PROBLEMS IN WILD LIFE CONSERVATION 



attached to this power in some states, requires that the 

 permission of the landowner must be first secured. Over 

 state-owned refuges, however, the commission usually has 

 complete control. 



Other powers exercised to a varying extent from state to 

 state include the right to expend money obtained from hunt- 

 ing and fishing licenses, 24 the power to lengthen or shorten 

 the open season, 25 to fix bag limits, 26 to establish propagation 

 stations, to arbitrate claims for damage caused by protected 

 animals, to lease state shellfish grounds, and to grade and 

 brand seafood products. 27 



The administration of the wild life resources of a state 

 is essentially in a different category from the maintenance 

 of the state highway system. It constitutes a trust from the 

 past, to the present, for the future. The quantity and qual- 

 ity of these resources vary almost from day to day. If the 

 trust is to be properly executed, the administrators must be 

 left reasonably free to vary their regulations to meet rapidly 

 changing conditions. 



The question of length of season, bag limits, type of fire- 

 arm, location of game preserves and fish hatcheries, should 

 be left in the hands of the administrative agency. It does 

 not make for good management to freeze into the statutes 

 what should be merely details of administration. It is the 



24 Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, 

 Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New 

 Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South 

 Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin and in a number of other states within certain 

 limits fixed by statute. 



25 Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, 

 Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and in other 

 states within statutory limits. 



26 California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, 

 Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, 

 Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia. 



27 California. 



