THIRTY-FIRST BIENNIAL REPORT 35 



On April 27, 1929, and on April 26 and 27, 1930, state-wide conven- 

 tions of the volunteer deputies of the Division of Fish and Game were 

 held at San Francisco. 



These conventions proved to be a great success and were attended by 

 a large number of volunteer deputies representing nearly every county 

 within the state, who, at their own expense and without cost to the 

 state, attended the convention. 



During the past year the volunteer deputies throughout the state in 

 an endeavor to cooperate with the Fish and Game Commissioners in 

 their efforts to reestablish a supply of valley and mountain quail 

 within the state have been active in urging farmers and landowners to 

 voluntarily set aside part of their land as an inviolate quail sanctuary 

 upon which the shooting of quail will be prohibited for a period of 

 three years. 



This move on the part of the volunteer deputies has been met by the 

 spontaneous and almost unanimous support of the farmers and land- 

 owners, with the result that upwards of five hundred such quail sanctu- 

 aries located in various sections of the state have been established. 



In order to further cooperate and assist in the efforts being made 

 by the commissioners to reestablish the supply of quail the volunteer 

 deputies will conduct, under the direction of the commissioners, a cam- 

 paign of predatory bird and animal control on lands that have been 

 set aside as quail sanctuaries. 



The appointment and organization by the Fish and Game Commis- 

 sion of fishermen, hunters and out-door lovers who are willing to con- 

 tribute their services as deputies of the Division of Fish and Game to 

 the restoration of sports afield and astream with gun and rod in Cali- 

 fornia, without commercial, political, or personal ties or hope of reward, 

 is undoubtedly the most comprehensive move and program ever under- 

 taken for the protection and conservation of wild life in the United 

 States. 



This movement represents a patriotic and unselfish endeavor to save 

 for our children and for future generations that priceless heritage of 

 nature — ^the fish, game and wild life of the state, in order that they 

 may enjoy the health, recreation and happiness that only the great 

 out-of-doors can give them. 



The volunteer deputies of the Division of Fish and Game of Cali- 

 fornia have been drafted from and represent the highest rank of citizen- 

 ship within the state — many of them being not only locally, but nation- 

 ally known— which insures the integrity and high standing of the 

 organization. 



Although less than four years have passed since the Fish and Game 

 Commission of California established a system for the appointment and 

 supervision of men who are willing to volunteer their services without 

 compensation as deputies of the Division of Fish and Game for the 

 protection and conservation of fish, game and wild life, and the enforce- 

 ment of the laws enacted for that purpose, the services that have been 

 rendered by these deputies have been exceedingly satisfactory and 

 have resulted in awakening thousands of sportsmen and people who 

 are lovers of the great out-of-doors to a realization of the perils that are 

 threatening the supply of fish, game and wild life of the state and the 



