Game Administration 241 



factory data on the kinds of offenses represented in the table were obtained. It 

 is probably a safe conjecture to say that in the average north central State not 

 over five or ten convictions for offenses against the game laws are secured in the 

 average county in a year. 



The number of convictions seems to be growing at least as rapidly as the 

 number of licenses. In Indiana they have grown more rapidly: 



In Michigan they have grown at the same rate (although the figures are not 

 exactly comparable, the licenses representing game only and the convictions both 

 game and fish) . 



Game Game and Fish 



Year Licenses convictions 



1921 270,786 2,530 



1927 360,511 3,305 



Increase 89,725 775 



Per cent 33 30 



The experience of the U. S. Forest Service in enforcing the fire laws on the 

 National Forests has a bearing on the present problem of the several States in en- 

 forcing their game and fish laws. The individual effectiveness of forest officers 

 in law enforcement was greatly enhanced by a system of training camps organ- 

 ized for the purpose of giving instruction in the technique of law enforcement and 

 other work. A few State conservation departments in this region have begun to 

 realize the possibilities of training camps, but they have so far been conducted in- 

 doors rather than in the field. Thus Wisconsin, Missouri, and Illinois have be- 

 gun to assemble game wardens indoors for purposes of instruction. Wisconsin 

 issues a manual for the concise presentation of information bearing on their duties. 



State Refuge Policies ; Public Shooting Grounds. In this region, as 

 elsewhere, a "game refuge" may mean anything. It may be a spot on a map, 

 which looks well in a report but cannot be distinguished on the ground. Or it 

 may be a real and indispensable cog in the machinery of game production. There 

 are all intermediate gradations. 



Refuges of the latter category, in so far as they occur in the region, are de- 

 scribed in the previous chapters under the species principally served. It is here 

 in place, however, to review in a broad way the administrative policies of the 

 several States with respect to the establishment and ownership of refuges, and 

 the acquisition of public shooting grounds. 



Minnesota has a system of leased refuges for upland game, a few very 

 large big-game refuges on the National Forests and State Parks, and a growing 

 system of small leased waterfowl refuges, some operated in co-operation with 

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