IDAHO 
Weather and Water Conditions 
The spring run-off was quite gradual and flooding was not a 
serious problem in any area of the State. Most reservoirs filled and 
still contain adequate water for brood purposes. There were no weather 
disturbances of a large enough scale to seriously affect waterfowl pro- 
duction in the State, 
Breeding Population Indices 
An aerial count was taken in the major goose nesting areas. of: 
the State for the fourth consecutive year. The results as given in 
Table 1 indicate an 18% increase in total geese from last year and a 
34% increase from the average of the three previous years. The major - 
area of increase was eastern Idaho where the Gray's Lake-Blackfoot 
Reservoir-Dingle Marsh complex increased 26% from last year and 55% . 
from the average of the three previous years. Since a significant por- 
tion of this increase was in the "pairs" category, the aerial count 
figures are encouraging. 
Production Indices 
Goose Nesting. Canada goose nesting studies were continued 
in several areas of the State. The results, as shown in Table 2, do 
not indicate total estimated production. They show population trends 
based on the number of and hatching success of nests found on the same 
areas covered in the same manner each year. On this basis, the esti- 
mated production on four areas with trend information for seven years 
is 11% below last year and 2% below the average for the previous six _ 
years. The estimated production on six areas with trend data for five 
years is 8% below last year and 2% below the average for the previous 
four years. The reduction was due entirely to a 29% drop from the 
previous year on estimated production on the Homedale unit. For all 
practical purposes these birds are non=-migratory. The eastern Idaho 
units all showed an increase. Collectively, it amounted to 19% over | 
last year. 
Ducks. Duck brood production routes were counted in three 
areas of the State. The routes were run twice with all classes of 
broods counted on the first run and only Class I broods counted on 
the second run. The results are shown’in Tables 3 and 4. ‘The south- 
central Idaho counts were up +7% from last year. The Camas National 
Wildlife Refuge counts were down 59% from 1956 (no count in 1957) and 
14% from the previous four-year average. The Blackfoot Reservoir 
count was up 58% above 1956 (no count in 1957) and 67% above the 
previous four-year average. 
Brood counts on over 300 broods of all classes indicate aver- 
age survival to Class III size. 
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