in stratum 2 was one to one. In other 
words, streams suitable for building 
small, simple stock dams are more com¬ 
pletely utilized south of the Missouri 
River than they are north. Yet there is 
still adequate drainage to build an aver¬ 
age of at least two more stock dams per 
each three square miles in both strata. 
Development of this program to its maxi¬ 
mum would be of immediate benefit to 
both the livestock industry and to water- 
fowl. 
CHIPPEWA NATIONAL FOREST, MIN¬ 
NESOTA 
Data supplied by William J. Ellerbrock 
Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 
Weather and habitat conditions 
The water level reading at the Winnie- 
gigoshish Dam at the time of the census 
was 11.1 feet or . 7 foot above normal. 
Water levels in all areas censused were 
above normal and higher than last year 
except for Burns Lake. This area was 
below normal. Beaver dams may have 
been controlling the levels in this area. 
Summer and fall rains during 1964 
combined with 56 inches of snow and 
about 10 inches of rainfall in May and 
June made an abundance of habitat avail¬ 
able throughout the forest area. 
Submergent vegetation was less abun¬ 
dant than the previous year except for 
Burns Lake. The wild rice growth was 
quite poor in most areas. It is antici¬ 
pated that the crop will be one-half of 
normal or less depending upon future 
weather. Emergent vegetation was about 
normal for the area. Third River flow- 
age continues to be choked with cattail 
growth which makes accurate censusing 
of the area practically impossible. 
Breeding population indexes 
The population index species.compo¬ 
sition and adult /young ratio .are sum¬ 
marized in tables B-32, 33, and 34. 
TRI-STATE AREA 
(North Dakota, South Dakota, 
and Minnesota) 
Data supplied by Glen V. Or tin and 
Bonar Law 
Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 
Weather and habitat conditions 
There was good to excellent snow 
cover over most of the tri-State sur¬ 
vey area during the winter with the 
exception of south-central South Da¬ 
kota. Heavy runoff and flooding oc¬ 
curred in western Minnesota and the 
eastern Dakotas. Heavy, wet snow 
fell in western South Dakota in mid- 
May which was followed by heavy 
rains. This resulted in flood con¬ 
ditions in that area. Heavy rains, 
reported to be over 12 inches, fell in 
Rolette and Towner counties in north- 
central North Dakota in mid-May. 
These local flooding conditions prob¬ 
ably destroyed some early nesting 
attempts. Cool temperatures and 
light winds, along with light rains and 
a few thunderstorms further improved 
water conditions in the survey area. 
The May 1965 water index was up 
47 percent from 1964 and up 18 per¬ 
cent from the 7-year average. Total 
precipitation is average or above over 
most of the survey area, (table B-35). 
Farming operations are running be¬ 
hind schedule in most of the tri-State 
area. Moisture supplies are reported 
to be among the best in recent years. 
Because of the late spring, vegetative 
growth was behind schedule and did 
not hinder aerial observations. 
Breeding population indexes 
Dabbling ducks showed an increase 
of 16 percent from 1964 and an in¬ 
crease of 14 percent from the 7-year 
average. Compared to 1964, mal- 
; lards, gadwall, and shovelers showed 
respective increases of 17 percent, 
120 percent and 5 percent. Pintails 
16 
