50 FISH AND GAME COMMISSION 



6. Imperial Valley Tract, Imperial County, 3,720 acres. Following 

 a joint examination of the entire ' ' Salton Sea Reserve ' ' by representa- 

 tives of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Division of Fish and Game, 

 areas were selected by each which were deemed suitable for their respec- 

 tive purposes and mutually satisfactory as to location. (Salton Sea 

 Reserve is all the land of the Imperial Irrigation District located below 

 the minus 230 foot contour and is reserved by the District for the dis- 

 posal of waste and drainage waters and the silt carried in these waters. 

 This land cannot be purchased and is available by lease only. The State 

 is leasing two separate tracts, one of 2,640 acres, the other, 1,080 acres. 

 Botli are being developed as experimental areas on which management 

 practices in the handling of both waterfowl and hunters are being tested. 

 The restrictions imposed by State regulations on contract work and the 

 prevailing labor shortage has severely impeded progress. 



7. Sutter By-Pass, Sutter County, 9,988 acres. The tract was 

 appraised by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The values 

 affixed were generally so high that the tract was rejected in spite of its 

 good location and its adequate water suppl5^ 



8. Colusa County, 8,500 acres. In cooperation with United States 

 Fish and Wildlife, an attempt was made to locate suitable land adjoin- 

 ing the federal feeding area at Colusa. Failing in this effort, the investi- 

 gators arranged for an appraisal of the Welch Tract, located in Colusa 

 Trough east of Maxwell. More than a year was required to obtain the 

 second appraisal required by the Department of Finance. The commission 

 then decided to postpone acquisition pending a reduction of land prices 

 and an evaluation of experience obtained on experimental areas. 



9. Jameson Tract, Fresno County, 4,100 acres. This tract is located 

 on Fresno Slough 24 miles west of the City of Fresno. It has been partly 

 developed as a commercial shooting area. Water must be purchased 

 from the Central Valleys Project and pumped from Fresno Slough. The 

 commission rejected the tract because of its high price. 



Summary: Nine tracts totaling nearly 57,000 acres have been 

 examined. A considerable portion of the land was found suitable for the 

 proposed use. Prices of these lands, however, were found to be uniformly 

 high, in nearly all cases being at least double the value of the land, based 

 upon its productive capacity under normal economic conditions. Only one 

 of the nine locations in Imperial County, has actually been obtained. This 

 area is under annual lease and being developed experimentally. 



Other Public Shooting' Areas: 1. Sherman Island, Sacramento 

 County, 3,100 acres. Control of this area was obtained by transfer from 

 the State Reclamation Board. The primary purpose in obtaining this area 

 was to prevent its being leased to private parties. 



2. Imperial Waterfowl Refuge, Imperial County, 2,500 acres. In 

 order to disperse concentrations of waterfowl occuping this refuge, which 

 are alleged to damage agricultural crops, this refuge has been opened 

 to the public for the last two shooting seasons. Dispersal has been 

 eminently satisfactory but hunter success was low on the refuge area. 



3. Honey Lake, Lassen County. There are three units in this project, 

 all acquired under tlie Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration (Pittman- 

 Robertson) Act, for development as waterfowl management areas. Under 



