PAULINE DAVIS

'It's a woman's world, too'

Contemplating the California trout season, which opens early next month, a state assemblyman reviewed some of the hardheaded legislation proposed by the Assembly's Fish and Game Committee chairman and resignedly answered his own questions. "What can we do when she goes into action? Nothing. Just sigh and let her have her way." The chairman is Pauline Davis, a statuesque and determined widow with three children, and the only woman in the country to head up such a legislative committee.

California's two million licensed fishermen and hunters should have no reason for alarm: Mrs. Davis, an absorbed stream angler and deer hunter as well as experienced legislator, has their best interests at heart. Mrs. Davis got her love of the outdoors from her late husband along with such small skills as skinning a catfish with a pair of pliers. This summer Mrs. Davis plans to take her young son fishing, a treat she enjoys as much as he does. "The outdoors," says Mrs. Davis, "is a woman's world, too."

PHOTO

JON BRENNEIS