May / June 2021 • Our Brown County 63 benefit locals and tourists, but he knew that would come. First, land had to be secured and the Brown County game farm was a start. Game farms were established by the early Division of Fish and Game, now the Division of Fish and Wildlife, by securing poor, abandoned farmland to serve as release sites for animals reared in captivity. At Brown County, game birds like ringneck pheasant, wild turkey, bobwhite quail, ruffed grouse, and Hungarian partridge, were raised in several pens along“ a prominent open area in the park.” From early photos, I suspect this site was the large playing field by the park’ s fire tower. Later, the first deer release program took place at the Brown County reserve with animals transported from Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. A pending release program for elk was never completed. Early attempts to replenish native Indiana wildlife were eventually met with failure. High mortality resulted from pen-reared birds and animals when they were released. The wildlife was expected to simply adjust to the new environs. This was true on the Brown County Game Farm, but as managers reported disappointing findings, one specialist in the field of game management appeared, biologist and author, Aldo Leopold. An eight midwestern state survey assigned to Leopold required him to collect various munitions data for his employer, the Sporting Arms, Ammunition and Manufacturing Institute( SAMMI) in Madison, Wisconsin. This trip also allowed him to gather information for his eventual text, Game Management. Leopold visited Midwest universities and local libraries and consulted hunters. His journal and map show him traveling thru Indiana, and Brown County, May 13 to June 14, 1929. While he questioned the artificial rearing and release of native species with mounting skepticism, his first purpose was to determine what game was popular with hunters. After a few months on the job, Leopold began to find more evidence of an important All aboard! Ki Ki Ki Ki Ki Ki Ki Ki Ki Ki Ki Ki Ki Kids ds ds ds ds ds ds ds ds ds ds ds ds ds ds ds ds ds ds 5 & Und nd nd nd nd nd nd nd nd nder er er er er er er er er er er er er er er er er er er er er er er er er er er Rid id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id id ide FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FR FREE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE E Kids 5 & Under Ride FREE Board at Fearrin’ s Ice Cream Depot Corner of Van Buren & Franklin Streets 25 minute narrated historical and informational tour with a scenic loop along Old State Road 46 Available for field trips, business functions, private tours 812-988-6690 Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi t st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st s or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or or o ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ic ical al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al al Sig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ig ight ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht ht h s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-see ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee eein in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in ing To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To T ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur ur u s of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of Nas as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as ashv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv hv h il il il il il il il il il il il il il il il il il il il il il il ille le le le le le le le le le le le le le le le le le le Historical Sight-seeing Tours of Nashville also service to Seasons, Brown County Inn, Quality Inn NASHVILLE EXPRESS NASHVILLE EXPRESS GAME FARM continued from 58 trend of the times: the intensification of agriculture was eliminating food and cover plants required by game species. Fence rows, borders, woodlots, and wetlands were disappearing from the Midwestern landscape and game species were disappearing with them. This was not a new realization, but Leopold had begun to give it factual substance and definition. The Brown County Game Farm experienced these same issues— a property stripped of resources, reduced in productivity. Indiana game farm management slowly evolved with wildlife plantings, water holes, and food plots. By the mid-thirties, abused, uncultivated land recovered slowly as a brushy, early successional stage, supplying wildlife what was needed. In time, suitable range for native species, with food, water, and cover on the landscape, proved more successful— not releasing penned birds and animals.“ Set the table for wildlife, and they will come,” said a veteran game farm manager. Today’ s views from park vistas, some stretching 10 miles over 16, 000 acres, provide a most serene perspective, far removed from early history of land abuse, struggle, and poverty. Natural and historic places don’ t just spring up, they evolve, fueled by the ideas of locals who want something better, and helped by managers, new in their skills, who learn through trial and error a better way to care for the land. •