38 THE SCHOOL BOOK OF FORESTRY 



Predatory animals, such as wolves, bears, 

 mountain lions, coyotes and bobcats also live in 

 the forest. They kill much livestock each year in 

 the mountain regions of the Western States and 

 they also prey on some species of bird life. The 

 Federal and some State governments now employ 

 professional hunters to trap and shoot these 

 marauders. Each year the hunters kill thou- 

 sands of predatory animals, thus saving the 

 farmers and cattle and sheep owners many thou- 

 sands of dollars. 



Sportsmen are so numerous and hunting is 

 so popular, that game refuges have to be provided 

 in the forests and parks. Were it not for these 

 havens of refuge where hunting is not permitted, 

 some of our best known wild game and birds 

 would soon be extinct. There are more than 

 11,640,648 acres of forest land in the government 

 game refuges. California has 22 game refuges 

 in her 17 National Forests. New Mexico has 19, 

 while Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Washington 

 and Oregon also have set aside areas of govern- 

 ment forest land for that purpose. In establish- 

 ing a game refuge, it is necessary to pick out a 

 large area of land that contains enough good feed 



