J3. Mr. Aldo Leopold. 
 
 
Under our plan of leasing the shooting rights for so much per acre, 
we have deliberately strped the farmer of the powdr: to stop shooting. 
This power should be vested in the game Commission or its representa- 
tives. 
We believe, however, that we will be able to cope with this situation 
by establishing small refuges on or near each cooperating farm. 
The size of these refuges will be designated by the appraisal committee 
but it will have the power to reduce or increase the size of these 
refuges according to the stand of game. If when a farm is leased it 
has desirable feed and cover but practically no game, the entire farm 
will be posted  s a refuge for a yea  or two until a stand of game is 
produced. In such cases, it will be necessary to start the stand of 
game by stocking with artifically propagated game or our wardens may 
be authorized to trap wild game where it is more plentiful and replant 
it on these areas. furthermore, should a farm be overshot, the owner 
could report to the Committee and the refuges enlarged accordingly. 
New Jersey's big game is confined to deer. We find them in the 
mountains of the northern section of the State and more abundantly on 
the pine plains of the southern end of the State. Large sections of 
these wild areas are available at low prices for public shooting. 
These wild sections produce deer and in some localities grouse, but 
the game which produces the vast majority of our shooting is quail, 
ring-necked pheasants and rabbits# and our attention% is naturally 
centering around these three species. 
 
Should we establish one or two large public shooting areas in each end 
of the State and set aside certain sections for refuges, the refuges 
would only accommodate game within a cruising adius of said refuges 
and the game found on our thousands of small farms would be without 
refuges. The majority of our quail and pheasants are found on and 
around expensive farms lands that we cannot afford to buy and use 
exclusively for game and if we did, it would not produce as much game 
as it now produces while the farmers are tilling it. We are, therefore, 
keenly interested in the game on these farms and when we lease the 
shooting rights, we want to have a refuge within cruising radius of 
each head of game. With these refuges and with a limit on the nuber 
of guns on a farm at one time, we believe we can safely allow shooting 
throughout the 6ntire season. Where the game is reduced to a danger 
point our artificial propagation will help meet this condition. 
With regard to license fees would say that our Commission issues a 
license which covers all classes of fishing, hunting and trapping 
;xeeting woodcock. We have a special woodcock license which costs 
2.0   over and above the regular license. The regular license fee has 
 
 
October 22', 1931