Everyone else is reporting on the year in review, so I guess I should also.
The Salton Sea continues to be a big question mark as many wonder if the fishery is going to make a comeback or even if the Salton Sea will ever be saved. The croaker and tilapia have virtually disappeared, replaced by a plague of salt marsh water boatmen, a tiny insect with a pair of oar-like legs that it uses to motor around looking for prey to spear with its harpoon-like beak so it can suck the juices out of its victim.
Nobody seems to know whether the high numbers of salt marsh water boatmen are keeping the fishery from returning back to normal. I suspect it's possible they could be attacking croaker and corvina eggs but the main species of tilapia in the sea hatches its eggs in its mouth so I doubt if the boatmen are stopping the tilapia from bouncing back. The real culprit may be cold winter water temperatures and high fish kills from numerous algae blooms during the year.
It's a sure bet, though, the corvina are suffering badly from lack of food. Those that have been caught recently are so skinny they look more like barracuda than corvina.
And with the lack of fish this past year there was a lack of the birds that feed on the fish. The numbers of pelicans that died from botulism this past year were at a recent all-time low because there were few fish to feed on so they went elsewhere to look for food. The same is true of the great blue heron, the cormorant, the osprey, the various terns and the black skimmer. However, more bird watchers visited our Valley this year and the numbers seem to be growing with every passing year.
The waterfowl hunting season this year has been one of the worst on record. The numbers taken by hunters are way down from last year, which also was a very bad year. Oddly enough the state biologists tell us duck numbers are up dramatically from last year. So where did our local population go?
On a positive note the deer population has improved dramatically this past year and most of the does gave birth to twins this summer as rains filled many of the drinkers built by Desert Wildlife Unlimited in our eastern desert. With full drinkers that can last up to four years without any rain, it is possible the deer population may continue to grow over the next few years even if we don't receive normal rainfall.
Also positive were the increased numbers of out-of-town hunters that came to our valley in search of doves and pheasants while spending their dollars in our local establishments.
Pheasants Forever, a national organization whose goal is to improve pheasant habitat and increase the acres of open hunting areas across the United States, joined forces with Desert Wildlife Unlimited to help improve the pheasant population in the Valley. The two local chapters of Duck Unlimited raised record amounts of money to improve waterfowl habitat in North America. Waterfowl habitat also provides great upland gamebird habitat during certain times of the year.
Desert Wildlife Unlimited is growing by leaps and bounds. This year it installed two more drinkers in the desert, provided over 2,500 acres of dove and pheasant habitat, raised and released more than 8,000 pheasants into the wild and continued to look for more funding to build more wetlands in the Imperial Valley.
The group's annual dinner and raffle is slated for 6 p.m. Jan. 24 year at the Lions Center at 225 A St. in Brawley. For the first time, because of generous donations, 20 brand new rifles and shotguns will be raffled. In addition, a silent auction will be conducted during the dinner with dozens of items to be offered, including a ladies diamond ring worth more than $1,000.
The available areas for desert recreation continue to decrease. As people are jammed into smaller areas violence is becoming more common. Numerous people have told me many of the Bureau of Land Management rangers patrolling the areas are unfamiliar with their surroundings and are creating lots of hostility when they try to kick people off public lands that are open for public use.
On the west side of the Valley this past week desert campers witnessed a ranger drive though the middle of a campground spewing rocks and gravel, where children were playing, at speeds estimated close to 60 mph while chasing a motorcyclist off in the distance. What if he had hit one of the children? Let's hope this year rangers can learn to treat people with the respect they deserve and aid campers in the enjoyment of the outdoors instead of intimidating them.
I also understand an expensive count will be done of an endangered plant species known as Peirson's milkvetch that is keeping thousands of acres of recreational areas closed. When I took range management classes in college Peirson's milkvetch was called "locoweed" and all good range managers killed it on sight.
>> Outdoor Tales writer Al Kalin can be reached on the Internet at akalin@quix.net
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