Boquillas Ranch Access Agreement Renewed For One Year - AZGFD, Navajo Nation Hope To Reach Long-Term Deal

The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) and the Navajo Nation have renewed an access agreement that ensures continued public recreation use for one year on the Boquillas Ranch in Game Management Unit 10.

The 720,000-acre ranch in northwest Arizona, which accounts for more than 50 percent of the land in Unit 10, is owned by the Navajo Nation. After more than six months of negotiations between the department, the Navajo Nation and its lessee, Cholla Livestock LLC, the ranch will be open to select hunting opportunities in 2022.

As a result of the agreement, the original number of hunt permit-tags that had been approved for Unit 10 will be restored, as authorized by the Arizona Game and Fish Commission. NOTE: Because of deadline considerations, printed “2022 Pronghorn and Elk Hunt Draw Information” booklets will not accurately reflect hunt permit-tag numbers and hunter access information in Unit 10. Those hunters who intend to apply for hunt permit-tags in the upcoming draw with the hope of hunting on the ranch should view updated draw information at http://www.azgfd.com/Hunting/Draw/.

“The department values our relationship with the Navajo Nation and Cholla Livestock LLC,” said Clay Crowder, assistant director for the department’s Wildlife Management Division. “We plan to keep working toward developing a long-term agreement that not only ensures recreational access that benefits the Navajo Nation and the citizens of Arizona, but allows for the regulated management of wildlife populations under the pillars of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation."