BUREAU OF GAME CONSERVATION 



During the biennium the Bureau of Game Conservation carried on the 

 usual routine matters of maintenance of waterfowl refuges, investiga- 

 tion and control of game depredations, trapping and transplanting 

 beaver, game range examinations, maintenance of winter deer ranges, 

 raising and stocking of game birds, and conducting of field trials. The 

 more important developments such as operation of waterfowl manage- 

 ment areas, cooperative hunting areas, Wildlife Conservation Board 

 projects, Pittman-Robertson projects, and the conducting of special hunt- 

 ing seasons are given more in detail further along in this report. 



Other happenings of note included the severe winter of 1951-52 in the 

 Sierra mountains and the northeastern part of the State. Heavy losses of 

 deer occurred in some sections, but in general these losses were in areas 

 where large surpluses of deer existed, and the number of animals was out 

 of balance with the carrying capacity of the winter range. 



Management of waterfowl in the Pacific Flyway was helped by the 

 organization of the Pacific Waterfowl Flyway Council. This group made 

 up of representatives of the western states will work with the U. S. Fish 

 and Wildlife Service in setting hunting seasons and solving the various 

 waterfowl problems in the flyway. 



Publications by staff members are included in Appendix H. 



COOPERATIVE HUNTING AREAS 



The cooperative hunting area program which was initiated in 1918 was 

 greatly expanded during the past biennmm. This program was under- 

 taken to furnish California's unattached hunter with lands upon which 

 to hunt pheasants. An experimental pheasant study area, the Sartain 

 ranch, organized by bureau game biologists, was instrumental in the de- 

 velopment of regulated hunting on private lands in California. Hunting 

 on this ranch was successfully controlled in 1947 and 1948 by the bureau 

 in cooperation with the landowner. The experience gained during these 

 two years led to the development of a cooperative hunting plan in 1949. 

 During that year Senate Bill No. 667 establishing cooperative hunting 

 was passed by the State Legislature and was included in the Fish and 

 Game Code as Section 1159. Rules and regulations for the management 

 and control of these areas were then drawn up by bureau employees and 

 adopted by the Fish and Game Commission. 



In order to minimize the problem of supervision and control, and at 

 the same time to accommodate a large number of hunters, it was required 

 that on any prospective area a minimum of 5,000 acres in a continuous 

 tract be open to public hunting. A provision was made to allow the land- 

 owner to collect a daily fee not to exceed $2 per hunter if he so desired, 

 with the stipulation that 25 percent of the total collected was to be used 

 for wildlife maintenance and habitat improvement. Three types of zones 

 were provided for in 1949 : closed zones (for protection of crops, build- 

 ings and livestock) on which no hunting was permitted ; restricted zones, 

 on which permission to hunt was granted solely by landowners ; and open 



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