PUBLIC 

 LIB. 



CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 177 



7. To ascertain the cost of maintenauce and operation of said hatchery in Inyo 

 County, and whether the said cost is not extravagantly expensive and out of all 

 proportion to the benefit derived by the people of the state, and likely to be a groAvmg 

 burden and expense; also the person from whomthe ground was purchased and the 

 then owners of adjacent property and the price paid therefor. 



8. To ascertain whether or not the commission is making any intelligent and 

 sufticient effort to obtain accurate first-hand information relative to the present status 

 and condition of the game and fish of the state ; and whether or not by reason of 

 failure to procure such information many species of game and fish have reached the 

 point of actual extinction, with others in the same dangerous stage of diminution, 

 oefore proper conservation measures can be proposed to this Assembly. 



9. Why said commission has permitted the Truckee River, one of the most beautiful 

 streams in the world, and a famous fishing ground, to remain polluted for years by 

 tJie waste products from a paper mill located at Floriston, California, notwithstanding 

 popular complaint and objection by the citizens, not only of our state, but also 

 by the people of our sister state, Nevada, whose principal city obtains its domestic 

 water supply from said river ; and notwithstanding said commission is required by 

 law, and clothed with all lawful authority, to prevent the pollution of streams, ^yhy 

 it is that in the face of the law said commission has deliberately and wilfully failed 

 and refused to do its plain duty, thereby constituting a clear and flagrant malfeasance 

 in office, and one that should be severely dealt with by the proper authorities. 



10. Why it is that the ocean waters of San Luis Obispo County and the waters of 

 San Pablo and San Francisco bays, and other navigable fishing waters in the state, 

 have been for years, and are now, being polluted with crude petroleum, oil refinery 

 refuse and other substances deleterious to fish life, in violation of law ; notwithstanding 

 it is the duty of the Fish and Game Commission strictly and impartially to enforce the 

 law against such pollution. 



11. To ascertain whether or not, throughout the state, in irrigated districts, many 

 canals and irrigating ditches are diverting water from streams that contain fish, 

 without using screens to prevent the loss of fish ; and thereby millions of trout, bass 

 and other valuable food and game fishes are annually killed and wasted. 



12. To ascertain to what extent dams and other artificial obstructions are being 

 suffered by the said commission to be maintained in the streams of the state without 

 proper fish ladders, and whether or not by such neglect and dereliction of duty on 

 the part of said commission, millions of trout, and other migratory fish, are prevented 

 from reaching proper "spav\ning beds," with a resultant loss of a great quantity of 

 fish spawn and fish. 



13. To ascertain if it is not true that the Fish and Game Commission has failed 

 and neglected to take advantage of that provision in the law authorizing the creation 

 of game refuges on private land holdings, resulting in game, in many sections where 

 hunting is intensive, failing to receive proper and adequate protection. 



14. Why said commission has discontinued a branch ortice established at the request 

 of the people of the San Joaquin Valley ; thus making less effective the supervision of 

 police and other conservation activities in that important and developing region ; and 

 thereby, and through other activities, having lost to the state the services of one of 

 the most efficient and conscientious fish and game conservationists in the country. 



15. To ascertain if it is not true that said commission has wasted large sums of 

 the people's money in unscientific and impractical experiments at its game farm at 

 Hayward, California, and has finally abandoned said farm. 



iC). To ascertain if it is not true that the distribution of fish, as carried on by said 

 commission, is unscientific, unduly expensive and results in the destruction each year 

 of a large proportion of the fish so distributed. 



17. To ascertain if it is not true that because said commission has failed to investi- 

 gate and prevent enormous losses occurring among the millions of young salmon 

 propagated and distributed each year after they leave the hatcheries, the salmon 

 fisheries of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers are not being kept in a healthful 

 and thriving condition. 



18. To ascertain to what extent, if any, said commission has, within the past eight 

 years, been governed by political, personal and other insufficient and improper motives, 

 in its acts in the following particulars : 



a. The dismissal of trained and efficient employees. 



ft. The employment, promotion and otherwise rewarding of assistants and 

 employees not deserving of such consideration. 



c. The failure to promote certain assistants deserving promotion. 



And whether it is not true that by reason of said acts the entire department is 

 demoralized and functioning very inefficiently and at an expense out of all proportion 

 to the results obtained. 



19. To ascertain if it is not true that the force of wardens in the field, where the 

 fish and game are to be found and where constructive work can only be done, is 

 inadequate; while the "overhead" has been constantly increased by adding to it 

 expensive and unproductive clerical workers ; be it further 



Resolved, That said committee report to this Assembly within a short time, the 

 result of its investigation, with such recommendations as it may deem advisable; 

 t)0 it further 



