An Analysis of the Value of Refuges for Cyclic Game Species

Abstract

About ten years ago, when the game supply of New York State seemed to be failing before increased hunting, and the practice of posting private lands was alarmingly increasing, the sportsmen of the State began to urge the acquisition of lands by the State for game refuges and public shooting grounds. The theory was that a refuge, protected from hunting, would produce a surplus of game which would overflow into the surrounding public shooting grounds and furnish a constant supply of good hunting. It was further contended that game would seek protection in the refuge areas when hunted on the surrounding lands and thus an adequate seed stock would always be preserved. The cyclic nature of several of the disappearing species was then hardly recognized, let alone understood. At the outset, the slogan was A game refuge for every county. Several of these areas were acquired by the State prior to the recent period of financial retrenchment.