STATE CONSERVATION DEPARTMENTS 2 OI 



Public Shooting Grounds: In the more populous states 

 the problem of rinding land upon which the sportsman may 

 hunt and fish has become a serious one. Many states forbid 

 hunting at all times within the game refuges, and many of 

 the same states make it a misdemeanor to hunt over pri- 

 vately owned property which has been " posted ". As a 

 result the sportsman is left to use public lands not included 

 in the game refuge system. In well-settled states there is 

 comparatively little of that type of land left. 



Consequently in recent years the movement looking toward 

 the establishment of public shooting grounds has gained 

 headway, especially in the eastern states. According to the 

 plan most widely advocated, the state acquires, by lease or 

 purchase, areas adjoining an established game refuge which 

 is open to hunting and fishing at fixed times, subject to the 

 general control of the state conservation department. 



Pennsylvania has gone the furthest in this direction. 

 Public shooting grounds owned by the state have been set 

 up surrounding game refuges and separated from the refuge 

 by a plainly marked single strand fence. During the open 

 season the shooting grounds may be hunted, with the result 

 that the game is gradually driven back into the refuge but 

 not exterminated. 



About a third of the states at the present time have en- 

 tered upon a policy of gradually acquiring public shooting 

 grounds. In the case of New Jersey, a definite fund made 

 up of a part of the license fees has been set aside for this 

 purpose. 59 Should the proposed Roosevelt agricultural policy 

 of retiring submarginal land from cultivation be carried out, 

 no doubt large areas could be turned over to the states to- 

 administer as public shooting grounds. 



Functions of State Conservation Departments: The major 

 functions of a state conservation department can be sum- 



59 New Jersey Laws of 1932, chap. 214. 



