Hunter and dog getting set for the next fiight of birds on the Napa marshes. 



— Fish and Game Photo. 



The goose bag is holding up very well. During the 

 1957 season, 366,900 geese were reported from the 

 mail surve>-. This is slightly below the four-year aver- 

 age of 369,300. 



Mail survey's reveal a surprising amount of coots 

 bagged. During the biennium, coots taken exceeded 

 the numbers of geese bagged. 



WATERFOWL MANAGEMENT AREAS 



State waterfowl management areas now total 53,- 

 854.45 acres (Table 55), of which 47,237.55 acres are 

 owned and 6,616.90 acres are leased. Since the acqui- 

 sition and development of these areas, waterfowl dep- 

 redations on agricultural lands is no longer a serious 

 problem. The feed and water available on these lands 

 give the birds living space during the critical early 

 fall depredation period when it is most needed. 



Not the least of the benefits derived from these areas 

 is the hunting recreation provided. During the bien- 

 nium a record number of hunters made a record bag 

 of waterfowl (Table 49). State-owned and state- 

 operated federal areas produced 104,641 man days of 

 hunting and a bag of 314,862 birds. 



At Honey Lake and Grizzly Island, development is 

 virtually complete with activities confined to water- 

 fowl food crop production and general maintenance. 



During the preceding biennium, additional areas 

 were purchased with Wildlife Conservation Board 

 funds at Gray Lodge, Mendota and Imperial. Devel- 



opment of these acquisitions is proceeding according 

 to plan. 



Water control structures, pumps and ditches were 

 under construction at Mendota. These are financed by 

 Grasslands funds. Pumps, wells and ditches were un- 

 der construction at Gray Lodge to develop some 4,000 

 acres of crop and ponded areas. Financing is by Wild- 

 life Board funds. 



Upon the recommendations of the department, the 

 Madeline Plains Waterfowl Area was declared surplus 

 property by the 1957 Legislature. Disposal of this land 

 is now under way by the Lands Acquisition Division 

 of the Department of Finance. Madeline Plains had 

 failed to come up to expectations. A rigorous climate 

 and lack of adequate water supplies doomed its devel- 

 opment into an eflicient management area. 



Winter Inventories 



Field studies have shown that waterfowl populations 

 have been at high levels during the biennium. Winter 

 inventories are conducted yearly during January. This 

 is a joint effort with the U. S. Bureau of Sport Fish- 

 eries and Wildlife. Six airplanes and a helicopter have 

 been used to cover the state. The refuges and other 

 large concentrations of birds are photographed. Smaller 

 pockets of birds are estimated. 



In January of 1957 a total of 3,800,000 ducks were 

 tallied; in 1958 the total was 5,370,000. The 1958 total 

 was the highest ever recorded during a winter inven- 

 tory since current census methods were instituted in 



