The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-01-28

service, United States Depart
The new units will be in
area in the Perry and Craw-
ford Counties, the pleasant
Run" area in Brown, Jackson,
Monroe and Lawrence COun-
ties and the Lost River"
area in Martini Lawrence,
Orange and Dubois Counties.
Four-fifths of the areas are
classed as waste and submarginal
land-to be eventually acquired, re-
fOrested, stocked with game and
dotted with camp sites.
1t is not the intention of Fed
eral officials to condemn any pro-
ductive farm Or force any one to
move from l. ir homes. A fair
price will be p~4d to owners desir-
ing to sell and every effort will be
made to help families relocate in
happier surroundings.
ANAAAAoALlOAl VI NlAC AAdLbO Will NC
the first move in the campaign of
the Conservation Department to
place more than 100000 acres, en-
bracing eleven counties, in a COM
bined state and national forest sys-
TEN. Completion of the plan will
take between % and so years, it is
estimated.
Rich in HardwoOds
The tracts lying in the proposed
national forest areas are among the
richest hardwood regions in the
limited States. One hundred years
ago the southern sections of the
state were rich in walnut oak,
beech. maple, ash, yellow poplar
and other valuable timber.
When purchases are made, the
areas Immediately will be placed
under administration of the forest
service and managed fer sustained
yield timber probation, erosion
control. watershed protection and
recreational facilities.
Forestry experts estimate that
land now worth little or nothing
can be made to produce timber val
ued at many millionS-of dollars in
a generation. BY careful harvesting
and replanting the land can be
made to yield yearly crops of tim
Der for an indefinite period, it is
said.
Drainage Too Rapid
Pro- ection of watersheds by ero-
sion control and reforestation is
badly needed in the proposed areas.
Local farms, rivers and Ohio and
Mississippi Valley lands suffer from
the too rapid drainage from south
ern Indiana. Disastrous floods il.
the spring and droughtS in the
summer are a result. Many springs
and brooks that used to run the
year round now are dry.
Forest service officials believe that
the three tracts can furnish en-
plOyment to local labor in rehabili-
tation and improvement work for
about $500 man-monthS each year.
1t is probable that a number of
CCC camps can be established on
the erosion units and that many
local woodSmen would be added to
these camps doing field work under
direction of the forest service.
The land has important posi-
bilitieS for game protection and as
a public hunting ground. forest
service officials believe. Except in
special situations where Federal
regulations may be applied, all
hunting will be subject tc state
laws. and the government will CO.
operate with state officials in game
management. Reports that the
forest service is planning to make
game preserves of the Indiana
tracts are without foundation.
Refuge for Wild Life
AS to possibilities for development
of the areas for big game hunting,
the report of the State Planning
Board. recently presented to Gov
Paul V. lIcNutt and members of
the General Assembly, reads as fol-
lows:
1t is possible for the whole area,
in addition to producing forest
products, to serve as a vast wild
life refuge and big game hunting
tract similar to the Adirondack and
CatSkill regions in New York and
to the Allegheny and Pocono re-
gionS in Pennsylvania.
As a matter of fact, the Indiana
region would be greatly superior to
the above mentioned Ravens. which
are visited annua Y by thousands
of SportSmen from many states.
The soil being of very poor quail
ity, hundreds, if not thousands, of
deer starve to death each winter in
the New York and Pennsylvania
forests. This could not happen in
Indiana. as the winters are Suff-
GENTLY mild and the soils, while
under par for farming. are Suffi-
GENTLY fertile for abundant and con-
tinuous forage for a large deer
population.
Greater Deer Region
In a few years more Indiana
should be a greater deer region
than either New York or Pennsyi-
vania and become the mecca for
big game hunters from all parts of
the Middle West. Two million hunt
ers or more live within 500 miles of
Indiana. The money they would
bring into the state, together with
that spent by tourists visiting the
region, should amount to several
millions of dollars yearly.
Also. the country is capable of
becoming a natural range of the
black bear. The history of the state
shows that in Colonial times Indi-
ana ahoInde6 with hiSnn elk fny