at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland. At the present time multiple problems are arising concerning the effects of heavy metals, polychlorinated byphenyls (known as PCB's), oils, acid wastes, and numerous chemical compounds with unknown distributions and unknown effects. A program must be initiated to deal with present day pollution problems in a systematic manner. Sound basic information is needed to cope with this threat to the productivity and stability of our environment.

Chemical residues from toxic compounds in wild animal populations have been one of our most effective early warning systems for detecting environmental pollutants. Reductions in animal numbers and changes in the diversity of animal species often signal that high levels of toxic substances have been reached, and that life processes have been interrupted. The manner in which lethal levels of chemicals are developed through biological build-ups in animal food chains are best understood through studies of animal communities.

The Institute of Environmental Studies will have the following specific objectives: Determine the kinds of pollutants that are most harmful to wildlife, and to stability of wildlife habitat.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Compare the toxicity of these chemicals and determine the ways in which they are harmful.

Study the effects of exposure of wildlife to multiple chemicals.

Determine how pollutants are transported and build up through biological processes.

Determine the distributions and concentrations of harmful chemicals
throughout the country.

Determine what levels of pollutants affect the survival and reproductive capabilities of animals.

7. Recommend pollutant standards that can be tolerated in the wildlife
environment on a sustained basis.

The Patuxent Wildlife Research Center is ideally located for studies on pollution. Adequate space for this work is available to initiate this program. Much of the equipment acquired for pesticide studies also can be utilized for this expansion into research on other pollutants.

(4) Standby duty - $6,000. Standby duty pay for permanent employees at one Wildlife Research Center, remaining in an official duty station beyond normal hours.

Program of work: The estimate of $8,902,000 is broken down by function as follows:

Waterfowl management. The estimate of $2,345,000 will be used for scheduled waterfowl research projects, annual hunter success and productivity surveys, analysis of data and publication of results. Emphasis will be placed on determining the management practices that will provide maximum sustained recreational benefits from waterfowl in harmony with other land use objectives. Intensified effort will be directed to determining requirements for successful waterfowl production and the factors responsible for annual fluctuations in the use of nesting areas. Projects are underway to ascertain environmental requirements of species and to develop improved methods of habitat and hunting regulations management. The more precise information being obtained on waterfowl populations permits greater harvest of certain species during special seasons. Such seasons have provided over one-fourth million hunting days and resulted in over one-half million birds bagged beyond the recreation realized in the regular season.

Other migratory bird research. The estimate of $425,000 will be used for scheduled migratory bird research projects and for processing, maintenance and analysis of data collected on shore and upland migratory birds. As a result of the growing interest in migratory webless game birds, Congress appropriated $250,000 beginning in F.Y. 1968 to accelerate research on mourning doves, white-winged doves, bandtailed pigeons, woodcock, snipe and clapper rails. The amount of $200,000 was earmarked for specific state-directed studies to be accomplished under State-Bureau contracts. These studies provide population data, movement patterns, habitat requirements and other information required for management of these species. The remaining $50,000 is scheduled for continued Bureau research on woodcock and doves at the Moosehorn and Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuges. The increase proposed this year is sorely needed for recording, storage, and analysis of the management data being collected. Funds have not been provided for these operations. The status and seasonal movements of non-game migratory birds will be studied in cooperation with the National Audubon Society and other cooperators. Upland-wildlife. The estimate of $300,000 will be used to continue forest-wildlife relationship studies; to evaluate the impact of forest management practices on wildlife; and to seek methods leading to the maintenance of optimum wildlife populations consonant with the multiple use philosophy. In cooperation with the Forest Service, Bureau wildlife biologists conduct these studies in the major forested areas of the United States. Wildlife Review, an abstracting service for professional wildlife conservationists, will be continued in its present form. Pesticide-wildlife relationships. The estimate of $1,685,000 will be used for scheduled pesticide-wildlife research projects, related laboratory service work, and for research contracts. Acute and chronic toxicity evaluations of pesticides and studies of their ecological and physiological effects will be established through feeding tests and controlled plot studies using a variety of key bird and mammal species. Dosage rates, active ingredients, carriers, timing, and methods of applying pesticides will be correlated with observed effects on wildlife to assist in the development of new materials and techniques which will enable effective control with minimum damage to wildlife.

New fields of investigations are being pursued such as the effects on wildlife of exposure to combinations of pesticides; studies to determine more precisely the physiological effects of pesticidal residues in the tissue and organs of various species of wildlife; correlation of residue levels in eggs with levels in parent birds; determining elimination rates in animals following reduction in environmental contamination; and establishing how various environmental and physiological stresses affect reaction to pesticides.

Diseases and parasites. The estimate of $495,000 will be used for scheduled disease research projects and for associated laboratory service work. Studies designed to investigate the principal causative agent of diseases in wildlife will be continued in an effort to accumulate information on which to base feasible control measures. Attention will be given to diseases, such as encephalitis and botulism, which affect both humans and wildlife. The potential of disease

organisms in the control of nuisance wildlife populations will be explored. Contract research will be continued at the University of Georgia on the studies of wildlife diseases in the southeast. New starts in fiscal year 1970 will involve problems of mutual interest to the 13 States served by this program. studies with other governmental agencies and educational institutions will be continued to insure maximum effectiveness of available talent, facilities and funds.

Cooperative

Control methods. The estimate of $1,792,000 will be used for scheduled research projects and laboratory service work oriented to the control of nuisance and destructive populations of birds and mammals. Studies in progress and designed for the development of selective and effective control methods for alleviating damage in corn, rice, orchard crops and livestock feedlots, and to stored products and forest reproduction. Particular emphasis will continue to be placed on the cornblackbird problem in the East, the rice-blackbird problem in the South Central States, the starling and forest rodent problems in the West, and the predator and rodent problems on rangelands.

In addition to the screening of repellent, sterility producing, and lethal chemicals, which will be carried out in cooperation with the chemical industry, work will continue on the refinement of scaring and trapping devices, cultural methods and habitat manipulation as means of effecting damage control. Studies on the biology, distribution, and behavioral traits of birds and mammals will be made to provide the basis for selective control procedures. Extensive control operations will be appraised for total impact on the wildlife environment. Classification, distribution and life history. The estimate of $280,000 w111 be used for scheduled ecological research projects, bird and mammal identification services, maintenance of the scientific specimen collections, and coordination of the nation-wide bat banding program. Basic taxonomic research will continue to focus on migratory game birds and other species of primary concern in the Bureau's management programs. Data will be provided on the geographical delineation and status of rare and endangered bird and mammal species for delimiting acquisition areas for taking precautions to prevent catastrophe in pest control programs. The laboratory staff is regularly called upon for both technical and general faunistic information by members of Congress, Federal bureaus and agencies, various conservation organizations, nationally circulated magazines, museums throughout the world, universities, and the general public. Taxonomic services remained an important segment of the work, and experts identified the remains of birds involved in Federal court cases and airplane strikes (on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration).

Endangered wildlife. The estimate of $600,000 will be used for research, operational coordination and staff services to conduct a program to preserve and protect endangered species of native wildlife as authorized by the Endangered Species Preservation Act (P.L. 89-669). The endangered wildlife research program encompasses studies of the distributional, ecological, physiological, pathological, genetic, and behavioral characteristics of threatened American wildlife species. Their life requirements and factors limiting their abundance will also be ascertained. Captive flocks of endangered species will be maintained to facilitate the accumulation of detailed species information and for the production of stock to restore or bolster populations in the wild. The Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland, is the headquarters for the activities concerned with development of propagation techniques and fundamental studies of endangered wildlife. funding permits, additional rearing facilities and a laboratory will be constructed to insure adequate support of this important program.

As

A comprehensive program of Central and Regional Office coordination and liaison with Federal, State and private agencies will be carried out by providing published information as well as direct technical assistance on endangered species preservation; delineation and selection of suitable lands for this purpose; and effect improved habitats through management, development and protection on lands

administered by other agencies, both public and private.

Environmental pollutant research. The estimate of $200,000 will be used to conduct studies on the effects of environmental pollutants on wildlife and their habitats. The need for and the objectives of this program have been described under Need for Increase, item (3).

Cooperative wildlife research units. The estimate of $780,000 will be used for the Bureau's share of the Cooperative Wildlife Research Units program costs. In addition to conducting research studies, the 18 Units are important in facilitating the training of professional wildlife biologists, promoting conservation education, and providing technical advice and information to conservation agencies. Examples of Recent Accomplishments: During 1969, marked progress was attained in the primary responsibility of conducting faunistic investigations and developing new and improved concepts and techniques for the preservation and management of the wildlife resource. Findings from this work are reported in publications made available to operational units of the Bureau, other Federal agencies, State conservation departments, and the interested public.

Waterfowl management. In 1968, about 1,772,000 potential waterfowl hunters, of which 84 percent hunted and 64 percent were successful, hunted an average of 5.4 days each, with a total of 10,180,000 hunter-days of recreation being provided. The mail questionnaire survey indicated that 7,931,000 ducks, 912,000 geese, and 425,000 coots were harvested.

Waterfowl areas managed by our Refuge Division and by State agencies have resorted to nesting boxes as a means of increasing wood duck populations. These programs have, in turn, been thwarted by predation from raccoons and other mammals and by competition from starlings and even woodpeckers. Research at Patuxent over a period of several years has evolved a guard that defies raccoons and a box that discourages starlings. Field tests are now under way to determine if this structure will be equally acceptable and effective in other locations. If so, a brochure will be prepared.

A cooperative research study neared completion and the outlook for a solution to the problem of lead poisoning in waterfowl now appears good. Research at Patuxent showed that a soft iron shot can kill ducks effectively without resulting in an increased loss of cripples. A major paper on this study was presented and manuscripts on other aspects of the program are in various stages of preparation. Industry is now seeking a suitable manufacturing process for soft iron shot.

Data on bird banding activities over the past four years are as follows:

Other Migratory Bird Research. Excellent progress has been made in recent years in implementing the nationwide mourning dove banding program. The number of doves banded preseason more than doubled between 1965 and 1968, increasing from 43,142 to 100,737. As of autumn of 1969, the Bird Banding Laboratories files included approximately 1,030,000 dove banding records from which 46,000 recovery and return records have been received. Work was begun on the analysis of the se

accumulated data.

Mourning dove breeding populations have been monitored by the nationwide callcount survey since 1953. The survey is conducted by Federal, State, and privately employed cooperators between May 20 and June 10 on 878 randomly selected routes. The survey revealed population declines of 2 and 8 percent in the Eastern and Central Management Units between 1968 and 1969, no change occured in the Western Unit.

Annual surveys of the number of male woodcock "peenting" on singing grounds in late April and early May provide an index of the breeding population of the species. The 1969 survey, conducted on 1,115 routes in 21 States and 4 Canadian Provinces, showed a 12.1 percent increase in singing males over the preceding year.

The annual woodcock wing-collection survey provides an index of reproductive success and a measure of hunter success. In the 1968-69 hunting season, 2,004 cooperating hunters from 31 States contributed 18,439 wings. Data from the survey indicated an increase of 5.36 percent in the immature to adult female ratio, reversing a 5-year downward trend. Although the sampling frame is inadequate, the best available evidence suggests the annual North American woodcock harvest has increased to about 1.1 million birds.

Monthly flights over randomly located transects in a 10,000-square-mile study area in east-central New Mexico during the winter months show a steadily increasing golden eagle population. The estimated peak population for the study area, based on a 7 percent sample, was 957 in 1969, as compared with 915 in 1968, 900 in 1967, 858 in 1966, 744 in 1965, and 386 in 1964. Similar flights made over three

separate units totalling 11,700 square miles in western Texas during the same period indicate smaller, stable populations.

Upland Wildlife. Forty-three mountain lions have been captured and marked during the past 4 years in an Idaho study area. A total of 132 captures have been made; 31 individuals have been recaptured 89 times. The population appears to have stabilized at 10 to 12 adults which are permanent winter residents of the study area. Dispersal and mortality, particularly of young individuals, appear to be important limitations to population growth locally.

During a 9-year period, 235 grizzly bears of all ages were captured in Yellowstone National Park, immobilized, color-marked individually, and released for observation. Sixty-two of these were females of known or established age. The findings presented here are based on intensive, long-term observations of 15 of the se females. Data were obtained by direct observation of marked individuals, by recapture, and by radio-tracking. Reproductive behavior among young grizzlies was noted as early as May and as late as July 15, encompassing a period of 62 days. Breeding actually occured during a period averaging 26 days each season. The peak of breeding took place in June, generally during the first 2 weeks of the month. Young females may breed in alternate years or every third year. Female grizzlies do not attain sexual maturity until at least 4 years old. Seven had their first young at 5, two at 6, four at 7, and one each at 8 and 9 years of age. Although females may have a false estrus at 3 years of age and may breed then, none has been known to produce young. At this age they are considered to be sexually immature and some females are believed not to mature until 7 or 8 years of age. Only 65 percent of breeding females between the ages of 4 and 8 years produced offspring. Litters of young females averaged 2.5 young.

Reindeer from widely separated herds in Alaska representing diverse environmental influences are being examined as individuals and as populations. Preliminary results suggest that growth and ultimate body size of reindeer in Alaska are correlated with the length of the summer growing season and the opportunity for reindeer, on any given range, to take advantage through selective feeding of variations that may exist in forage quality. The population size of feral

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