fiWBB ar » By Ted Resting A miracle has taken place in Pennsylvania. A miracle with the ponderous name of the Pennsy vania Cooperative Farm-Game Program. The miracle-worker is the Pennsylvania Game Commis sion which has succeeded in open ing to public hunting almost one million acres of land-that either was posted or about to be posted. Bill Wolf reports that the man ner in which these million acres were added to public hunting grounds is pf natural interest in this day of growing friction be tween landowner and hunter. It started in 1936, when the Com mission went to the farmers and said in effect: If enough of you who own ad joining acres throw it open to public hunting, we will give you something in return. We will set up safety areas around all your buildings; we will see that game protectors are on hand during hunting season; we will set apart some of land as game refuges so vour land will not be hunted out. Tf there are gullies or other ero sion on your farms, the Game Commission wity supply seed or slants that will bind the soil to gether. and help plant them if necessary. If you have contour olowing problems, we will pro vide specially-trained men to help -ou and we ask cnly that the trip planting be done to help •he game as well as the land. The Commission also said: If you or ycur kids want to raise -'heasants for us. we’ll supply the ’hicks and pay you for each bird -aised and released at 12 week of age. If your land needs restock ng, you will get top consideration ■hen we stock Quail, pheasant ">r rabbits. We’ll do everything i our power to make your acres better farm land because then it -ill be better game land. What do you say? The farmers said ‘'Yes’’ rathe slowly at first. But the last fev vears the program has been gotn -ith a bang. The 1951-52 repor* will show 3.000 farms with 10.000 farmers cooperating and mor than a million acres open it public hunting. The Commission scon learne that the thing farmers wante most was protection of rights. lif and property. Once he was as sured of that, he was open t other things like wildlife habita improvement on his land. Fror the beginning, the Commissior has religiously seen to it that co operating farmers get that pro tection. at the same time subth pointing out-that if it weren’t for the hunters' license fees to pro vide money to hire protectors the farmer would have no safeguard at all against vandals and poach ers. Very few farmers ever with draw from a project, best proof that the plan is working

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