Pre-season waterfowl banding continued to be an impor- 

 tant management activity in following trends and popula- 

 tions where, unlike western Canada, aerial and ground 

 surveys cannot provide good information on such important 

 forest nesting species as the black duck and wood duck. 

 Over 12,000 ducks and geese were banded by the Depart- 

 ment in association with private co-operators at over 35 

 banding stations across the Province in 1969. This was an 

 increase of over 2,000 over the previous year. 



GIANT CANADA GOOSE 

 PROGRAM 



For the second consecutive year, giant Canada geese were 

 propagated and held at several game management areas in 

 southern Ontario. The Counties of Wellington-Waterloo, 

 the three southern townships of Grey County, East Luther of 

 Duffe.'in County and South Dumfries of Brant Countv were 

 closed to goose hunting. Releases of pairs of giant Canada 

 geese are planned for this area, and ten pairs were released 

 in 1969. VerN' much larger releases are planned for future 

 years. This program to establish the giant Canada goose, a 

 southern breeding race, was begun in 1968 in association 

 with the Ontario Waterfowl Research Foundation at Cuelph. 

 If geese become established in the pilot study area, it is ex- 

 pected that releases of breeding stock will be extended to 

 other southern areas of the Province. 



WILDLIFE EXTENSION PROGRAM 



A Wildlife Extension Program was initiated in 1959. A pro- 

 vincial co-ordinator is now on staff, and extension biologists 

 have been located in the Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake 

 Simcoe Forest Districts. 



The extension program is designed to do three things. 

 Primarily, it will provide access to private land for public 

 hunting recreation; and further, it will encourage wildlife 

 management practices on privately owned rural land and 

 strengthen public appreciation of wildlife resources. 



The program is tailored to southern Ontario where the 

 need is most acute for day-use hunting recreational oppor- 

 tunity. Because southern Ontario is for the most part 

 composed of privately owned properties, posting against 

 hunting and restrictive township by-laws have made it con- 

 tinually difficult for the urban hunter to find a place to hunt. 

 Through the Wildlife Extension Program, law enforcement 

 and game management assistance will be offered to land- 

 owners as an incentive to allow public hunting on their 

 properties. 



Ancaster Township was selected as a pilot project area for 

 the Wildlife Extension Agreement Area approach. Sixty-one 

 landowners signed an agreement with the Minister to allow 

 public hunting on their properties. A deputy conservation 

 officer patrolled Ancaster Township during peak activity 

 periods of the small game hunting season. Safety zones were 

 posted around farm headquarters to restrict hunting access 

 in areas where landowner-sportsmen conflicts often arise. 

 In addition, a zenith phone line was established which al- 

 lowed Ancaster co-operators to phone the Hespeler office 

 if a problem arose. 



This approach to alleviating landowner-sportsmen con- 

 flicts was evaluated shortly after the 1969-70 hunting season. 

 Survey results indicated overwhelming approval of the pro- 

 gram, on the part of participating landowners. 



A new Department publication, entitled Wildlife Land 

 Management for Ontario Landowners, has been released and 

 made available to pri\'ate rural landowners interested in im- 

 proving their properties for wildlife. This 24-page booklet 

 covers the major small game species found in southern On- 

 tario wildlife habitat and suggests which management prac- 

 tices landowners can employ readily to encourage wildlife. 



PROVINCIAL HUNTING AREAS 



In the Provincial Hunting Area program, our primary goal is 

 to provide a place to hunt in areas where hunting oppor- 

 tunities have become most restricted and the need for pub- 

 lic hunting land is most urgent. Other goals are as follows: 

 to manage these lands to full capacity; 

 to produce a variety of wildlife species; 

 to produce a high quality hunting experience; 

 to create a public awareness of the value of wildlife 



in modern society; and 

 to encourage alternate uses which do not interfere with 

 the above-mentioned goals such as wildlife photog- 

 raphy, dog field trials, and nature study. 



PHEASANT HUNTING AREAS 



Pheasants were released in good cover in numbers accord- 

 ing to demand on four hunting units in Provincial Parks as 

 well as the Gananoque Provincial Hunting Area this year. 

 In 1969, 4,592 man-days of pheasant hunting were enjoyed 

 in the field. This program has provided hunting in areas 

 where normally this recreational pastime would not occur 

 because four of the five units are outside the native pheasant 

 range. In Presqu'ile Provincial Park, pheasant hunting has 

 been discontinued. 



11 



