Los Banos Rotary Club History
Hatfield, Hunter At Rotary Club

Senator George J. Hatfield and Joe Hunter, Chief of the Bureau of Game Conservation, State Department of Fish and Game, were speakers at the Rotary Club luncheon Tuesday noon, reporting on possibilities and problems pertaining to state purchase and development of a game propagation and recreational area in this section.

Hunter, who had just returned from an aerial survey of the area, declared that it was superbly located right square in the center of the best duck country in the state, and could be developed at a minimum cost, provided sufficient irrigation water can be secured. He pointed out innumerable obstacles that must be overcome, the first of which is the ability to purchase the land at a cost acceptable to the State Department of Finance. He emphasized that utilization of the land for recreational and propagation purposes should not prevent its continued use for cattle grazing. Properly developed, he said, the area would support even more cattle than at present. He said he did not favor free, uncontrolled shooting, but felt that the state-owned facilities should be provided to sportsmen on a cost basis.

Senator Hatfield, who had also just returned from an aerial tour of the area, spoke briefly in favor of the project, then took the opportunity to discuss the proposed Stevinson-Los Banos road-a project that the Los Banos Chamber of Commerce has rated as its number one post-war road project. The Senator said that the State Highway Department’s district engineer, Mr. Harding of Stockton, has recommended that the County Board of Supervisors drop both this road and the proposed Los Banos-Merced beeline road from their immediate post-war plans.

Pointing out that the San Joaquin river has until very recent years been a continual barrier between the east and west sides of the county, Senator Hatfield said the area would be served by the new Stevinson-Los Banos road has heretofore been largely inaccessible. It would serve a large potential area of agricultural land and serve to more closely knit together all sections of the county.

Also, he pointed out, the proposed road north from Los Banos would provide direct access to the proposed public shooting grounds and cut as much as 15 miles off the highway distance from Los Banos to the north end of the county.

State Engineer Harding’s objection to construction of this road is that there are insufficient resources or money with which to do the work at this time. However, the state has provided, through a bill sponsored by Senator Hatfield, some 4 ½ million dollars to be used for county road construction on a matching basis. Previous state-aid money that is still unallocated may be used as a matching basis-which is sufficient to come well within shooting distance of the total cost, which County Engineer Bedesen estimates to be under $500,000.

Senator Hatfield expressed the hope that the County Board of Supervisors would remain firm in their original request for this road, and said he believed that the road is definitely feasible and practical and would be of material aid to the eventual full development of the county’s agricultural lands.

April 9, 1946

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