Open and closed areas on the Upper Mississippi Refuge are 
distributed among the States of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and 
illinois as follows: 
Open to hunting Closed to hunting 
State Acres Percent Acres Percent Total 
Minnesota.... 28,243 85.6 4,740 1k.& 32,983 
Wisconsin.... 64,662 TH.S 22 , 140 25.5 86 , B02 
Towasccsscees HONG 79.6 10,345 20.4 50,791 
Tllinois..... 19,874 B49 3,550 15.1 23 ,4eh 
Total......+ 153,225 79.0 40,775 21.0 194 ,000 
Table 1 shows a summary of lands open to hunting, closed to 
hunting, and whether under State or Federal control. 
In the fall of 1946, in connection with activities of the 
Technical Game Committee of the Upper Mississippi River Conserva- 
tion Committee, bag checks were initiated on the Upper Mississippi 
Refuge and the Calhoun Unit. Bag checks have continued without 
interruption on these areas since that time. As additional units 
came under Bureau administration, the surveys were extended to 
include them. Bag-~-check information has proven invaluable to the 
Upper Mississippi and Mark Twain Refuges in the proper evaluation 
of the effectiveness of the "Closed Areas" and has enabled the 
refuges to compare previous and current closed areas along the 
river with respect both to waterfowl use and to the effect on the 
hunting public. We now have bag check survey date from the refuges 
as follows: 
Upper Mississippi Refuge 15 years 
Mark Twain Refuge: 
Gardner Unit k years * 
Keithsburg Unit T years 
Louisa Unit 13 years 
Batchtown Unit 14 years 
Calhoun Unit 15 years 
*Gardner Unit was established in 1958. In 1957, bag-check data 
were gathered from Quincy Bay, just south of the Gardner Unit, 
by the State of Illinois. Data from Gardner Unit and Quincy Bay 
are now combined, since they cover the same general area. 
