Man's Relation to the Grouse 273 



Except for the ability to adjust the annual take to the population 

 conditions each year, the laws relating to the grouse are generally 

 just and adequate. Restriction of weapons to modern guns and long 

 bows, prohibition of sale and elimination of commercialization are 

 about complete. The major field for future improvement lies with 

 regulation of land use. 



Land Management for Wildlife Conservation. Within the frame- 

 work of his laws, and apart from his control of the hunting harvest, 

 man's primary eflForts as a conservationist are applied on the land 

 itself: plantings or seedings to add durable elements to the habitat; 

 cuttings to improve the existing cover and induce the growth of 

 other desirable plants; and supplementary practices such as pro- 

 tection from grazing, establishment of posted refuges, control of 

 other animal populations as deer and fur-bearers (see Plate 38). 

 For the most part we have aheady discussed the effects of these 

 practices on the grouse. Plantings, cuttings, and protection result 

 in various changes in cover conditions. These we have discussed at 

 some length. The relations of grouse to predators and other animals 

 has also been covered. We may now discuss the value of refuges and 

 sanctuaries. The application of all of the principles involved in these 

 relations will be treated in the chapter on management of the ruffed 

 grouse. But before we consider the practice of establishing refuges 

 and sanctuaries, we may pause to say that man's highest accomplish- 

 ment as a conservationist is his care of the land. The degree to which 

 he does this well is the measure of his success and of the endurance 

 of his customs, his pleasures, and of his very civilization. 



Refuges and Sanctuaries for Grouse. In the history of man's efforts 

 to protect and increase game for hunting, the idea of leaving cer- 

 tain areas unhunted in order to assure the survival of at least some 

 individuals came early. But it has become a public policy in the 

 United States only in recent years. Pioneering in this work have 

 been the Audubon Societies and the U. S. Biological Survey (now 

 Fish and Wildlife Service ) in establishing sanctuaries for persecuted 

 birds, notably those threatened with extinction by the feather trade. 

 Of recent years the Fish and Wildlife Service has undertaken a big 

 program of refuges for migratory waterfowl. These have been im- 

 proved and managed (in contiast to a sanctuary which is merely 

 protected) both for resting areas and breeding giounds. The state 



