492 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Biological Survey and the State game departments in many States, 

 has for many years made estimates of numbers of various species of 

 game animals on the national forests and has compiled records of 

 kill by species. The Biological Survey has also made independent 

 counts and estimates of game animals in many localities. Such 

 figures for game populations are, of course, estimates only. On 

 the national forests they have, however, been kept for a sufficiently 

 long period to indicate trends in game population. 



Certain local situations requiring application of plans of game 

 management have necessitated more detailed counts and estimates. 

 Notable examples are the Jackson Hole elk herd, the Oregon-Nevada 

 antelope herds, and the Kaibab deer. The accuracy of such estimates 

 depends on the size of the areas concerned and the physical condi- 

 tions obtaining in each locality. Such counts are of inestimable 

 value, not only in the formulation of plans of management for the 

 specific areas concerned but as indicators of game population and 

 probable game forage requirements and capacity under other com- 

 parable environmental conditions. It should, however, be borne in 

 mind that such counts or detailed estimates as have been made 

 center around a few well-known species of game animals, principally 

 deer, elk, antelope, and bear, and that nowhere is there to be found 

 any reliable estimate of the existing numbers of small game, birds, 

 or fur bearers, or in fact reliable statements as to what should be the 

 population of such animals and birds or the extent to which they may 

 be developed and perpetuated. 



In general the data extant on the quantity and value of wild life 

 give no more than an inkling of the astonishingly large and wide- 

 spread importance of the resource. Lack of reliable nation-wide 

 data is in itself sufficient to justify a systematic organized effort to 

 obtain comprehensive information regarding our country's wild-life 

 situation. Common sense demands that working plans not only for 

 the development of this resource but for its coordination with broad 

 plans embracing other forms of land utilization must be based on 

 sound, fundamental facts. 



Table 1 contains the estimates of big-game population on the 

 national forests by States. The national forests of the Western United 

 States comprise about 75 percent of the total western big-game range. 

 It should again be borne in mind in considering this table that the 

 numbers of animals shown are estimates only, and the figures repre- 

 sent comparative density of game by regions rather than actual densi- 

 ties. It has been demonstrated by experience, in cases where actual 

 counts have been obtained for comparison with previously estimated 

 numbers on the same area, that game estimates are in most instances 

 materially less than actual numbers disclosed by counts. Conse- 

 quently, the figures contained in the table are considered to be 

 conservative. 



Several interesting indications are to be found in table 1, showing 

 the results to be expected in the development and use of the game 

 resource, under a system which provides for multiple use of all forest 

 resources. In the multiple-use management of the national forests 

 game has for many years had a definite place, particularly in the 

 West where there has been for the most part a close coordination of 

 effort between State game departments, the Biological Survey, and 

 the Forest Service. Some species of big game in the national forests 



