This publication contains lobbying definitions, statutes, and lobbyist forms for those interested in how to register as a lobbyist and file with our office. This booklet helps explain how to register and file lobbyist reports with the Election Services Division. Included are deadlines, instructions and reporting requirements – all at your fingertips for quick reference.

The Arizona notary law was amended in 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, and 2004. The 1996 amendments comprised the first major revisions of the notary law in Arizona in more than 50 years. Rules, effective August 25, 2004, are included in this manual which contains:

* A question and answer section
* Notary laws
* Rules
* Instructions for completing a notary application form
* An application form
* Name/Address form
* An index

The Secretary of State’s Office publishes this manual as a guide for Arizona notaries. Revisions to this manual include concise explanations of how to apply with our office, how to purchase a notary bond, information about your commission, duties as a public official, samples of notarial acts, and the laws and rules that govern Arizona notaries. Arizona notaries are required to have a copy of this manual and keep it as a reference.

This handbook is chiefly intended to help political committees at the state level to understand and comply with the laws of the state relating to campaign finance reporting and to provide some technical assistance and practical guidance on how to use the Secretary of State's campaign finance software to facilitate such reporting. Much of this handbook may be useful to political committees in other Arizona jurisdictions as well.

Although not Federally listed as threatened or endangered, the roundtail chub, also a sportfish in Arizona, is nearly extirpated from sections of the Verde and Salt river drainages. The purpose of this investigation, from March 1998 through March 2000, was to describe ecological requirements and population dynamics of roundtail chub. The objectives were to describe species composition, distribution and abundance, quantify habitat selection by different life stages, estimate population size, quantify movement and age and growth, and describe the reproductive capacity of roundtail chub.

Apache trout is a federally threatened salmonid native to headwaters of the Little Colorado, Black, and White rivers in east-central Arizona. Decline of Apache trout to threatened status was attributed to over-fishing, habitat degradation and negative interactions (predation, competition and hybridization) with introduced nonnative salmonids. Although over-fishing is no longer considered a threat, habitat degradation and negative interactions with nonnative salmonids continue to threaten Apache trout, and it is towards these threats that recovery actions are directed. While barrier construction began in 1979 and livestock exclusion began in the mid-1980s, the efficacy of these recovery actions at increasing Apache trout abundance and improving habitat condition had not been evaluated. We therefore initiated a study to evaluate the efficacy of riparian fencing and barriers.

The goal of our study was to develop information to help manage aquatic plants in Arizona’s reservoirs to benefit sport fish management activities and angler access. To attain this goal we surveyed aquatic plants in reservoirs throughout Arizona and evaluated if the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s aquatic weed harvesting program was benefiting the fisheries program. Aquatic plant harvesting is probably a worthwhile endeavor to improve angler access and keep our angling customers satisfied. However, we strongly recommend that more effective decontamination procedures be implemented to limit the spread of invasive species