290 
From an economic standpoint, how- 
ever, wildlife is also of great value to 
the country. The fish and other prod- 
ucts taken from the streams, lakes, and 
coastal waters of this country amount 
to from 4 to 5 billion pounds a year. 
They furnish a source of wholesome 
protein food that costs little to produce 
if the nation gives nature a chance and 
works with her rather than against her. 
The only thing the human race is 
called upon to do to preserve the 
fisheries is to refrain from destroying 
the environment on which the fish 
depend and to regulate their take out 
of the fish populations so as to leave 
adequate breeding stock. It seems a 
small enough investment to guarantee 
such a quantity of wholesome and 
nutritious food. A rather hasty survey 
has shown that the combination of 
overfishing, drainage, pollution, and 
siltation of streams and lakes has cut a 
potential 2 billion pounds a year from 
possible commercial production. 
While engaged in recreation, hunt- 
ers and fishermen take approximately 
three-quarters of a billion pounds of 
meat and fish annually in this country. 
This harvest could be appreciably 
increased if intelligent management 
were applied to the lands and waters. 
Fur-producing animals furnish the 
incentive and the economic return 
which pioneered much of this land, and 
the fur taken in the United States 
under present lack of suitable envi- 
ronment and depleted stocks of fur 
bearers still aggregates $50,000,000 to 
$60,000,000 a year. It could be sev- 
eral times that much if this resource 
had been managed more wisely. There 
are acres of marshlands, for example, 
that produce more net return per acre 
in muskrat fur alone than similar land 
produces when drained and placed 
under cultivation. 
In addition to these direct values, 
there is a tremendous business, esti- 
mated at 2 billion dollars annually, in 
furnishing accommodations and pro- 
viding outdoor clothing and hunting 
and fishing equipment to those seek- 
ing recreation and relaxation in the 
ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1948 
outdoors. It is one of the major busi- 
nesses in the country and has a pecu- 
liar value in placing much of the 
money expended for this purpose in 
the remote and poorer sections of the 
country. With lands revegetated and 
properly managed, this business can 
be increased. 
Summary 
The basic concepts may be sum- 
marized as follows: Conservation in- 
volves wise use of renewable resources 
of the country so as to obtain a per- 
petual harvest of the production of the 
lands and waters. Profitable produc- 
tion of American farms and forests can 
be maintained only by adequate man- 
agement of the soils to prevent destruc- 
tive erosion. Water control and land 
management should go hand in hand 
and should start from the moment rain 
falls on the land. There should be a 
coordinated program over an entire 
watershed in order to maximize the 
benefits of conservation. So far as 
possible, water should be stored in the 
land where it falls and it should be 
used to produce crops, to keep the 
stream flows regular and steady, and 
to provide ground-water supplies for 
human and agricultural use. No more 
land should be drained without care- 
ful consideration of its value in the 
over-all management of water and its 
total productive capacity before and 
after drainage. No more pollution 
should be permitted to start and exist- 
ing pollution should be cleaned up as 
rapidly as possible. Once the pollu- 
tants have been removed, waters are 
capable of producing as great a crop of 
fish as ever. All lands too steep, too 
light, too sterile to be used profitably 
for intense agriculture should be re- 
vegetated. In the more humid areas 
lands must be reforested; in the arid 
sections grass or some of the more arid 
land plants will have to be restored. 
The imperative need is to maintain an 
adequate vegetative cover on all lands 
not needed for more intensive use. 
Problem areas, in particular, should 
