602 MAN AS A CONQUEROR 



by man's interference, so that reproduction may occur normally. 

 Stocking at random, for example, regions native to grouse and quail 

 with the introduced pheasant, or planting fish in streams without 

 specific knowledge of conditions essential to survival, such as adequate 

 food supply, the effect of climatic extremes of temperature, and pro- 

 tected breeding areas, are seen to be makeshift methods at best, often 

 ill adapted to advance the welfare of either the wild population or of 

 man. 



Organizations for Conservation 



Through organization, conservation is likely to enter upon a new 

 and more encouraging era. The Wild Life Conference which met in 

 Washington, February 3-7, 1936, had for its purpose the building of a 

 nation-wide organization to undertake the task of a co-ordinated 

 survey of the status of wild fife in each state with united support 

 for the enactment or revision of laws devised for the betterment of 

 conditions. 



There are many organizations that are interested in the program of 

 conservation. Each state has many different local fish and game 

 clubs that have more or less to do with problems of one kind of 

 conservation. Many of these groups are selfishly interested because 

 as individuals they desire better hunting or fishing. Consequently, 

 the emphasis has been to assist in one way or another in increasing the 

 local output of pheasants or trout. Upon the other hand, national 

 organizations, like the Izaak Walton League, also exhibit an interest 

 in the broader problems of conservation, such as the establishment of 

 game refuges and protection against river pollution by factories and 

 cities. 



State Conservation Departments 



Local chapters and clubs, whether or not they have national ties, 

 usually work through their State conservation departments, and to a 

 somewhat lesser extent through some Federal agency. The various 

 State departments compile statistics of the vast quantities of fish and 

 game that they have planted. Nearly all of these figures bring out 

 the rather astounding fact that hundreds of thousands of fish and game 

 are planted annually without any appreciable increase in the numbers 

 available for the sportsman and nature lover, and in not a few cases 

 losses are recorded. Nature, even with artificial help in propagation. 



