230 PROBLEMS IN WILD LIFE CONSERVATION 



belief of some wild-life enthusiasts that game and fish 

 should have their own independent department. This belief 

 was first engendered by the necessity of removing the ad- 

 ministration of wild life resources from political domination. 

 In its day, the independent board of game and fish com- 

 missioners rendered good service to the cause of wild life. 

 However, the writer believes that the conditions which made 

 an independent game and fish department necessary are no 

 longer present. Today a conservation department within 

 the state administrative system which will include forests 

 and parks, as well as wild life, offers the best opportunity 

 for real wild-life conservation. 



Place of Wild Life in the Future National Economy: It 

 is distinctly encouraging to see that wild life is being given 

 an increasingly important place in the national economy. 

 There is every indication that the Roosevelt administration 

 will, in the 1935 session of Congress, sponsor far-reaching 

 land reforms which in their very nature will involve con- 

 servation of wild life as well as other natural resources. 

 The report of the National Resources Board 2 to the Presi- 

 dent definitely recommended that large areas of land be 

 withdrawn from cultivation and be devoted chiefly to for- 

 est, soil, and wild life restoration. There is every reason 

 to think that this report will form the basis for the adminis- 

 tration's agricultural policies during the next year. 



Legal Restrictions upon Conservation Activities: Few 

 other undertakings of the government have been as little 

 hampered by unfavorable court decisions as wild-life con- 

 servation. Powers of the Federal government, under the 

 treaty clause and the commerce clause of the United States 

 constitution, have been hedged about with few restrictions. 

 In those instances where due process has entered the ques- 



2 Govt. Print. Office, December, 1934. 



