
In order to provide for the required publication of hunt- 
ing regulations, the Dove Regulations Committee mist meet no 
later than late June. Status statistics must be summarized 
for consideration by this Committee. The annual Status Report 
(or a preliminary version thereof) serves this purpose. The 
Status Report is also distributed to all cooperators and is 
available to interested organizations and individuals. 
For several years prior to 1960, the Federal framework of 
mourning dove hunting regulations was established on the basis 
of eastern and western groups of States. Recent analysis of 
banding data indicates that there are three largely independent 
units of the mourning dove population (Kiel, 1957). Since 1960 
the Federal framework of hunting regulations has been based on 
these three management units. The criteria for a management 
unit are that the bulk of the doves harvested within a unit 
is produced within that same unit and that a significant 
number of doves produced within a unit is not harvested out- 
side that unit. The Eastern, Central, and Western Management 
Units, outlined in figure 1, best meet these criteria. In 
order to establish more firmly the management unit boundaries, 
additional analysis of banding data is currently in progress. 
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