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Recreation
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- Written by: Editor
“There’s a long legacy of hunting in this great state,” said DFG Director Charlton H. Bonham. “At the department, we’re going to continue to seek ways to manage our resources for hunting and fishing as well as improve access and opportunity. But we need help in cultivating the next generation of sportsmen and sportswomen who will step in our shoes once we have gone. We thank those that already volunteer to teach our hunter education courses, and we’re looking to recruit even more.”
In 2009, approximately 30,000 students completed the state’s 10-hour minimum hunter education course.
The courses are offered throughout the state, on weekends and weekday evenings. The courses are taught by veteran hunters who volunteer their time to help ensure that the newest generation of hunters has a thorough understanding of safety, ethics and conservation.
“The backbone of California’s hunter education training effort rests on the volunteer instructors, who give their time, passion and energy to the program,” said Captain Roy Griffith,DFG’s Hunter Education Program Administrator. “These dedicated individuals have passed on a tradition and trained well over one million outdoor enthusiasts since the start of the program. As a result, they have increased safety and conservation within the community.”
To become a hunter education instructor, applicants must meet the following requirements:
Be at least 18 years of age.
Successfully complete the hunter education course prior to submitting an application.
Have not have been convicted of any felony.
Completed a course of study prior to taking a supervised examination covering the basic topics of hunter education.
The testing process to become a certified instructor takes about two hours and applicants must score a minimum of 80 percent.
After passing the exam, the volunteer will take an oath and work with an experienced instructor before leading their own class.
To retain current Hunter Education Instruction (HEI) certification, an instructor must teach one class per year and attend one conference.
More information on the requirements can be found at www.dfg.ca.gov/huntered.
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Their loss to the Devil’s Aces, 52-7, doesn’t reflect the excellent effort and sportsmanship that the league very much appreciates.
In the other game on Saturday, Robinson Warriors defeated Mobb Squad, 34-33.
For a future schedule and league contact information visit www.HTOsports.com/?GDFFL1, search Facebook for “GDFFL Members” or call League Director Bob Hopkins at 707-994-4720.
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The 19 funded projects will provide benefits to fish and wildlife species, including some endangered species, and increase public access to these lands.
Several projects also demonstrate the importance of protecting working landscapes that integrate economic, social and environmental stewardship practices beneficial to the environment and the landowner.
The funds for all of these projects come from recent bond initiatives approved by the voters to help preserve and protect California’s natural resources.
Some of the funded projects include:
A $426,000 grant to Lassen Land and Trails Trust, Inc. to acquire a conservation easement over more than 535 acres adjacent to the Department of Fish and Game’s (DFG) Bass Hill Wildlife Area for protection of important wildlife habitat values, watershed protection and habitat linkage for deer populations in Lassen County.
A $304,000 grant to Ducks Unlimited Inc. for a cooperative project with DFG to complete final design plans for a tidal wetland restoration project on Ponds E12 and E13, located on the Eden Landing Ecological Reserve in Alameda County.
A $249,000 grant to the City of Pacifica to improve public access for sport fishing at the Pacifica Fishing Pier located in the city of Pacifica in San Mateo County.
A $415,000 grant to Save The Bay for a cooperative project with DFG, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to restore approximately 251 acres of transitional zone habitat adjacent to former salt ponds on the Eden Landing Ecological Reserve and the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Alameda and San Mateo counties.
A $7.8 million grant to the Pacific Forest Trust for a conservation easement over 8,230 acres of working forest lands to allow continued forest management, passive public use and enhance the protection of forest, meadow, riparian, fisheries and water resources. The property is located north and south of Highway 89 in a rural area of the southern Cascade Mountain Range in Shasta and Siskiyou counties near the communities of McCloud, Pondosa and Bartle.
A $1.1 million grant to the Northern California Regional Land Trust for a cooperative project with Western Rivers Conservancy and DFG to acquire fee title to approximately 599 acres of land for the expansion of the Lassen Foothills Conservation Area, northeast of Chico along State Highway 32 in Tehama County. The project will protect approximately 1.4 miles of riparian corridor along Deer Creek and surrounding forest and oak woodlands, including habitat for deer and mountain lion, Chinook salmon, the western pond turtle and the mountain yellow-legged frog. It will also allow the expansion of appropriate wildlife-oriented public use.
A $5 million grant to the Truckee Donner Land Trust to acquire approximately 2,995 acres of land for the protection of significant alpine and wet-meadow habitat, protection of the upper watershed and source of the Little Truckee River and allow for continued conservation-based management and wildlife-oriented public use of the property, located north of the town of Truckee, in Nevada and Sierra counties.
A $1.2 million grant to the Sierra Foothill Conservancy to acquire conservation easements over 2,011 acres of land for the protection of grazing lands, grasslands and blue oak woodlands that benefit sensitive and protected species, and to advance the development of a corridor among existing protected areas for migrating wildlife, located between Prather and Tollhouse in Fresno County.
For more information about the WCB, visit www.wcb.ca.gov.
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- Written by: California Department of Fish and Game
In cooperation with several hunting-oriented conservation organizations, DFG will offer 13 big game fund-raising license tags for eight mule or black-tailed deer, two desert bighorn sheep, one Grizzly Island tule elk, one multiple zone elk and one pronghorn antelope.
Following a competitive bidding process, DFG proposes to award agreements for the auction or sale of the 13 tags to the following organizations: Wild Sheep Foundation (National and California Chapter),
Safari Club International (Orange County and San Francisco Bay Area chapters), The Mule Deer Foundation (National, Central Coast, Chico, Shasta-Lassen and Redding chapters), and the California Deer Association (North Valley, Salinas Valley, Gridley and Mount Saint Helena chapters).
These conservation organizations submitted a bid package describing their intent to auction off a particular tag at their annual fund-raising dinners/conventions during late winter/early spring.
Auction of these tags typically generates more than $300,000 per year for DFG to put back into conservation and management actions that include surveys, habitat improvement, applied research and translocation of animals to historical ranges where they may currently be absent.
Such translocation efforts in California have been a great success for tule elk, desert bighorn sheep and pronghorn antelope.
“California’s hunting organizations continue to demonstrate they are at the forefront in support of wildlife conservation through their support for these auction tags and for the purchase of licenses and tags by their members, as well as all hunters,” said DFG Director Charlton H. Bonham.
In addition to the auction tags, DFG is expanding the random drawing program initiated earlier this year through the Automated License Data System (ALDS), when chances for a deer tag and an elk tag opportunity were offered to the public for $5.40 each.
The drawings for those two opportunities alone generated more than $130,000 for conservation in 2011.
“In our continued support of hunting and quest to increase hunting and fishing opportunity in California, I’m pleased that our hunters can purchase multiple chances through our ALDS application process for a special hunt tag next year,” said Bonham. “And I am particularly excited that this year we will include a once-in-a-lifetime desert bighorn sheep tag as well as a coveted northeastern California pronghorn antelope tag.”
As an added bonus for the hunter who draws the sheep tag from that random drawing, a private entity, San Gorgonio Wilderness Outfitters, has offered free guide services for the hunt in the Kelso Peak/Old Dad Mountains zone to the recipient.
“This is a wonderful offer and commitment by the San Gorgonio folks and demonstrates the great support of one another within the hunting community,” said Bonham.
Availability of all fund-raising tags remains contingent upon the approval of annual hunting regulations by the Fish and Game Commission.