74 FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



game and nongame species. Personal contact with thousands and the 

 teaching of natural history in the open is laying a worth-while founda- 

 tion upon which the conservation of the future can be built. If "there 

 is no more pitable sight than ignorance in action," then the converse 

 is certainly true, that there is nothing more effective than intelligence 

 in action. Let the people of this state really know the life history and 

 habits of its fauna and its present status, and conservation will be 

 assured. 



It is a satisfaction to chronicle the fact that the nature guide work 

 in Yosemite has proved so useful that the original goal — a museum and 

 a park naturalist in every national park and a nature guide program 

 every season — is now assured. No little share in the success of the 

 nature guide movement is to be attributed to the farsightedness of the 

 California Fish and Game Commission in supporting the work in its 

 beginnings. 



"With an increased personnel, the same program of evening lectures 

 and campfire talks, daily tield trips and office hours has been pursued 

 each suunuer with greatl.y increased attendance, as can be seen by 

 reference to the following tables: 



Attendance Record Yosemite Nature Guide Service. 



July- August, 1922 . 

 .Tune-Ausust, 1923 

 May-Juue, 1924 _. 



397 6.475 197 92,497 



MOTION PICTURES. 



The Educational Department has not been in a position to push the 

 use of motion pictures by schools and other organizations because of 

 the small supply of films on hand and because several of the films are 

 badly worn. The only additions made in the past two years were a 

 reel devoted to the life history and habits of the king salmon and 

 several hundred feet on waterfowl in the Sacramento Valley made by 

 ourselves. Particular mention should be made of a fine series of pictures 

 of whistling swans taken in the rice fields of Butte County. A flock 

 of a thousand birds was photographed in a rice field and splendid 

 pictures of the birds in flight were secured on Butte Creek. 



The need is for a more adequate library of films so that opportunity 

 can be taken of the many requests for their use. Replacement of worn 

 films is particularly urgent. 



Nor does the demand come from within the state only, for during 

 the past two years, requests have come from four western states and 

 Hawaii for the use of our films. It was necessary to refuse these 

 requests in that the pictures are so constantly used in our own state. 



During the past biennial period there has been increased demand also 

 for conservation literatnre on tlio ivart of teachers and pupils of the 

 ])uhlic schools. Exidently the public- schools are placing more emphasis 

 upon nature study and conservation and herein lies the reason for 

 increased demand. The Commission's supply of teachers' bulletins is 

 practically exhausted and hundreds of letters are written a year 

 explaijiing that the supply of the bulletin, "Bird Study in the Public 



