The Wilmington morning star., 1940-01-02

ing conditions.
Interest has been increasing
steadily in the system of state parks
that has been built up by the for
estry division and the department.
The 1889 general assembly evidenced
its interest and faith in the state
parks by making an additional an.
preparation of $3.50 0 a year for
these parks. Additional facilities are
being provided in all the parks and
indications are that they will be
used o extensively than ever
his coming year.. Attendance fig
ures compiled last summer at Nor
row Mountain State Park in Stanly
county, showed paid admissions of
approximately $4,000 persons a
month, with at least 5000 persons
a month using this recreation area,
including children under ~ years of
age, for whom no admission was
charged. This park alone is expect
ed to be used by from 1000 to co..
600 persons next spring, summer
and fall.
More than $4,000 persons visited
Fort Macon State Park, across the
sound from Morehead City and
Beaufort in Carteret county, last
year. Thousands of others visited
Mount Mitchell State Park, on the
summit of Mount Mitchell in Yancey
county; Hanging Rock State Park
in Stokes county; Pettigrew State
Park in Washington and Hyde coun.
ties, on the shore of Lake Phelps,
although none of these parks was
formally open this ear. More than
$4,000 coiored people visited Jones
lake, the park and recreation area
for negroes in Bladen county, during
the six weeks from July 2 to August
is it was open. This area is equip
ped with bath house, bathing beach.
boats, and picnic areas. These facili-
ties are being almost doubled for the
1910 season because they were found
to be inadequate. The bath house
has already been enlarged SO that
it will accommodate 1900 bathers a
day, instead of only about $50, the
capacity last summer.
Very valuable assistance in the
development of the state parks has
been and still is being received from
the National Park service, the WPA,
the Civilian Conservation Corps and
the Soil Conservation service. These
agencies are supplying almost all #
the labor and some of the materials,
although the Conservation depart
ment has supplied much of the ma
~terials and the supervision.
Substantial progress was made
along the lines of game and fish
conservation during 1899. The game
laws were materially strengthened
by the 1889 general assembly, which
increased the penalty for buying or
selling quail to a minimum fine Of
$50 or 60 days in jail; prohibited the
use of more than three shells in
automatic shotguns in the hunting
Of upland game birds, squirrels and
rabbits, and prohibited the shooting
of game birds while on the ground.
The general assembly also passed
an act permitting North Carolina to
share in funds collected by the fed.
eral government from the federal
tax or guns and shells used by
sportsmen.
The system of state game refugees
has been expanded and improved,
so that the Game Division of the
Conservation department now has
more than $50, 900 acres of game
refugees. Most of these are in the
western part of the state, on ma.
tional forest lands and maintained
on a cooperative basis with the U.
S. Forest service. Additional game
refugees have now been created,
however, in the Bladen Lakes area
and in the Sandhills area, recently
leased by the Conservation depart.
ment for so years from the U. S.
Department of Agriculture. The
latest large game refuge to be estab-
lished is the Holly Shelter Swamp
refuge in Fender county, of about
$4,000 acres, now being developed
with funds obtained under the Pitt.
man-Robertson Act. The develop
ment of this refuge will cost about
$4,000.
The game division has continued
to rear fish and game and to distri-
butte these over the state. Approx
mately 1850, 900 fish were Matched
and reared in the six fish hatcheries,
while several thousand quail and
wild turkeys we're raised and liberat-
ed during the year. In addition,
some 81 natural spawning areas in
lakes and rivers were set aside and
closed to fishing throughout the
summer, to allow the fish in these
waters to increase by natural prop.
.gation.
The farm-game program was also
extended into more counties and
communities as more and more
farmers became interested in it. I'm
der this program, the farmers are
asked to cooperate with the Depart
ment of Conservation and Develop
ment by closing heir land to hunt
or to permit regulated hunting
only, for periods of from one, three
or five years. The department as
sists them by posting their farms
technical advice and sup
ervision for the planting Of feed for
game, and by supplying law enforce.