Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

In 1960 when the Georgia Legislature considered what agency or agencies were most properly prepared to perform this function, several were considered. The agency favored by most during the initial phase of debate was the Department of Public Safety. The most constructive argument was that they were a well organized, trained and supervised organization. It was reasoned that such an organization could quickly assimilate specialized training outside of their normal duties and, therefore, could assume the additional responsibilities with a minimum of delay. Furthermore, the agency had a registration record capability established for the purpose of licensing drivers. Other agencies such as Parks and Recreation and Game and Fish were considered. It was obvious that these latter two agencies had a vested interest in this mission and function. Furthermore, they possessed the capability for the same reason used in the case of the Department of Public Safety.

Thomas Hill Reservoir, built by the Associated Electric Cooperative, is located in north central Missouri in a soft coal strip-mine area. Its waters provide cooling for a steam-powered electric generating plant. Fishing pressure averaged 18.2 hours per acre per year during the study. There was a yearly average of 4.9 fishing trips per acre. Anglers averaged 3.9 fish per trip. The average yearly harvest was 21.7 fish, or 13.5 pounds per acre. About 37 percent of all fish caught were taken in the warm-water discharge area mostly during winter. The relationships between angler use, angler success, and fishing pressure and the annual average Secchi disk reading were an important finding of this study. Linear correlations calculated for these paramenters were significant to the five percent level (95 percent confidence).

According to the American Association for Conservation Information, 44 states now publish magazines that may be loosely categorized as "conservation" magazines. The range of specific types within this broad category is fantastic. The group includes rather technical publications on wildlife and fisheries management techniques and research projects, "slick" promotional and travel magazines, and those stressing the environmentalist approach. Almost without exception, they share one rather questionable quality — they are published without the benefit of knowledge of who the readers are. A number of questions can be applied with equal validity to any publication or group of publications. Who reads it? Why do they read it? How valuable is it to them? What do they particularly like or dislike about it? From the readers' point of view, what can be done to improve it?

The TVA Regional Heritage Program uses an innovative data management system developed by The Nature Conservancy to aid in natural resources management. The system is particularly useful in early phases of environmental assessment and natural resources planning for identifying potential conflicts with sensitive features. Three crossreferenced files are used to organize the data: a map file, a manual file, and a computer file. Elements catalogued include threatened 'and endangered species, state and federal management areas, champion trees, and significant geological features. The Heritage Program is a tool that provides the framework for centralizing known locality data concerning sensitive natural resources. It is a rich potential source of information for fish and wildlife resources managers throughout the 7 state, 201 county TVA region.

A questionnaire was administered to 312 public school teachers and seniors in education who were taking courses in West Virginia colleges. Attitude toward hunting was listed as strong disapproval (16 percent), mild disapproval (21 percent), undecided (17 percent), mild approval (33 percent), and strong approval (12 percent). Attitudes and knowledge were often related to basic attitude toward hunting, and those who favored hunting usually answered questions correctly in greater numbers than those who disapproved. Chi-square tests of independence were applied to the results. The results indicate there is a lack of knowledge about basic wildlife concepts on the part of the teachers.

The growth of bluegill is compared from four Alabama farm ponds where two ponds were stocked with adult bass and bluegill and two were stocked with adult bass and fingerling bluegill. Results from fishing records show that the stocking rate of adult bass plus fingerling bluegill produces larger than average bluegill the first year after stocking.

Knowledge levels and levels of activities involving animals were measured in 1315 eighth graders in Broward County, Florida. These variables were statistically compared with consumptive and non-consumptive resource orientations. Non-consumptive orientations toward wildlife characterized a majority of the population and were significantly associated with level of knowledge. Relationships between knowledge and consumptive orientations were mixed. Frequency of participation in animal related activities was significantly associated with knowledge and both consumptive and nonconsumptive resource orientations. Attitudes towards hunting and knowledge are also examined. The results indicate that while knowledge and the frequency of animal activities are significantly associated with resource orientations, the strength of the associations are low indicating that other factors are operational.

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 was enacted into law on 3 August 1977. Successful implementation and enforcement of the environmental performance standards of the Act will reduce or eliminate many of the previously recognized environmental perturbations of surface mining, and will result in numerous positive benefits for fish and wildlife. However, fish and wildlife will continue to be adversely affected by surface mining due to losses of specific habitat types and reclamations which result in postmining changes in habitat type and interspersion of habitats. The proposed program for reclaiming abandoned mine lands has great potential for benefiting fish and wildlife, but the actual benefit or loss will depend upon the conditions of each mine site and the site-specific reclamation plan authorized.