2 CIRCULAR 636, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



of farm wildlife. It is fortunate, therefore, that the results of a 

 thoroujrh study of the subject are now available. This report on an 

 investigation, of Nation-wide scope, field work of which was carried 

 on in 1936 and 1937, has been eagerly awaited. The authors show that 

 more than 85 percent of the huntable land is in private ownership or 

 control and that economic necessity for its most efficient use reduces 

 wildlife production to an incidental, if not accidental, status. 



Demand being greater than evei- before, this situation is a matter 

 of concern for hunters and game officials. They have made attempts 

 to encourage the increase of wildlife upon farms but have not suc- 

 ceeded in developing any plan satisfactory enough to gain wide 

 acceptance. 



What the farmers desire more than financial return is freedom from 

 trespass annoyances, safety for themselves and their possessions, and 

 control of hunting upon their lands. The realities of farm wildlife 

 problems are for the first time adequately presented in this publica- 

 tion, which should go far toward insuring more rational handling of 

 the wild-animal resources of our agricultural lands. 



W. L. McAtee, 



Technical Adviser^ V. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 



INTRODUCTION 



The principal objectives of the study upon which this circular is 

 based were to (1) ascertain how much income a farmer or rancher can 

 expect to realize from wildlife or from game management, (2) get a 

 comprehensive picture of the measures each State is using to provide 

 a supply of wildlife, (3) discover or formulate biologically and eco- 

 nomically sound principles which will serve as a basis for wildlife 

 conservation programs acceptable to farmers and wildlife conserva- 

 tionists, and (4) ascertain the feasibility and practicability of a fuller 

 use of farm and range lands in the production, utilization, and per- 

 petuation of wildlife coincident with the improvement of agricultural 

 conditions. 



The project agreement and outline were approved in March 1936 and 

 field work was started in June. The first year was devoted to a recon- 

 naissance survey of the United States, designed to evaluate the prob- 

 lems involved in making wildlife a supplementary farm enterprise 

 and to select representative areas for detailed study. Conferences were 

 helcl in each State with representatives of the agricultural colleges, 

 agricultural experiment stations, universities, game departments, 

 planning boards, and other interested State and Federal agencies, 

 farmers' organizations, sportsmen's organizations, and individuals 

 interested in the problems of land use, farm management, and conser- 

 vation of wildlife. All phases of agi-iculture and of wildlife conser- 

 vation and utilization were represented in these conferences. 



Studies were made during the next year of areas where attempts had 

 been made, or were being made, to establish farmer-sportsman coopera- 

 tion in game management on farms. The purpose was to learn some 

 of the causes of success and of failure of game-management projects, 

 the effect game management and controlled hunting have upon the 

 supply of game and hunting opportunities and upon the organization, 

 management, income, and expense of the farms. 



