American Big-Game Hunting 
necessity for game-preservation, if it is de- 
sired to protect our larger animals from ex- 
termination, is apparent. 
At the time the Yellowstone Park was set 
aside, the country was almost a derra zucog- 
nita ; its boundaries were ill defined. Since 
then it has become famous throughout the 
world, and is annually visited by thousands 
of people, attracted there by many scientific 
and scenic features. Gradually its impor- 
tance became known, both as a national forest 
reservation and as a natural storage reser- 
voir, which, if properly protected, will supply 
through broad rivers the arid regions below 
with much-needed waters. Its fitness for a 
grand national game reservation soon became 
manifest to a few people familiar with the far 
West, and with the disappearance elsewhere 
of our large Rocky Mountain animals. The 
necessity for rules against the shooting of 
any and all animals was early recognized, 
and for several years such rules have been 
strictly enforced with beneficial results. 
In recent years, with a better understand- 
ing of the country, its timber, water supply, 
the picturesqueness of its scenery, and its 
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