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The Wildlife Commission has opened 32,016 more acres of state-owned game lands for the 2004-2005 fishing, hunting and trapping seasons, raising the total acreage to 343,266. Several private companies, the U.S. Forest Service and other state agencies also open up their lands to public hunting under the management of the Commission, making almost 2 million acres of free recreation for sportsmen. Game lands that expanded this past year range from the mountains to the coast, with the biggest land gain at the Holly Shelter Game Land in Pender County —14,256 acres. Nearby Onslow County is home to an entirely new game land, Stones Creek, consisting of 2,500 acres adjoining Camp Lejune. Also in the eastern part of the state, Suggs Mill Pond Game Land in Bladen County added 1,424 acres, including Little Singletary Lake. Piedmont sportsmen have more property to roam at the Sandhills Game Land, located in Hoke, Moore, Richmond and Scotland counties. In western Surry County the new Mitchell River Game Land provides another 1,729 acres of sporting opportunities. In the Mountains, the Commission added some small parcels to the region’s largest state-owned game land, South Mountains, located in Burke, McDowell, Cleveland and Rutherford counties. Two new game lands — Needmore and Buffalo Cove — opened this fall. Buffalo Cove is the larger of the two new game lands — 5,630 acres in Caldwell and Wilkes counties. The Needmore Game Land in Macon and Swain counties serves a dual purpose of recreation and conservation of sensitive species. The 4,442 acres are located along the Little Tennessee River or within its watershed and will help conserve several rare and endangered freshwater mussels and fish that live within the river. Information about all 66 game lands can be found in the new 2004-2005 edition of Hunting and Fishing Maps for North Carolina Game Lands, available from a wildlife service agent or the Division of Wildlife Management at 919-733-7291. This year’s map book received a makeover with full color throughout. Text, tables and maps are reorganized and easier to read, and the maps are now arranged in four sections, color-coded by region — Coastal, Piedmont, Mountain and National Forest game lands — and appear alphabetically within each section. Improved, larger maps feature clearer symbols, scale bars and directional arrows. Road names have been added for ease in navigation. Information about game species available, special hunt opportunities and game land facilities appear in a single introductory table within each regional section. All maps now appear on the Commission’s Web site as PDF files. This makes it easier to view, download and print individual map book pages from a computer. Two
important state grant funds, the Natural Heritage Trust Fund
and the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, enable the Commission
to expand
public
lands at
the current rate. These two funds, along with Commission dollars,
have purchased the additional state-owned game lands. |
RALEIGH,
N.C. (Oct. 15, 2004) – The N.C. Wildlife
Resources Commission continues to expand public hunting, fishing and
trapping opportunities
through land acquisitions and partnerships.