Vermont deer liberated in the George Washington National Forest 
 
 
tion of two-man portable patrol cabins; 
the improvement and posting of closed 
areas; the creation of "slashings" through 
timber sales, to provide openings, edges, 
browsing and budding areas for deer, 
turkey, and grouse; the installation of 
roadside contact stations from which in- 
formation will be gathered on the number 
of animals, birds, and fish taken by sports- 
men; the improvement of abandoned ap- 
ple orchards and old fields, which are 
a valuable source of food for wildlife; the 
planting of cover and food-bearing plants 
in areas that have been opened by timber 
sales; the improvement and maintenance 
of fields and openings throughout the 
forest area which provide an abundance of 
natural herbaceous foods for turkey and 
grouse; the    improvement of fishing 
streams by the construction of installations 
designed to increase food and shelter. 
   Closed Wildlife Areas.-Within the 
wildlife management area a large number 
of carefully selected closed areas have been 
established. These range from 2,500 acres 
to 30,000 acres in size and hunting will 
be prohibited in them until the wildlife 
population in the surrounding area has 
been restored to the desired level. 
   Educational Projects.-Each of the nine 
ranger districts in the two National Forests 
is now preparing an educational program 
which contemplates furnishing wildlife 
conservation information on bird and 
plant life to hundreds of schools to enable 
our future sportsmen and nature lovers to 
understand better the problems confront- 
ing them. In addition, wildlife exhibit 
material and motion pictures will be made 
available to large public gatherings in the 
hope of stimulating interest in restoring 
one of Virginia's most valuable natural 
resources. 
  Game Census and Bag Limits.-As the 
intensive management program is applied 
it is the intention of the Virginia Coin- 
NOVEMBER, 1938 
 
 
mission of Game and Inland Fisheries and 
the United States Forest Service to make 
a more thorough study of conditions on 
the ground, including the making of 
game population censuses, before propos- 
ing necessary changes in the regulations 
for the betterment of wildlife. The aid of 
the public will be enlisted in this study 
so that they will be familiar with con- 
ditions and give their support to such 
changes as may be desirable and necessary. 
   Control of Undesirable Species.-Con- 
trol of undesirable species will be initiated 
only when it is necessary and will be con- 
fined to those areas where detailed surveys 
show a concentration of undesirables ex- 
isting. Extreme care will be exercised in 
order to prevent the unnecessary reduction 
of any one species below the point re- 
quired to check the drain on other species. 
Control of fur-bearing species will be ef- 
fected through commercial trapping in the 
interest of the local people. During years 
when fur prices are low a limited amount 
of control may be necessary by the pro- 
tective organization. 
   Emergency   Feeding. -    Occasionally 
there are winters when severe conditions 
of snow, sleet, and ice prevail. Snow be- 
comes deep and encrusted with ice, pre- 
venting the wildlife, especially turkey, 
from reaching their food supply. It is 
during "these periods that wildlife popu- 
lations reduced by starvation to a weakened 
condition contract disease and may die. 
   Severe winter conditions have been 
known to reduce certain species of wildlife 
to a point where several favorable breed- 
ing years are required to restore it to its 
former levels. To ameliorate this situation 
the protection organization will be trained 
in methods of emergency feeding to assure 
adequate feeding of those species which 
accept such help from man., 
   Research.-The efforts of the state and 
Forest Service, Bureau of Biological Sur- 
 
 
vey, Bureau of Fisheries, and Virginia 
Polytechnic Institute Wildlife Research 
Unit will be combined to solve the many 
research problems now confronting us in 
wildlife management. It is planned that 
each year representatives from these agen- 
cies will meet and agree upon an annual 
plan which will furnish data on current 
problems. At the present time food-habit 
studies on ruffed grouse, wild turkey, bear, 
raccoon, reptiles, and predacious species 
are practically completed. To this have 
been added nest destruction studies by the 
Biological Survey and growth rate studies 
on trout by the Bureau of Fisheries. 
 
THIS, IN GENERAL, IS THE MANAGEMENT 
plan that is being undertaken. That some 
broad step, that would avoid temporizing 
and skirt the dangers of limited accom- 
plishments resulting from divided respon- 
sibilities, was necessary is apparent to all 
who know how decimated the stocks of 
upland wildlife in Virginia have become in 
recent generations. 
   In addition to the interest of those in 
our own state, it should be remembered 
that the section of Virginia in which this 
management will take place is located 
within one day's drive of nearly 30,000,- 
000 people, including at least 450,000 
professed hunters and fishermen. Aside 
from the potential expenditure of $2,- 
500,000 by possibly 50,000 of these 
sportsmen annually in the state, there is 
the natural interest in our resources and the 
proper desire to develop them to the full- 
est for both practical and esthetic pur- 
poses. 
   With the main controlling forces work- 
ing hand in hand and with the public of- 
fering a generous measure of cobperation, 
it is not too much to hope that Virginia 
will again one day become a home of 
wildlife in keeping with the tradition that 
made it notable in this field in the past. 
                                      17