California Department Of Fish And Game

The California Department of Fish and Game reversed itself and closed all sections of the Upper Sacramento River and its tributaries above Lake Shasta to fishing. Thirty-six miles of the main channel of the river have been closed since a toxic chemical spill July 14, but the DFG recently had permitted catch-and-release fishing in other sections not directly downstream from the spill.

Reporting from Gorman, Calif. -- The California Department of Fish and Game is investigating claims in a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by a former Tejon Ranch employee who alleges that he was fired after he complained about the illegal killing of mountain lions at the company's direction. "There appears to be legitimate cause for an investigation, which has begun," said Patrick Foy, a spokesman for Fish and Game. Bron Sanders, a former hunting guide at the ranch, made the claims in a lawsuit filed on May 3 in Kern County Superior Court.

The mysterious pelican malady that left hundreds of the birds sick and stranded along the Oregon and California coasts this winter was probably caused by a combination of bad weather and fish shortages related to El Niño, state Department of Fish and Game officials said Monday. After ruling out such potential causes as disease or marine toxins, a group of scientists from state and federal agencies, nonprofit groups and Sea World in San Diego concluded that a simple scarcity of pelican prey, such as anchovies and sardines, probably combined with winter storms to produce flocks of hungry, wet, soiled pelicans, dying on beaches or looking for handouts.

A mother red fox was reunited with her six offspring Monday in the safety of a zoo miles from their former home near a new stretch of the Costa Mesa Freeway. The mother fox and the last of her 12-week-old pups arrived at the Los Angeles Zoo a day after they and five other pups were captured by a team of wardens from the California Department of Fish and Game.

The state has filed suit against the Los Angeles County Flood Control District contending that a pilot project to remove sediment in the reservoir behind Morris Dam could kill fish and wildlife in and around the San Gabriel River. The Superior Court suit by the California Department of Fish and Game seeks an order requiring the county to perform a full environmental impact report before any more work is done on the project at the dam above Azusa in San Gabriel Canyon.

The California Department of Fish and Game has a program to curtail poaching: CalTIP. Since its inception in 1981, CalTIP (Turn In Poachers) has distributed individual rewards, up to $1,000 and totaling $83,400, to 359 anonymous informants whose information led to arrests. A person with information about the illegal taking of fish or game may call (800) 952-5400 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. seven days a week or, at other times, contact a local sheriff and ask to be put in touch with a DFG warden.

Twenty tons of Pacific mackerel that washed ashore near here probably were dumped by a commercial fisherman, officials of the California Department of Fish and Game said Thursday. "The kill was not related to any biological causes," Fish and Game spokesman Patrick Moore said. "We have also ruled out any radiological emissions" from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Moore said.

The California Wildlife Campaign, in conjunction with the Tree Society of Orange County, will hold a public tree planting today from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Big Canyon and Back Bay Drive. The California Wildlife Campaign, part of the California Department of Fish and Game, will supply the nearly 300 willow, sycamore and cottonwood saplings for planting.

Yvette Mack spends most of her time collecting surplus butter, cheese and cereal for the Los Angeles Food Bank. Most of this bland diet does not exactly make for gourmet cuisine. So when Mack heard Wednesday that she would soon get her hands on 3,147 California spiny lobsters, you can imagine her reaction. "This is wonderful!" Mack said as she made plans to distribute the shellfish delicacy to Los Angeles-area social service centers for needy seniors, children and the homeless.

A wild boar that reportedly chased people and smashed into a wrought-iron fence in Loma Linda on Wednesday was captured and will have to be euthanized, officials said. The boar was spotted roaming a residential neighborhood about 8 a.m. and was finally corralled and sedated by animal control officers, who summoned state Department of Fish and Game officials. "People don't understand how strong animals are. This one was amazing" said Mike McBride, an assistant chief in the department.

State Fish and Game Department officials moved up the release of an orphaned bear cub to Wednesday to beat winter storms forecast for the rest of the week. The 80-pound cub was rescued in September after its mother was hit by a car near Truckee. The cub has been cared for since then in a pen at the department's Rancho Cordova facility near Sacramento. Game wardens think the cub now weighs enough to survive. This is the first of five orphaned cubs set for release this winter. Officials say that is an unusually large number of rescued cubs.

SACRAMENTO -- A fatal shootout between a game warden and a fugitive this week illustrates the increasing dangers faced by state Department of Fish and Game agents, officials said Wednesday. The warden was serving a citation Monday for illegal burning in a remote area of the Sierra foothills north of Oroville, Calif., when he discovered that the suspect was wanted in Hawaii on an outstanding warrant for selling methamphetamine.

SACRAMENTO -- For half a dozen years now, Ivan Paulsen has ventured where few wildlife biologists dared: the thorny political thicket of exterminating the pike of Lake Davis. Last week, Paulsen quietly watched the fruits of his labor unfold.

The California Fish and Game Commission on Friday gave final approval to the largest network of marine reserves in the continental United States, banning or restricting fishing across about 200 square miles of waters off the state's Central Coast. The unanimous vote establishes a necklace of 29 protected marine areas from Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz counties in an effort to replenish depleted fish populations and other marine life.

A decade after poisoning a scenic Sierra reservoir in a controversial and failed attempt to exterminate invading northern pike, California wildlife officials proposed Tuesday to again turn Lake Davis into a chemical stew in hopes of finally finishing off the saw-toothed predatory fish. While the last effort to treat the lake caused an uproar in nearby Portola and shut down what had been the tiny city's main source of water, this time the proposal is getting a far more friendly reception.

The California Department of Fish and Game's plan to poison all the fish in one San Joaquin Valley lake and two river systems that flow across Tulare and Kings counties was put on hold Tuesday by an order from the California Supreme Court. The massive project, to have started today, was designed to eliminate the predatory white bass populations in the Kaweah and Tule River systems before they migrate north into the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta.

Boyd Gibbons, a lawyer, writer and former government environmental specialist, was appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson to replace Pete Bontadelli as director of the California Department of Fish and Game Wednesday. Bontadelli, an appointee of former Gov. George Deukmejian in 1988, will remain with the DFG to direct operations for oil spills. There had been speculation since Wilson's election 13 months ago that Bontadelli would be replaced. Gibbons, 54, has lived in Bethesda, Md., in recent years.

Several environmental groups filed suit Thursday against the California Fish and Game Commission and the state Department of Fish and Game for continuing to let hunters use lead ammunition, which they allege poisons rare California condors.

California Fish and Game officials are proposing to kill endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep when they come in contact with domestic sheep believed to transmit highly contagious fatal diseases to the wild herds.