PROBLEMS IN WILD LIFE CONSERVATION 



Treaties with certain tribes sometimes carry express re- 

 tention not only of the exclusive right to hunt and fish 

 within their reservation but also the right to hunt and fish 

 on ceded lands outside the reservation, particularly " at their 

 usual and accustomed places " or "in common with other 

 citizens of the state." This simply means that the state 

 cannot deny to the Indians the continued right to enjoy, in 

 common with other citizens of the state, fishing and hunting 

 privileges in accordance with the laws of the state, but such 

 treaty provisions do not give the Indians any right to hunt 

 outside their reservation during the closed season as pro- 

 vided by state law. 



Even in regard to the Indians themselves, the Bureau 

 attempts to induce them for their own good to observe 

 reasonable limits as to season and quantity in their hunting 

 and fishing. The Bureau is powerless, however, to force 

 them to keep within such limits. An endeavor has been 

 made by restocking operations to keep enough game an$ 

 fish on the reservations to take care of the normal Indian 

 demand. 



The states have cooperated with the superintendents of 

 the reservations in providing for the patrol of those areas 

 most likely to be invaded by non-Indians. In a few rare 

 instances the Bureau has even gone so far as to allow the 

 state to deputize its employees as special state game wardens, 

 although in general it does not favor allowing this work to 

 be unloaded on its men. 



Both the wild life bureaus of the national government 

 and the state departments have cooperated with the Bureau 

 in furnishing expert advice on restocking operations and to 

 aid the Bureau in stamping out animal diseases on the reser- 

 vations. In addition, the Biological Survey has actively 

 undertaken predatory animal and rodent control on some of 

 the reservations. 



