California Department of Fish and Game - History

History

The first California fish and game act was passed in 1852 by the California State Legislature and signed into law by Governor John Bigler. The Game Act placed closed seasons on 12 counties for quails, partridges, mallards and wood duck, elk, deer, and antelope. A second legislative action in 1852 protected salmon runs. Two years later in 1854, the Legislature extended the act to include all counties of California. In 1860, protection controls were extended for trout. Lake Merritt (Oakland, California) is made the first state game refuge in 1869, believed to be the first in the United States. In 1870, the Legislature, with the support of Governor Henry Huntly Haight, created the Board of Fish Commissioners. The Board stipulated that fish ladders were now required at state dams, explosives or other deleterious substances outlawed, and violations fixed for $500. Also in 1870 the first fish ladder in the state is built on a tributary of the Truckee River, and a state hatching house is established at the University of California in Berkeley. In 1871 the state appointed the first Game Wardens to handle wildlife law enforcement, making the Enforcement Division of the Department of Fish and Game the very first State Law Enforcement Agency enacted in California for over 124 years of service. Over the next thirty years, the Board of Fish Commissioners were given authority over game, as well as establishing hunting and fishing licensing.

In 1909, the name of the Board of Fish Commissioners was changed to the Fish and Game Commission. Then in 1927 the Division of Fish and Game is established, set up within the Department of Natural Resources. In 1951 the Reorganization Act elevated the Division of Fish and Game to Department of Fish and Game (DFG).

One of only 13 states still using "Game" in the title of their wildlife agency in 2012, the state legislature changed the Department's name from Fish and Game to Fish and Wildlife, effective January 1, 2013. Eighteen other states use "wildlife," while the others generally use "natural resources" or "conservation", reflecting trends towards expansion of the agencies' missions from sportfishing and hunting alone, to protection of nongame wildlife and whole ecosystems. The legislation followed recommendations of a 51 member "stakeholder advisory group".