The sseond important waterfowl production area in the Stets is the Sacra- 
mento Valley, Under the present conditions, ths Sacramento Vallsy producss about 
ons-fourth of ths State total of waterfowl, Ths bulk of this arga is intonsiysely 
devoted to agriculturs with only a remmant of the ones Fast marshlands remaining. 
Thes? remaining marsh and overflow lands ars laresly in privat? owngrship and 
are controlled primarily by private duck clubs, Goupled with thesas remnants of 
matsh lands, the gulturs of rics as a commercial crop is responsible for a con- 
siderable proportion of the waterfowl raised in this area. From late April 
arouph the middls of Ssptenber, over 200,000 acres of stable water in the form 
of contoursd rics fields are available to waterfowl. Eefore the rice becomes 
too high, this area can be ideally covered by agrial transact flights es waa 
Gone this year, Brood counting and fall population counts are diffleult or 
impossibls dus te the denss growth and inacesssibls nature of these aress on 
foot. In contrast to Northeastern California, whars a veristy of spaciss nest, 
the most abundant spatics nesting in ths Sacramento Valley it ths mallard, 
Tata releativa te thess and other waterfowl-producing regions appraised 
during the 1949 ssason are summarized in Tablas Ll. 
1i6 
