AT a meeting of the Game and Fish Commission held June 

 16, in Minneapolis, a public hearing was held on a peti- 

 tion to establish a game refuge in the vicinity of Lake 

 Minnetonka, including lands in Hennepin and Carver coun- 

 ties, pursuant to the act passed at the last session of the leg- 

 islature. Following the hearing, most of the evidence pre- 

 sented having been in support of the petition, an order of the 

 Board of Game and Fish Commissioners was issued establish- 

 ing such a refuge, which includes approximately 69,000 acres 

 of land and water surface. 



This is probably the first game refuge of the kind to be es- 

 tablished in the United States and marks an important step 

 in wild life conservation in this state. 



This action by the Game and Fish Commission re-establishes 

 the refuge which was created on January 6, 1915, the bound- 

 aries, however, being changed to some extent, and some ad- 

 ditional territory added, there being some doubt as to the 

 legality of the former action, owing to the law under which 

 action was taken being indefinite. 



The territory included in the Minnetonka refuge is thickly 

 settled and includes all of Lake Minnetonka and its shores, 

 which are lined with summer residences. It also includes 

 lands from one to three and four miles from the lake in differ- 

 ent directions, taking in a number of smaller lakes and 

 marshes. Game birds are very scarce in this region, with the 

 exception of quail, which are quite numerous in some locali- 

 ties. Evidence produced at the hearing showed that the 

 grouse of all varieties have almost disappeared and that the 

 wild ducks breed but little in its waters. Song birds are not 

 as numerous as they might or should be. It is believed that 

 strict patrol of this region and the entire elimination of kill- 

 ing of game and other birds will encourage them to return 

 and increase, notwithstanding the fact that the region is so 

 thickly settled. Experiments elsewhere have resulted in a 



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