82 MAEYLAND MANUAL

Region VI: Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester Counties
Battie Mixon, Regional Game Warden
John Warren, Wildlife Field Superintendent

The Department of Game and Inland Fish is associated with the
Board of Natural Resources. The present Department, established in
1943, superseded the Game and Inland Fish Commission and the
game and inland fish functions of, the Conservation Department.
The Department of Game and Inland Fish is under the direction of
a commission of five members appointed by the Governor from the
several geographical regions of the State. The term of each member
is five years, one term expiring each year. The Commission elects a
chairman and a vice-chairman from its membership, and appoints
the Director of the Department. The Commission has the power to
promulgate such rules and regulations as it deems necessary for the
conservation of the resources in its charge. Such rules may restrict,
extend or enlarge the terms of the game and fresh water fish laws.
The Department enforces the game and fresh water fish laws and
such additional regulations as it enacts. It also receives the proceeds
from the sale of angling and hunting licenses, these funds being used
to finance the activities of the department (Code 1947, Art. 89,
sec. 3-6).

As of June 30, 1949, the Department owned game farms and refuges
totaling 22,226 acres. It has under lease many other properties under
the Maryland Game Cooperative Program. The State-owned game
farms operated by the department are as follows: Gwynbrook State
Game Farm in Baltimore County, Montgomery State Game Farm in
Montgomery County, Washington State Game Farm in Washington
County, and Wicomico State Game Farm in Wicomico County. At
these plants bobwhites, chukar partridges, wild ducks, and wild turkeys
are raised.

In April 1946 a State-wide cooperative farm-game project in co-
operation with the Soil Conservation Service and other agencies was
approved by the Fish and Wildlife Service and is now being carried
on in all twenty-three counties of Maryland. Another land use prac-
tice in Maryland which has resulted in direct benefit to many species
of wildlife is the development and maintenance of over 100,000 acres
of State forest lands in cooperation with the Department of Forests
and Parks.

In several sections of Maryland special emphasis has been placed
on refuges giving protection to critically reduced species, particularly
wild turkeys, wild waterfowl and squirrels.

The Commission now owns and operates a fresh water fish hatchery
at Lewistown, Frederick County, where trout and black bass are
propagated in captivity. It also owns and operates trout rearing sta-
tions at Bear Creek in Garrett County and Beaver Creek in Wash-
ington County.

Angler's Fund ......................... Game Fund ................. Federal Funds ......................... Total..............	Expenditures 1949 $103,441.10 418,479.07 ..$521,920.17	Appropriation 1950 $123,000.00 326,089.00 64,944.00 $514,033.00
Staff: 77