14 



Land Planning Report 



Encouraging Game Production 

 On Private Lands 



Studies of local needs should be made and food and 

 cover plants developed where required. In many 

 places the restoration of game that has become extinct 

 is necessary. One measure usually needed in all places 

 is to extend more adequate protection to the wildlife 

 already present. 



Educational programs should be developed, includ- 

 ing the use of motion pictures, to acquaint landowners 

 with practical means of producing game and with 

 profitable ways of harvesting the crop. The attitude 

 of the farmer especially has an important bearing in 

 this connection. Farmers should be shown that rab- 

 bits, quail, pheasants, and other game, as well as fur- 

 bearing animals and fishes, have a potential crop value 

 similar in kind to that of any other product of their 

 acres. They should be encouraged to expect a profit 

 through the sale of shooting or trapping rights, com- 

 mensurate with their efforts to produce game, under 

 regulations fixed by the State. 



Planned utilization of land for wildlife development, 

 for game management, and for human enjoyment of 

 large natiu-al wilderness areas is deserving of the inter- 

 est and active support of all concerned — the land 

 economist, the sportsman and conservationist, and 

 the farmer. Tlie policies in such a program should 

 be such as not to sacrifice human interests, but rather 

 to advance them tlu-ough better realization of the 

 importance of the wildlife resources and of their func- 

 tion in human economy. 



The policies should not give wildlife priority rights 

 everywhere, to the exclusion of other enterprise. They 

 should, however, recognize clearly that wildlife is 

 entitled to its share of land and water and to have 

 adequate areas set aside solely for its use and benefit. 

 The time when the best uses are being sought for 

 submarginal private holdings is appropriate for making 

 plans to retm-n a vast acreage to its original and best 

 use — as habitat for wildlife. The need is now so 

 pressing that it deserves a major place in the national 

 land utilization program. 



