FORTY-SECOND BIENNIAL REPORT 



111 



FEDERAL AID IN WILDLIFE RESTORATION 

 (Pittman-Robertson) 



During the past biennium the Pittman-Robertson program in Califor- 

 nia continued to operate at near the maximum apportionment that is 

 allotted to any one state. For the fiscal year 1950-51 California received 

 $399,138.03, and for the fiscal year 1951-52, $785,791.52 was received. 

 California 's contribution, as required by the act, brought the total avail- 

 able for expenditure during the biennium to $1,579,906.07. 



A total of 22 projects was in operation during all or part of the bien- 

 nium. Of these, nine were of the surveys and investigations category, 

 seven were development projects, four provided for the acquisition of 

 lands, one was a maintenance project, and one a coordination project 

 which directed and supervised the other projects. Following is an account 

 of the various projects. 



Surveys and Investigations 



Project 22-R. The Life History and Management of the Ring-neeked Pheasant in 

 California. This project is evaluating the effects of agricultural practices on pheasant 

 populations, especially in the Butte Sink area. Also, the survival of released game 

 farm pheasants raised from wild stock is being compared with pheasant releases made 

 from regular game farm stock. Management practices being tested include food and 

 cover plantings, water development, and trapping wild pheasants in heavily populated 

 areas for restocking depleted areas. Hunters are checked during the pheasant hunting 

 season to determine hunting pressure, the pheasant kill, crippling loss, and the sur- 

 vival of released and wild birds. At the same time hunting season controls as they 

 apply to hunters and land uses are being studied to facilitate farmer-sportsmen rela- 

 tionships. Chester M. Hart is the leader of this project. . 



Boxes like this provide nesting sites for wood ducks in areas that have a scarcity of natural 

 cgvities in trees. Sportsmen have indicated interest in the construction and installation of these 



boxes as conservation projects. 



