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Rehabilitation of the Mt. Shasta Hatchery, in continuous operation since 1888 and California's oldest 

 fish-rearing station, was completed early in 1952. Modernization of this old hatchery to fit it into a 

 new hatchery expansion program was made possible through allocation of $240,000 from the Wildlife 

 Conservation Board. Improvements include 16 new earth-fill raceway ponds with concrete dividing 

 dams, the new 124-trough hatchery building (left) and a new food preparation building. This is a fine 

 example of modernization of an old unit to fit a new program. 



such as steel and copper were not available in amounts great enough to 

 permit undertaking any sizable projects. Routine procedures were time- 

 consuming and resulted in considerable delays. Furthermore, all con- 

 struction projects financed with funds made available by the Wildlife 

 Conservation Board came to an abrupt halt in February, 1951, when the 

 legality of the Wildlife Conservation Board was questioned, and a favor- 

 able court decision in this matter was not handed down until May of 

 that year. 



It is encouraging to report that at the close of this biennium, contracts 

 for a considerable amount of new hatchery construction were let, par- 

 ticularly at Darrah Springs, Crystal Lake and Mojave River Hatch- 

 eries. Even though these projects consisted mostly of earth moving such 

 as roughing in ponds and placing roadways, where only a minimum 

 amount of critical materials is required, completion of these projects 

 will be speeded up since they can be completed in a short time when 

 necessary materials become available. 



Airplane fish planting, using the department's twin-engined airplane 

 in stocking high mountain lakes, has become a regular part of our fish 

 planting program. During the 1951 planting season alone, 2,556,000 



