SPECIAL NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:	Alexia Retallack	       October 29, 1996
		Conservation Education Office or         96:054
		Andy McLeod, Resources Agency    (916) 653-5656

DFG LANDS NEW PAGE ON WORLD WIDE WEB

The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) recently launched a new and improved Internet home page, located at http://www.dfg.ca.gov, that allows internet surfers to find information on such diverse topics as hunting and fishing, watching wildlife, and finding the closest license agent.

The DFG believes that the new home page will provide better service to its constituents by featuring high public demand and high utility value information. Currently, e-mail queries are received at a single point and then routed to the appropriate individuals in the department for response. In time, the DFG expects to include direct e-mail connections to subject experts and copies of many publications including species game books, maps, fish plants, and stories from Outdoor California magazine.

The new page provides more than just information to those who have access to the Internet like government agencies, media members, universities and other educational institutions. The DFG expects its own employees to use the home page to access information they need on a daily basis. For personnel responding to inquiries from individuals who do not have access to the Internet, information can be quickly located, questions answered, and materials printed and mailed.

The DFG home page is also linked to the California Environmental Resources Evaluation System (CERES), which integrates 18 different Resources Agency departments at one location to make accessing information as easy as a single click of a mouse button. For Internet users, CERES (http://www.ceres.ca.gov) provides fast answers to natural resources questions and allows users to move between and search for the right department to answer a question.

Located on the World Wide Web, the new page has the potential to reach far beyond California's borders, providing useful and exciting information on the state and its fish and wildlife.