Hello all ,hope someone can give me some advice. I live in southeastern Arizona(Cochise County) and have for many years. When I was young,before I did a stint in the Army,I used to fish on any of the 8 or so stocked ponds that were on the nearby(5 minute drive) Army post,Fort Huachuca.

         After my sevice to our country, I returned to my home town and wanted to go hit those ponds again and to my dismay have found them all dried up!!! I am a 100% disabled veteran and like to fish to relax and enjoy myself. I was told that Arizona legislature thinks the military post uses too much water by keeping those ponds active and thus has passed a bill or something to get the ponds shut down. Anyone who has been in the military knows what MWR is. For those that dont it short for MORALE,WELFARE AND RECREATION. Wheres the MWR for the soldiers on this post?

    Im so aggravated as I absolutely LOVE to fish and now I dont have anywhere close to take my kids to show them this wonderful outdoor activity where I have so many fond memories as I grew up. These ponds are where my dad introduced me to fishing and I would absolutely drive my dad nuts ,begging him to take me fishing. The closest place to fish anymore is more than an hour away and always really packed with people. Any suggestions or anything to help ease my absolute anger and aggravation?

hey man first off thanks for serving our country thats a brave thing to do

as far as that goes id write letters, emails, phone calls, petitions pretty much just antagonize them until they do something about it, see if you can get any of your fellow veterans or even active duty soldiers to start a petition i would think that would mean something to them but until then sorry about your luck i hope you still get to wet a line  stay strong thanks again!

that sucks id do just what he said.. start a petition and Argue 'till ya get your way. I think everyone should have a place close by for they can go fishing. Everyone should have a chance to enjoy fishing and for them to close them is wrong... but keep fighting and God Bless

Thanks alot man, I really appreciate what you've done for all of us.

And I agree.. write letters till you're sick of it and then get your friends and fellow soldiers to write letters.  And if you need a petition signed I'll sign it... even though I don't live in Arizona.. It's a shame to see people so caught up in $$ that they forget that you only have one life to live and for someone who has made a sacrifice such as you for them, recreation is a very very important thing.  Best of luck and keep us posted

I found out the true reason the area has dried up all the ponds. Seems I live in an area thats supposed to be "Last of the mohicans" as far as rivers in the desert go. So some enviromentalists have pursuaded the post to dry up the ponds here on post so that the post doesnt use so much water and dry up the water table. Basically the post is wasting water by having the ponds. Its a very complicated subject and I read all about it and never knew it was such a big deal,I talked to a rep from the outdoor recreation division here on post and he said his hands were tied. Below you will find a link to the whole reason why this dry up process has happened.

http://www.sw-center.org/swcbd/Programs/watersheds/spr/bo2-notice-3-17-05.pdf

I haven't researched any of this but, here fishing can be recognized as theropy, to what extent I don't know.  The Corp. or Eng. gives reduced camping passes for the handicapped or disabled.  And you also would elgiable for a handicapped vetreran's licence also.  I would like to think that if you could round up some other people that like to fish and possibly camp maybe some organization would help pick up the tab.  So maybe you could get some help with transportation, watercraft and such.  I know it,s alot easier to say then to try to get done.  Aren't there some pretty nice lakes out there that would make a nice weekend trip once a month or so?