Administrative Comments 



Increased hunting and fishing activity has taxed the Fish and 

 Game Department to keep up with demands of hunters and fishermen. 

 Expanded programs in some fields of activity have been necessary. 



Increased activity in the field has resulted in greater demands upon 

 administrative functions in the Fish and Game office. Adequate space 

 has not been available to the department in the State office building. 

 This has resulted in crowding personnel and equipment into the allotted 

 space but not without some loss of efficiency of operation. 



During the biennium, the department installed several electric 

 computing business machines. Much of the department's accounting 

 is done on these machines as well as selecting and addressing a sample 

 of the holders of licenses for questionnaire purposes. The selection 

 of applicants for special permits on moose, mountain sheep, mountain 

 goat and antelope is accomplished by their use. 



Of all the problems which arise in fish and game administration, 

 one which has caused great amounts of correspondence, discussions and 

 explanations is the processing of applications for license agent appoint- 

 ments. Because there is a great demand by business concerns to sell 

 hunting and fishing licenses as a trade stimulator, it has been njccssarv 

 to limit such appointments to a sufficient number in each area to 

 sell the licenses required by the public. Increasing the number of 

 agents beyond this number does not increase the sale of hunting and 

 fishing licenses to individuals, but does increase administrative costs. 

 The department is operated on income from license sales, and it is 

 an obligation to the sportsmen of the state to use as much of this 

 money as possible for management, protection and propagation of 

 wildlife. 



Another management problem, which takes time to adjust, involves 

 the abandoning of some of the game preserves which have served their 

 usefulness. If private lands are included in the area of a preserve, 

 attempts to abandon the closure are often met with resistance from, 

 those land owners. Yet excessive game populations resulting froni 

 these game preserves cause agitation by adjacent land owners to control 

 game numbers. Good game management predicates that many preserves 

 should be abandoned to reduce game populations when too large num- 

 bers of game animals are endangering their habitat, and arc focal 

 points of game damage to surrounding private property. 



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