406 JOURNAL OF FORKSTRV 



class of men. (2) Their training in forestry especially fits them for 

 the work. (3) They are the only large body of scientifically trained 

 men on the ground. (4) If they do not devise means of saving the 

 game, the recreational value of the Forests will be permanently and 

 seriously reduced. 



That foresters ought to know game conditions is not open to argu- 

 ment — it is obvious. That a forester's training especially fits him to 

 supply the greatest present needs of the game problem, the writer hopes 

 to establish by showing what those needs are. 



In the first place, it is strikingly true that the history of game con- 

 servation in the United States has been exactly analogous to the history 

 of forest conservation. Any new movement starts out as a "cause," 

 and the first few years consist mostly of propaganda in furtherance 

 thereof. Forestry started out as a cause, and the first ten years of its 

 history is a story of forestry propaganda. Game conservation has 

 started out as a cause, and as such has about run its allotted course. 

 What, judging from the history of forestry, is the next move? 



In answer, it may be well to state that the propaganda stage of for- 

 estry was concerned with the question of zvhethcr our forests should 

 be conserved. The people having answered that question in the affirm- 

 ative, forestry immediately entered its second stage. In this stage it 

 was concerned with the question of Jioiv our forests should be con- 

 served. Here the science of forestry took the floor, prepared to cope 

 with the situation. Foresters had anticipated the need and had devel- 

 oped at least the rudiments of American forest management. 



Reverting again to the game question, we may venture the statement 

 that the American people have already answered, in a vigorous affirm- 

 ative, the question of whether our game shall be conserved. Game 

 conservation is ready to enter its second stage, and even the layman is 

 beginning to ask how it shall be accomplished. Witness game refuges, 

 game farming, and countless new departures in game laws. The time 

 has come for science to take the floor, prepared to cope with the situa- 

 tion. But has the need been anticipated, and at least the rudiments of 

 American game management developed. The writer believes it has not. 



If it is true that the country is confronted with the eleventh-hour 

 necessity of developing the science of game management, what can the 

 new science borrow from the science of forestry? In the opinion of 

 the writer, a great deal. The following brief analogy, which for the 

 sake of simplicity deals primarily with big game, is self-explanatory : 



The first step in undertaking the administration of a tract of game 

 range is to make a game census. This corresponds to timber estimates 



