Oklahoma Department Wildlife Conservation
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BIENNIAL REPORT Of The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation State of Oklahoma For The Biennium July 1,1956-- June 30,1958 BIENNIAL REPORT For The Biennium July 1, 1956-June 30, 1958 OKLAHOMA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE CONSERVATION State of Oklahoma A report to the Governor, the State Legislature, the Sportsmen and Conservationists of Oklahoma and All Others Contributing to a Program of Wildlife Conservation and Restoration in Okla homa. CONTENTS Page Letter of Referral 4 Foreword 5 Organization of Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Department. 8 Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission 10 Fiscal Division 13 Statistical Information 15 Fisheries Division 23 Federal Aid and Game Management 28 State Projects 34 Law Enforcement Division . 38 Information-Education Division 41 Lands Controlled by the Department 46 Permission to reprint material contained is granted provided proper credit is given this publication. Letter of Referral To His Excellency Raymond Gary, Governor, To The Honorable Legislature, And The Sportsmen Of The State of Oklahoma: On behalf of the members of the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission we submit to you our Biennial Re port of the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission comprising the period from July 1, 1956 to June 30, 1958. This report represents many years of continuous progress and service to the sportsmen and the people of the State of Oklahoma, not only from a physical standpoint but also from a financial, biological, and a sociological nature as well. The progress of this department has always considered conservation not only in wildlife but soil, water, and other natural resources. We believe it can be said that we have many and more species of wildlife in the State of Oklahoma than we have had in the past. The success and progress of a wildlife conservation department largely comes about through the contribution of the Commission, the Director, and the entire personnel through their efforts to bring about more hunting and fishing for more people for a longer period of time. The constructive advice, counsel and cooperation from sportsmen's groups, farmers and ranchers, and all youth organizations of the state have contributed much to the overall program. This department from a recreational standpoint, has be come one that is recognized by the old and the young for outdoor recreation and sportsmanship that can, and will be enjoyed by our people of today and the future generations of tomorrow. Respectfully submitted, OKLAHOMA WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION AND DEPARTMENT CLARENCE BURCH, Director JAMES W. McMAHAN, Chairman MAURICE C. FINKLEA, Vice-Chairman DAN TANKERSLEY, Secretary LOUIS M. BURTSCHI, Member GEORGE L. KNAPP, JR., Member RAYMOND H. LUCAS, Member GEORGE F. SCHULTZ, Member L. A. W. VINCENT, Member FOREWORD This report is published each two years by the Department of Wildlife Conservation of the State of Oklahoma to review the De partment's operation and progress during the past biennium. It is a report to the Governor, members of the State Legislature, sports men and conservationists interested in keeping abreast of wildlife conservation affairs in their state. Oklahoma's State Game and Fish Department (now the Okla homa Wildlife Conservation Department) came into existence in 1909, two years after statehood. On July 3, 1956, Senate Bill 4, Wildlife Constitutional Amendment, was voted by the people of Oklahoma. The Amendment proposed to amend the Oklahoma Constitution to create a Department of Wildlife Conservation and an Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission in lieu of the 1909 State Game and Fish Department and Commission. An Act of the 1957 Legislature vitalizing provisions of Article 26 of the Oklahoma Constitution changed the name Game and Fish Department to Wildlife Conservation Department of the State of Oklahoma. Constitutional authority for the operation of the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Department shall be governed by the Wildlife Conservation Director under such rules, regulations and policies as may be prescribed from time to time by the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission. The Department is organized into five divisions. The supervisor of each division is responsible to the Director for activities of the division. The Fisheries Division and the Federal Aid and Game Management Division are further organized into sections with in termediate supervisors who are responsible for specialized functions. The Department and Commission operate on revenue derived from the sale of licenses and permits, Federal Aid, fines, magazine subscription fees and miscellaneous collections. The only appropri ation received from the Legislature is one for $38,500.00 to be expended by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service for predator control and one for $2,500.00 expended by the Department for crow control. The further break-down of licenses, revenue income and expendi tures will be given in detail by the Fiscal Division. There are approximately 615,000 fishing and hunting license buyers in Oklahoma. The state ranks sixteenth among the 48 states on fishing licenses and thirty-eighth on hunting. Certain license- exempt groups in the state bring the total number of fishermen and hunters to an estimated one million participants. With that many people sharing in hunting and fishing throughout the state and with more leisure time among working people, with improved highways and increased surface acres of water, the Department has a big job to perform to keep a sufficient supply of fish and game available. The problem does not end there, for the Department is also charged with building a supply and maintaining such for the future as well as the present. Conservation means wise use of natural resources now and in the future. Wildlife is no different from man or domestic animals in that the basic needs are food, water and shelter. The conservation of soil and water will eventually benefit all phases of wildlife with food and cover. The farmer and rancher play a most important role in the overall program. We are more than pleased with the attitude of sportsmen and the Oklahoma Outdoor Council in regard to the Department's program to provide more hunting and fishing for a longer period of time. The Wildlife Conservation Department and the Commission spend money in all sections of the state to further the wildlife con servation program in order to develop and insure its future. The Commission's policy is to spend the sportsmen's money wisely. Both the Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Department realize their responsibility to the sportsmen and landowners of the state, especially the individual who buys hunting and fishing licenses. We believe sportsmen will likewise realize their responsibilities to the Department and to the people in general in helping to carry out a well balanced wildlife conservation program. The Department requested, early in 1957, a job and organiza tion analysis and an employee class specifications report from the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission. Mr. Britt J. May- field, Chief, Technical Services Division of the Oklahoma State Employment Service, with five field personnel spent four months in interviewing all personnel in the field and office in order to com plete this job analysis. The report contained occupational data developed through an analysis of 217 regular positions in the Okla homa Wildlife Conservation Department. Job analysis may be defined as the process of determining and re porting significant information on requirements of jobs. It involves the determination and systematic recording of a particular com bination of duties and responsibilities necessitating the employment of a worker, and the special skills, knowledges and abilities required of that worker for satisfactory performance. On these findings the Commission and Department have made a sincere effort to operate the Department on a merit system basis. District and state-wide personnel conferences have done much to give the personnel of the Department an overall picture of the Wildlife Conservation program as well as better working relations among the various divisions. In the pages that follow you will gain a complete picture of how your Wildlife Conservation Department functions to maintain and restore Oklahoma's wildlife resources. DEPARTMENT FIELD PERSONNEL — Field employees are the advanced con tact medium of the Department of Wildlife Conservation. Their duties vary with the particular local field work they are to administer for wildlife con servation. In-training-personnel schools are conducted periodically by the department with this personnel conference meeting at Oklahoma University, North Campus Base, Norman, Oklahoma. ORGANIZATION OF OKLAHOMA WILDLIFE GOVERNOR COMMISSION FISCAL FIELD SERVICE DIVISION DIVISION FIELD I PREDATORY HATCHERIES PROPERTY CO-ORDINATOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS Y ENFORCEMENT LICENSE D1STR. rivrriEsU i( CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT LEGISLATURE Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission COMMISSIONERS for the Department of Wildlife Conservation are, seated, from left, Louis Burtschi, Chickasha; James W. McMahan, Okemah; Raymond Lucas, Spiro; Dan Tankersley, Oklahoma City; standing, from left, George Knapp, Jr., Tulsa; George Schultz, Medford; Clarence Burch, Department director; Maurice Finklea, Warner; and L. A. W. Vincent, Arnett. The Constitutional Amendment provides that the eight members of the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission shall be appointed by the Governor by and with the consent of the Senate and shall be removable only