Outdoor Notes / Pete Thomas : Complaints Against Dept. of Fish and Game Heard

Sportfishermen pay an unfair share to maintain state fishery resources, compared to the commercial fishing industry, according to Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Westminster) and Ken Kukuda, editor of South Coast Sportfishing magazine.

The accusation was just one of many complaints of misconduct and poor management against the Department of Fish and Game during the first day of a two-day hearing held by the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee and the Governmental Organization Committee.

Allen said that federal law makes it easy for fish dealers to falsely label fish caught in California as tax-exempt imports, forcing pleasure fishermen to pick up extra costs.

Another charge, that of favoritism by the DFG in awarding deer tags in a popular hunting zone in Lassen County was downgraded in a report made public by the Auditor General’s Office. That office investigated accusations that some hunters had been given tags--awarded by lottery--up to six years in a row in Lassen’s X5B hunting zone.

The DFG gets thousands of applications from hunters annually for the few hundred deer kills allowed there.

“Our review did not substantiate these allegations,” the auditor general’s report said.

It did find, however, that in 1985 the DFG awarded 17 more deer tags for the zone than the 650 authorized. Applications that year totaled 8,066.

The report said 10 of the 17 extra deer tags were awarded because of clerical errors. In six other cases, hunters with tags for other zones somehow were allowed to trade them for X5B tags, a procedure not authorized by the DFG.

No irregularities were found in the 1986 and 1987 drawings.

Under questioning by Allen, Gordon L. Cribbs, the DFG patrol chief for Southern California, guessed that 15% to 25% of the fishing transactions in Southern California were illegally reported or not reported at all.

California law imposes taxes on distribution of fish caught in the state, but fish from other states and countries can’t be taxed by the state because of interstate commerce laws and foreign treaties. As a result, California fish are documented, but few records exist to verify dealers’ claims that the fish they are handling come from out of state.

Allen said the DFG must take steps to make sure the foreign fish are documented.

Kukuda accused the DFG of being soft about collecting taxes that he said fish dealers owed but didn’t pay in the past.

From 1947 to 1986, the DFG’s interpretation of the commercial fish tax law was that the tax was collected only from the first dealer who handled the fish after they were caught. In mid-1986, the attorney general’s office ruled that the tax had to be collected every time fish changed hands among dealers.

That posed the problem of collecting unpaid taxes back to 1947. In 1986, a bill introduced by Assemblyman Gerald Felando (R-Torrance) was passed, forgiving those back taxes, estimated at $10 million. Kukuda said he will challenge that legislation in court because it constitutes a “gift of public funds.”

The second day of the hearing focused on California’s 4-year-old “Ranch for Wildlife” program, which allows landowners to sell hunting privileges on their property in return for making improvements in animal habitat approved by the DFG.

The program drew angry protests from some Northern California residents, however, who called on the Legislature to abolish it.

Wayne Bradley, a Lassen County ranch owner, said one hunting firm has used helicopters to herd deer from public land to its own property to make them available to guests.

Lassen County Supervisor John Gaither charged that one private hunting ranch sold hunting rights for geese “that didn’t get there by natural means.”

Gaither said some operators curry favor by offering free hunting privileges to guests with political influence. Others have tried to post “no trespassing” signs on county-maintained roads on or near their property.

Private hunting was defended by Walton Powell of Chico, who leases and improves deer hunting land in eastern Tehama County.

Powell said that for many hard-pressed cattlemen, the shift to the private hunting business is a matter of financial survival.

A year-round catch-and-release fishing program in Mono County could be a reality by the 1988 season if California Trout, a sport fishermen’s group, has its way.

Cal Trout has received support from business owners throughout Mono County and expects resistance only from game wardens, who would have to enforce the new regulations.

The plan is supported by Mammoth Lakes and local service clubs, who would benefit from additional tourist dollars. The program’s fate will be determined at the Fish and Game Commission meeting Dec. 4 in Sacramento.

The waters to be included in the proposal are: Owens River from Crowley Lake to Big Springs; Rush Creek from Grant Lake to Mono Lake; East Walker River from Bridgeport Reservoir to the Nevada state line; Hot Creek from U.S. 395 to the Owens River; and Crowley Lake.

Briefly

Trout season closes in Inyo and Mono Counties Saturday except at Pleasant Valley Reservoir, Lower Owens River and Diaz Lake. . . . Thirty hunters who received tags in July for the limited elk hunts in Shasta and Siskiyou counties bagged 14 of the animals, the DFG announced, adding that half of the 20 permit holders in Siskiyou County’s special hunt north of Mt. Shasta bagged elk. . . . The Arthritis Foundation’s second annual Trout Derby will be held Nov. 8 at Lopez Lake in Arroyo Grande.

The Downey Fly Fishers Club will give free fly tying classes to beginners each Wednesday evening Nov. 4 through Dec. 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Rio San Gabriel Park in Downey. . . . Ducks Unlimited, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of waterfowl wetlands, announced the opening of its new western regional office at Rancho Cordova, Sacramento. . . . Internationally recognized fishing author and outdoor photographer Michael Fong will present an audio-visual program on trout fishing in Northern California at the Sierra Pacific Flyfishers meeting Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Odyssey Restaurant in Mission Hills. For reservations, call (818) 785-7306.