REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 



"With the population increase California experienced since 1940, 

 and is still experiencing, it is plain that the California Department of 

 Fish and Game has been forced to deal with problems of a magni- 

 tude that can scarcely be realized. 



"Four million people have come to California during this time, and 

 not a single one brought with him a fish, or a game bird, or a drop 

 of water." * 



These two striking sentences from an address by Honorable Carl F. 

 Wente, member of the Fish and Game Commission, dramatically epito- 

 mize some of the pressing challenges which confront the Department of 

 Fish and Game in California today. 



Our angling license sales exceeded the million mark for the first time, 

 with no recession in sight; deer, pheasant, waterfowl and bear hunters 

 were afield in record numbers. 



Demands from the public for more game birds, more fish, and more 

 places to pursue them, seriously strained the facilities of the department. 



Reorganization of the agency, including the transition from divisional 

 to departmental status, was started during the second year of the period 

 under review. It began slowly, but by the end of the biennium the path 

 ahead was clear. New men were on new jobs, and the task of planning for 

 the future had high priority alongside the routine chores of keeping the 

 wheels turning. 



In dollar values, except in the case of sardines, California's commercial 

 fishing industry maintained, and in some phases surpassed, its unprece- 

 dented records of recent years. 



Efforts of the Wildlife Conservation Board to provide capital con- 

 struction projects for the improvement of fish and game began to be fell 

 as project after project was completed and turned over to the Department 

 of Fish and Game for administration and operation. 



The new Federal Aid in Fish Restoration Act — a companion to the 

 Pittman-Robertson Act — became effective in 1951, and California took 

 advantage of these federal funds by inaugurating five new projects de- 

 signed to improve sport fishing. 



To meet the challenges of the two-year period, a record high number 

 of 783 regular employees were on the job at the end of the biennium. 

 More license revenue funds were budgeted for the task, and the coopera- 

 tion of other state and federal agencies, sportsmen's groups, and civic 

 organizations assured a concerted attempt to cope with the problems. 



More than two-thirds of the director's time was taken in conferences 

 relative to departmental reorganization and attendance at meetings with 

 sportsmen's organizations, legislative committees, and other state and 

 federal officials. Important matters affecting California were presented 



* From an address to the International Association of Game and Fish Commissioners, 

 Dallas, September 11, 1952. 



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