DFG SAYS SOUTHLAND IS FOR THE BIRDS.Byline: Dan Lazar Special to the Daily News The Department of Fish and Game has been talking turkey lately. Not in the San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. area, not in Central and Northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern . . . but in the San Bernardino Mountains San Bernardino Mountains, part of the Coast Range, S Calif., extending c.60 mi (100 km) NW and SE through San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Notable peaks are San Bernardino Mt. (10,630 ft/3,240 m) and Mt. San Gorgonio (11,485 ft/3,501 m). . It reaffirms a commitment by the DFG DFG Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Council) DFG Department of Fish and Game DFG District Factor Group DFG Data Flow Graph DFG Difference Frequency Generation DFG Diode Function Generator DFG Dog Faced Gremlin to establish around Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. a wild turkey population as vibrant as others in the state. ``The effort has been increased substantially over what we used to do,'' said Jim Davis, a DFG field lead based in the San Bernardino Mountains. In January, the DFG planted a batch of 36 wild Merriam's turkeys in the Big Bear District of the San Bernardino National Forest San Bernardino National Forest has two main divisions which are the San Bernardino Mountains on the easternmost of the Transverse Range, and the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains on the northernmost of the Peninsular Range. , its first plant in the region since February 1989. None of the birds will be legal game this year, because they won't have their beards for another season. The beards were taken off. ``We can't be accused of putting the bird in front of the gun,'' said Ramona DFG wildlife biologist ''' The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. A wildlife biologist is someone who studies wild animals and their habitats. John Massie. Small radio transmitters were attached to the backs of 11 of the fowl, only the second time the DFG had attempted to record the activities of the birds. (The prior project was in 1992.) The information should help biologists determine their success in nesting, reproduction and diurnal diurnal /di·ur·nal/ (di-er´nal) pertaining to or occurring during the daytime, or period of light. di·ur·nal adj. 1. Having a 24-hour period or cycle; daily. 2. movements. ``You need to have field data to determine what the possible impacts are. We've been planting turkeys in California for 50 years and never needed to know,'' Massie said. ``We were never asked to.'' ``We're being asked now by concerned citizens,'' he said. ``You can't answer their questions unless you know where the turkeys are at.'' Ten of the 11 birds with radios were alive as of Thursday. Massie said that the Big Bear plant is a major coup for Los Angeles hunters and will add genetic diversity to the population that was spawned in 1989. Some biologists lobbied to have the turkeys planted on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Sierra Nevada, mountain range, Spain Sierra Nevada (syā`rä nāvä`thä), chief mountain range of S Spain, in Granada prov., running from east to west for c.60 mi (100 km), parallel to the Mediterranean Sea. Mountains instead, arguing that turkeys haven't thrived in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, as they have in the central and northern sections of the state. But more astute wildlife management is giving DFG biologists and officials reason to reconsider. ``It looks like (certain areas in the San Bernardino Mountains) have a lot better potential,'' Massie said. ``We are hoping that they (top DFG officials in Sacramento) have moved us up in priority.'' Said Davis: ``The U.S. Forest Service and Fish and Game . . . had a program going for a number of years throughout California, and we recently got together in trying to get some of the other forests involved.'' The San Bernardino Mountains have received special attention. ``In the last 10 years we have been working real hard in Southern California,'' said Larry Sitton, a senior biologist with the DFG. ``Our turkey harvest in Southern California has gone from virtually nothing . . . to several hundreds today.'' Merriam's turkeys are especially well-suited for wet mountain climes because they instinctively keep their young dry with their wings. ``They can handle a little bit more rain than the Rio Grande turkey,'' Massie said in comparing the Merriam's to the other major strain of turkey transplanted into California. Ever since the 1989 plant, turkeys have dispersed widely, though the DFG has no exact population estimates and hunters have been bagging few birds, Davis said. The radio transmitters, which have a service life of three years, will help rectify that shortcoming short·com·ing n. A deficiency; a flaw. shortcoming Noun a fault or weakness Noun 1. . ``Currently, they are probably established everywhere from Cleghorn Ridge (on the western ridge of the San Bernardino Mountains above Highway 15 near Hesperia) to the west near Holcomb Valley behind Big Bear,'' Davis said. The increase was merely a case of bringing in the right bird. ``The birds they moved to Central and Northern California were successful immediately,'' Sitton said. ``They were getting birds, though, that weren't right for this (Southland) habitat.'' Though the San Bernardinos are a new home for wild turkeys, the mountains around Ventura and Santa Barbara counties support a strong population, which was established 10 to 20 years ago, said Morgan Wehtje, a DFG wildlife biologist for Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. ``Then we supplemented populations in the past couple years in Santa Barbara County,'' Wehtje said. ``The birds in Ventura County have wandered over from the Tejon Ranch.'' The DFG planted 17 wild turkeys in the Los Padres National Forest Los Padres National Forest is a forest located in southern and central California, which includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast from Ventura to Monterey, extending inland. Elevations range from sea level to 8,831 feet. on March 8. SOURCE: Daily News Staff Writer Brett Pauly contributed to this report. |
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