
This Award is not given annually, but only when a worthy individual is selected by the ADA Board. We often go years between presentations.
The Jamison can be awarded for an Individual’s Volunteer Conservation Work, Political Advocacy for Wildlife or Wildlife Management, Professional Management benefiting Wildlife, Hunting, Fishing, and other Outdoor Avocations.
Originally from Kansas where he was born and raised, Jimmy Jamison came to Flagstaff looking for a new start in life. As a contractor and developer, he became quite successful, raised a family, became involved in the community, and continued his lifelong passion of hunting and conservation.
The ADA was honored to present the Jamison Award in 2026 to Johnny Basha.
“I was born in Arizona seventy-two years ago, part of a second-generation of a family that moved here pre-statehood in 1910. My dad was in awe of Arizona, so I learned at an early age to respect our habitat and wildlife. I went on to enjoy the privilege of more than sixty years big-game hunting alongside some of Arizona’s truest, most legendary sportsmen, who taught me to hunt safely and ethically, to partner respectfully with the land, and to leave things better than I found them. To me, hunting and fishing are Arizona’s gift to us, and I have passed respect for that gift not only to my four adult children, but to my ten grandchildren.
This gift is one all of us are entrusted to preserve for Arizona’s future generations.”
Over the years, every time we have reached out to him, he has been there with contributions and political capital to promote and defend what we as sportsmen and women love to do.
For the past two years he has served on the Arizona Game & Fish Commission Appointment Recommendation Board, helping to insure the best Commission candidates are forwarded to the Governor’s Office.