The Condition of Wild Life in Alaska 



belong to the nation, and not to the individual, 

 and the use of them by the individual citizen is 

 limited to such privileges as may be accorded him 

 by law. The mere fact that he has the power to 

 destroy without interference by the law, does not 

 in itself confer a right. The destruction of game 

 is far more often effected by local residents than 

 it is by visiting sportsmen, but the chief evildoer, 

 and the public enemy of all classes, is the profes- 

 sional hunter, either Indian or white, who kills for 

 the market. Worse still, perhaps, is the profes- 

 sional dealer in heads and antlers, who employs 

 such hunters to provide game heads for the decora- 

 tion of the banquet halls of the growing class of 

 would-be sportsmen, who enjoy the suggestion of 

 hunting prowess conferred by a selected collection 

 of purchased heads, mixed in with those of their 

 own killing. 



However efficient the game law may be in limit- 

 ing the killing to a given number of individuals, 

 and to certain seasons of the year, or, better still, to 

 the adult males of certain species, the only per- 

 manently effective way to continue in abundance 

 and in individual vigor any species of game is, to 

 establish proper sanctuaries, as thoroughly con- 

 trolled as the Yellowstone Park, and these must 

 contain both summer and winter ranges. In such 



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