FORTY-THIRD BIENNIAL REPORT 



49 



farmed Imperial Valley, an alternate site is being ob- 

 tained through use of Wildlife Conservation Board 

 Funds. 



4. Honey Lake Waterfowl Management Area: De- 

 velopment of this 4,820-acre area in Lassen County 

 was carried out during the biennium under P-R Proj- 

 ect W38-D. It is an important nesting ground for 

 ducks and Canada geese. About 800 acres of waterfowl 

 food crops were under cultivation, mainly wheat and 

 barley. Public shooting is provided. 



5. Madeline Plains Waterfowl Management Area: 

 Another P-R development project was the Madeline 

 Plains area, which is an excellent waterfowl breeding 

 area and which has a large resident population of Can- 

 ada geese. Approximately 700 acres of waterfowl food 

 crops such as wheat and barley are in cultivation. 

 During mild winters there is good public hunting for 

 ducks and geese. This area was under P-R Project 

 W.39-D. 



6. Los Banos Waterfo^vl Management Area: Like 

 Gray Lodge, this area is important in providing crop 

 protection for surrounding agricultural areas. More 

 than 800 acres of waterfowl food crops were culti- 

 vated, keeping thousands of birds on the area and away 

 from San Joaquin Valley crops. Public shooting is 

 provided on a portion of the 3,000 acres in the area. 



7. Grizzly Island Waterfow^l Management Area: 

 This area, largest of California's waterfowl manage- 

 ment areas, with 8,600 acres, was purchased in 1950 

 with funds provided by the Wildlife Conservation 

 Board. During the biennium nearly 28,000 hunters 

 were accommodated, with 85,000 birds bagged. Lo- 

 cated close to the heavily populated San Francisco Bay 

 region, it provides a convenient and excellent shooting 

 area for a large number of sportsmen. Approximately 

 2,000 acres of waterfowl food crops was under cultiva- 

 tion under P-R Project W43-D. 



UPLAND GAME BIRD PRODUCTION 



During recent years virtually all suitable ring-neck 

 pheasant habitat in the State has been adequately 

 stocked, and the biennium saw game farm birds used 

 for stocking for the gun. Stocking to extend the pheas- 

 ant range no longer is the prime purpose of the farms, 

 and most birds are held to maturity and released just 

 prior to or during the pheasant season. 



During the two-year period covered by the report 

 the department's game farms released 191,772 upland 

 game birds, of which 187,485 were ring-neck pheas- 

 ants, 1,955 Reeves pheasants, and 2,332 chukar part- 

 ridges. The department's facilities for holding birds 

 are supplemented by sportsmen's pens located through- 

 out the State. During the biennium 62,366 pheasants, 

 both male and female, were released from pens main- 

 tained by sportsmen's organizations. 



Policy for release of game farm birds has been to 

 release most on areas for public hunting, with a consid- 



WATERFOWL MANAGEMENT AREAS 



O 



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CD 



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Ll. 



cr 



UJ 

 CD 



30,000 



1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 



HUNTING SEASON 



erable number on cooperative areas. A few birds are 

 released on land which is closed to hunting for five 

 \'ears, to be considered seed stock areas. No birds are 

 released on habitat totally unsuited to pheasants. 



Reeves Pheasants: Efforts were made during the 

 biennium to etablish the Reeves pheasant in timbered 

 country and coniferous forests, territory similar to that 

 inhabited in its native China. It was hoped that the 

 Reeves pheasant would take hold and provide hunting 

 in areas now lacking in upland game birds with the 

 single exception of the mountain quail, but success to 

 date has been nil. The few birds planted during the 

 biennium were placed in entirely new areas such as the 

 heavy rain forests of Del Norte Count\'. The depart- 

 ment has dropped this species for further introduction. 



Chukar Partridge: In direct contrast to the Reeves 

 pheasant, the chukar partridge, another Asiatic native, 

 has established itself to the point where California's 

 first open season was authorized for the fall of 1954. 

 Chukars raised on game farms are used to establish new 

 colonies of these birds in suitable habitat not now oc- 

 cupied by permanent population. Game farm chukars 

 usually are supplemented by wild birds obtained by 

 trapping, in planting a new site. 



Total plant of chukars from the beginning in 1928 

 to the present has been 47,000 birds. 



(See Table 29, Appendix, for game bird releases.) 



