CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 113 



Recently Prof. T. S. Adams, of the tax commission of Wisconsin, in a 

 public address on taxation, declared: "The ii;nmc warden department 

 of Wisconsin is paying dividends to the state." That department is 

 not supported by ordinary appropriations ; it has never cost the tax- 

 payers of the state a dollar for the protection of game, and last year, 

 after paying all expenses, it had a surplus of about $60,000. A com- 

 missioner who can handle his department and make it a revenue pro- 

 ducer for the state is entitled to reasonable compensation. So it has 

 come about that while a few years ago $1,000 was considered a reason- 

 able salary for a commissioner, considerably larger salaries are now 

 paid in some states. In New York $10,000 is paid to each of the three 

 members of the conservation commission; several states pay from $3,000 

 to $5,000, and a majority of them now pay $2,000 or more. In some 

 states the warden is not only a police officer, whose chief duty is to 

 enforce the game laws, but he must be skilled in game propagation, 

 just as he is supposed in some states to be skilled in fish propagation ; 

 and he may be reciuired also to assist in forestry work, if necessary ; to 

 aid in tire warden work, or to take part in educational work. 



Let me digress a moment to speak of some of the duties of federal 

 wardens who are called on to do a variety of things. We have some 

 wardens who are in charge of the national bird reserves (of which there 

 are now sixty-four) to see that the birds are not molested during the 

 breeding season. We have wardens whose duty it is to take care of big 

 game, especiall}^ buffalo and elk, on some of the game preserves of the 

 west; and we have wardens whose duty it is to feed the elk. In 

 W.yoming we feed sometimes as many as 7,000 elk, feeding each winter 

 from 500 to 700 tons of hay. It is also the duty of some of the wardens 

 to accompany and care for the shipments of elk made to different states 

 for the purpose of establishing new^ herds. Finally, we have men 

 cooperating with state officers in the protection of migratory birds and 

 in the enforcement of the laws regulating interstate commerce in game. 



The warden of today must be an all around state officer, familiar 

 with his territory, familiar with the habits and haunts of the various 

 kinds of birds, game and fish under his protection, and familiar with 

 the people in the community. He must be in touch with conditions 

 elsewhere, must keep informed as to new inventions for hunting, 

 improvements in firearms; new devices for outwitting the game laws, 

 and novel plans for game conservation, so that when called upon to 

 express an opinion as to what is necessary to meet certain conditions, 

 he may at least know what is being done in other states in the enforce- 

 ment of the fish and game laws. New problems are rising fast, but 

 unless a warden is familiar with them he is not earning his salary. 

 To meet this difficulty some of the states, like Vermont, have established 

 annual conventions for the purpose of bringing the wardens together 

 to compare notes, to get acquainted with each other and to learn what 

 is being done in this and other states in the varioiLs lines of conservation 

 work. 



I have gone over these points hurriedly to call attention to the steady 

 progress in the administrative part of warden work ; to let you know 

 that progress is being made in recognizing the value of warden service 

 through fair salaries, and the hope of still better salaries through pro- 



