180 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 



5 The diminution in the number of cases made in the biennial period 1916-191S, 

 is due to the vigorous campaign of education being carried on by this commission. 

 The commission feels that it can obtain much better results by educating the people 

 to u proper observance of the laws for the conservation of our fish and game, than 

 it can by arrests alone. Apparently the commission is justified in this. Despite the 

 fact that the patrol has been more efficient than at any other time, the number of 

 arrests have decreased from 2,087 in 1914-10 to 1,797 in 1910-18. Among tne 

 activities of the Department of Education and Publicity which emphasize the motto, 

 "Conservation through education," are: . , ^ ^, 



a. "CalifokiNIA Fish and Game," a quarterly magazine devoted to the conserva- 

 tion' of fish and game in California, published, contains — _ 



(1) Numerous articles on game species, means of identifying them, their past and 

 present status and the means whereby they may be conserved. 



(2) Statistics bearing on the abundance of game species. _ 



(3) Reports of work accomplished by commission; activities initiated. 



(4) Financial reports. . . 



h. Publicity items in newspapers dealing with fish and game and the activities 

 of the commission. . . „ 



c. Magazine articles, e.g. "A New Goose for California, "Pernicious Bounty Liaws. 



(/. Lectures on fish aiid game and its conservation illustrated with stereopticon 

 and with motion pictures, given to schools, churches, teachers' institutes, boy scouts, 

 summer camps, etc. 



(1) Special series of lecluros to university students. 



c. Exhibits showing work and activities installed at State Fair and sportsmen 



shows. _, , , c -n i-f 



/. Instruction relative to fish and game and the need and value ot wild lite 

 conservation given in schools by means of lectures and trips afield. 



(1) Teacher's bulletins issued furnishing teachers with usable information. 



(2) Similar instructions given boy scout organizations at their summer camps. 



g. Record of activities and accomplishments furnished the Governor and the 

 people of the state through the medium of a biennial report. 



h. Information on wild life furnished in reply to letters of inquiry. 



The decrease in the number of cases can also be accounted for by the fact that 

 at the 1917 Legislature, the sale of trout was prohibited, thus eliminating the many 

 arrests that had theretofore been made of fishermen who caught trout for the market 

 and who continually violated the law regarding both seasons and limits. 



Furthermore, on account of the vigorous prosecution of cases by the commission, 

 many violators have ceased to disobey the laws. For example, after Judge Murasky 

 decided the case of American Game Transfer vs. Fish and Game Commission in favor 

 of the commission, the merchants who had theretofore sold wild ducks illegally, 

 practically quit doing so, and market hunters from whom they procured wild ducks 

 discontinued their unlawful shipments. 



6. At the urgent request of the anglers of southern California, the commission 

 decided to build a hatchery to stock the streams and lakes of southern California 

 and the western and eastern slopes of the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains, which 

 were fished annually by thousands of people from Los Angeles and other portions 

 of southern California. It emphatically and repeatedly demanded in writing of 

 the Department of Engineering and Board of Control that the building should not 

 cost more than $30,000. Plans and estimates were submitted by the State Architect, 

 calling for a building to cost $29,500. 



At a meeting held in the office of the Fish and Game Commission in the Mills 

 Building, San Francisco, attended by John Francis Neylan, then President of the 

 Board of Control ; Mr. Dean of the State Architect's office ; Frank M. Newbert, 

 M. J. Connell, Carl Westerfeld, Fish and Game Commissioners; Ernest Schaeffle, 

 Secretary of the Fish and Game Commission, and Mr. W. H. Shebley, Superintendent 

 of Hatcheries, the commissioners attempted to question the representatives of the 

 State Architect on the estimates submitted and were told emphatically by Mr. Neylan 

 that neither he nor the representatives of the State Architect or the Department of 

 Engineering or its officials, came to the commission to have their ability to estimate 

 the cost of a building questioned by laymen; that the law provided that the amount 

 set aside for the building must be turned over to the Department of Engineering 

 and that if the plans were satisfactory, the commission would have nothing further 

 1o say about its construction. Furthermore, if the commission did not turn over 

 $30,000 to the Department of Engineering, as provided by law, the Board of Control 

 would not approve of the expenditure of one cent and the commission could not 

 build the hatchery. Thereupon, the commissioners turned over $30,000 to the 

 Department of Engineering, which assumed full charge of the construction of the 

 building. 



Before asking for plans and specifications for the hatchery to be built in Inyo 

 County the Fish and Game Commission made an extended survey of all the streams 

 in southern California, in order to obtain the best site possible for a hatchery. The 

 temperature of the waters of numerous creeks was taken ; the minimum and maximum 



