-2025-edited_360.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"tcadden","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"tcadden","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/","url":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/","name":"Plan to attend the Commission Awards Banquet - Arizona Game &amp; Fish Department","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/azgfd-portal-wordpress-pantheon.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/11144746\/Commission-Awards-banquet-2025-edited_360.jpg","datePublished":"2025-11-07T20:25:43+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-07T20:29:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e4f5030d8d438479f13a1f15a784c47a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/azgfd-portal-wordpress-pantheon.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/11144746\/Commission-Awards-banquet-2025-edited_360.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/azgfd-portal-wordpress-pantheon.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/11144746\/Commission-Awards-banquet-2025-edited_360.jpg","width":1671,"height":1671},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/11\/07\/make-plans-to-attend-the-commission-awards-banquet\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Plan to attend the Commission Awards Banquet"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/","name":"Arizona Game &amp; Fish Department","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e4f5030d8d438479f13a1f15a784c47a","name":"tcadden","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/003831402a777d7d8fa61b21ec4ecd54b062f57a6d16d125e822dddf6f5e98be?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/003831402a777d7d8fa61b21ec4ecd54b062f57a6d16d125e822dddf6f5e98be?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"tcadden"},"url":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/author\/tcadden\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23295"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23303,"href":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23295\/revisions\/23303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}