December. 1958 



Scott: Wii.ni.iFii Rkskarcii 



181 



limiting." Earlier he (Forbes 1880rt:5) 

 had written that "as a general rule, the 

 rate of reproduction is in inverse ratio 

 to the grade of individual development 

 and activity; . . ." The "grade of indi- 

 vidual development and activity" refers to 

 the degree of evolutionary progress from 

 a primitive form. Forbes (1880«:11) 

 seems to have been grasping at the role of 

 density independent factors in population 

 control v\'hen he observed that the "real 

 and final limits of a species are the irior- 

 (janic features of its environment, — soil, 

 climate, seasonal peculiarities, and the 

 like." 



What is today recognized as wildlife 

 research continued to develop under 

 Forbes' guidance in the form of bird 

 censuses. The results of these censuses are 

 classics in American ornithology. They 

 constituted the first extensive, quantita- 

 tive investigations of bird numbers, or of 

 any wildlife population for that matter, 

 and introduced a census technique. 



Despite Forbes' modern views, there is 

 little evidence that he promoted wildlife 

 management to any great extent. The 

 thinking of Forbes (1912/^:40) with re- 

 spect to game management, despite earlier, 

 more promising views, seems to have been 

 limited to the encouragement of restric- 

 tive laws, as evidenced by the following: 

 "Our resident game birds would all have 

 been gone long ago if it had not been for 

 the restraints of law put upon the ac- 

 tivities of the hunter ..." Forbes 

 (1912^:46) made a plea for the Illinois 

 Academy of Science to support by resolu- 

 tion the "Anthony bill" (Migratory Bird 

 Act of 1913), then under consideration in 

 the House of Representatives. It should 

 be remembered that legal protection was 

 virtually the only management concept of 

 the times. 



ORGANIZATION 



Game research in the modern sense be- 

 gan to receive recognition in the Natural 

 History Survey's program in the early 

 1930's. Probably stimulation was re- 

 ceived from the federal government's 

 emphasis on conservation of natural re- 

 sources, an emphasis that accompanied the 

 search for work during that period of 

 national economic emergency, and from 



the influence of Herbert L. Stoddard 

 (1931) and Aldo Leopold (1931, 1933). 

 By that time, progressive leaders in the 

 field realized that restrictive regulations 

 and game farms were not meeting wild- 

 life management needs. Also, it had be- 

 come apparent that game populations 

 could be managed wisely only when man- 

 agement practices were based on a fund 

 of pertinent and precise knowledge. Fri- 

 son, who became Acting Chief of the Illi- 

 nois Natural History Survev upon Forbes' 

 death on March 13, 1930, and then Chief 

 on July 1, 1931, was among these leaders. 

 An enthusiastic hunter, Frison had a con- 

 suming interest in game management. 

 Wildlife research was recognized in the 

 organizational structure of the Natural 

 History Survey for the first time when 

 Frison (1938:31) established a Section 

 of Game Research and Management on 

 July 1, 1934. Dr. Ralph E. Yeatter, one 

 of the nation's first game specialists, was 

 employed in this section. 



Frison initiated formation of the now 

 well-established Midwest Wildlife Con- 

 ference, and the first meeting was held 

 in Urbana on December 5, 6, and 7, 1935. 

 This meeting, known as the North Cen- 

 tral States Fish and Game Conference, 

 was the first regional conference of wild- 

 life technicians in the United States. 

 Frison (1938:27) described the confer- 

 ence as 



essentially a fish and game clinic at which 

 scientists from all the north-central states, 

 without being dominated by administrators or 

 the political type of conservationists, freely 

 discussed wildlife management practices in 

 an effort to winnow out the chaff from the 

 wheat, to coordinate such researches and to 

 orientate scientific studies of wildlife re- 

 sources in such a way that demonstrable 

 sound management practices would result. 



By 1936 Frison (1938:31) had con- 

 cluded that experimental wildlife areas 

 were needed for the purpose of testing 

 management theories under practical con- 

 ditions, a need which has still not been 

 adequately met. A Section of Wildlife 

 Experimental Areas was listed on the 

 staf¥ page of the Bulletin from March, 

 1938, to September, 1945. On June 1, 

 1938, a special program dealing with for- 

 est problems in game management was un- 

 dertaken by Dr. Lee E. Yeager, who had 

 joined the staff in the Section of Forestry. 



