Avid fishermen detest pelicans as a natural predator to fish. If ever want to see these birds in action visit the Pine Creek estuary at Eagle Lake during spawning season of the trout there.
Chester resident Nels Olsen went from dairy farmer to innkeeper due to the transformation of Big Meadows to Lake Almanor. On April 15, 1929, Olsen penned this opinion on the pelican problem.
“For the past two weeks pelicans have been gathering in the waters between Lake Almanor and Last Chance where the streams are now alive with trout and there is no escape for the fish in these small streams as in the lake for the pelicans form a solid body as they move up stream and scoop up every fish in their path. For many years the pelicans have been a serious menace to the fish in these parts and at the present time the situation is becoming very alarming as they are destroying millions more fish each year than the fish commission is able to supply. The pelican is not a game bird. He is good for nothing He is a worse menace to our waters than a coyote is to our land. He should be killed whenever possible.”