A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



495 



on forest land alone, because of insufficient data. The available 

 figures do show the great importance of the resource. In the past a 

 great deal of thought and effort by biologists and other interested 

 individuals and organizations has been devoted to wild life chiefly from 

 the standpoint of preservation of species and the maintenance of 

 hunting and fishing. Present-day problems of land management 

 are turning the attention^of land managers and economists to the 

 present values and potentialities of this important land resource. 



The financial burden on individuals and on the public arising from 

 idle lands principally those of marginal and submarginal agricultural 

 character and of depleted and devastated lands is constantly in- 

 creasing. The alleviation of this condition requires that every 

 resource capable of doing so must be made to yield a direct return. 

 Forest wild life is capable of bearing a sizable share of the load. 

 Direct values attributable to it are, (1) income from sale of hunting 

 licenses and other fees, and (2) meat and fur values. Indirect values 

 include, (1) receipts from the sale of hunting and fishing equipment 

 by the manufacturers of arms, ammunition, fishing tackle, clothing, 

 and other outdoor supplies; (2) expenditures of sportsmen for board, 

 transportation, guide, and other local services; (3) annual expendi- 

 tures of sportsmen and clubs, for hunting and fishing privileges on 

 private lands; and (4) value of wild life, chiefly birds, as destroyers of 

 insects preying on agricultural crops. 



Table 2, the data for which has been prepared by W. L. McAtee and 

 F. P. Callaghan, of the Biological Survey, records an annual income 

 to the States of nearly $10,000,000 in 1930-31 from sale of hunting 

 licenses alone. This represents less than 1 percent of the total annual 

 value attributed to wild life. In many States this license income 

 represents the total outlay of the State for game management and 

 administration. It is that part of the direct annual income from 

 gams which is reinvested in the business. A few States supplement 

 this income from the general fund, but, by and large, game manage- 

 ment is at present chiefly self-supporting. 



That the annual meat and fur value of game is considerable is 

 reflected in the estimated total of more than $190,000,000 for the 

 whole country, or nearly a fifth of the total annual value of wild life. 



TABLE No. 2. Estimate of the annual positive values of wild life 



HUMID AREA EAST OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH MERIDIAN 



