Page 369 - Our Vanishing Wild Life

NATIONAL AND STATE PRESERVES AND REFUGES
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In view of the fact that hunting may go on in the forest reserve areas surrounding these sanctuaries, no intelligent sportsman needs to be told that in a few years all such regions will be teeming with deer, grouse and other game. Where there is one deer to-day there will be twenty ten years hence,—because the law of Pennsylvania forbids the killing of does; and then there will be twenty times the legitimate hunting that there is to-day. Forexample,theClintonCountyGamePreserveof3,200acres is surrounded by 128,000 acres of forest reserve, which form legitimate hunting grounds for the game bred in the sanctuary reservoir. In Clear- field County the game .sanctuary is surrounded by 47,000 acres of Forest Reserve.
The ^awc jjreserves created in Pennsylvania u]) to date are as follows:
In Clinton County
In Clearfield County
In Franklin County
In Perry County
In Westmoreland (^ounty
3,200 acres 3,200 acres 3,200 acres 3,200 acres 2,.500 acres
It is the deliberate intention of the Came Commission to increase these game preserves until there is at least one in each county.
It is the policy of the Commission to clear out of the game sanctuaries all the mammals and birds that destroy wild life, such as foxes, .mink, weasels, skunks and destructive hawks and owls. This is accomplished partly by buying old horses, killing them in the preserves and poisoning' them thoroughly with strychnine.
Each preserve now contains a nucleus herd of white-tailed deer, some ofthemimportedfromnorthernMichigan. Ruffedgrousearebreeding rapidly, and in the Clearfield Cotmty Preserve there are said to be at least three thousand. The Game Commission considers it a patriotic duty to preserve the wild turkey, ruffed grouse and quail, rather than have those species replaced at great expense by species imported from the oldworld. Intheirworkfortheprotection,preservationandincreaseof the game of Pennsylvania—partly for the purpose of providing legitimate hunting for the mechanic as well as the millionaire,
— Commissioners are putting a great amount of thought and labor, and whenever their efforts are criticized, their motives impunged or their honesty questioned by men who are not worthy to unlace their shoes,
it makes me tired and angry.
New York:
The Adirondack vState Park.—With wi.se and commendable fore- thought, the state of New York has preserved in the Adirondack wilder- ness, familiarly known as "the North Woods," a magnificent forest domain forever dedicated to campers, outdoorsmen and hunters. At present (1912) it contains 2,031 square miles (1,300.000 acres) of forest- clad hills, valleys and mountains, adorned by countless lakes and streams. By some persons it has been believed that in the State's forests the cutting and sale of large trees would be justifiable business, and agreeable
the State Game