APPRAISAL OF CERTAIN ECONOMIC AND FISCAL ASPECTS OF THE PITTMAN~ROBERTSON LAND PURCHASE PROGRAM IN SOUTHERN MICHIGAN

Authors

Raleigh Barlowe, USDA

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

5-1950

Citation

Reprinted from Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station Quarterly Bulletin, Vol. 32, No.4, Pages 492 to 502 Inc., May, 1950.

Comments

U.S. government work.

Abstract

BETWEEN 1939 and 1950 the Michigan Department of Conservation spent approximately one million dollars in acquiring wildlife restoration and public hunting grounds in 20 southern Michigan counties. Altogether, 80,356 acres, located in 25 separate projects, were acquired for these purposes.1 Additional lands also were acquired for the 15 public recreational areas located in the southern part of the state.

Of the lands in the state game areas on January 1, 1950, almost 52,000 acres were acquired under the terms of the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937 (50 Stat. 917). This law, commonly referred to as the Pittman-Robertson Act, provides that revenue from the federal excise tax on sporting arms and ammunition be made available to the states for various types of game restoration work, including the purchase of lands for this purpose. The additional acreage included within the game areas represents areas acquired with other funds and lands that have tax reverted to the state.

In the period since the war there has been a substantial increase in the funds available under the Pittman-Robertson law for the purchase of additional game lands. In recent months the Conservation Commission has authorized an expanded land acquisition program. Before embarking on this program, however, the Commission first determined that a survey should be made to evaluate the results of past expenditures. The study reported here represents only one segment of a comprehensive study of the game land acquisition program undertaken by the Department of Conservation. In this report an attempt is made to appraise and evaluate certain economic and local fiscal aspects of the wildlife area land acquisition program as it has operated in southern Michigan.