A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 593 



Legislation in about the following terms is recommended : 



That in the administration of the national forests under the provisions of the 

 act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. 1103), and acts amendatory thereof or supple- 

 mental thereto, and in coordination with the activities authorized by such acts, 

 the Secretary of Agriculture may, and he hereby is authorized to, take such 

 measures as he may deem necessary to develop and make available for public use 

 and enjoyment the recreational, educational, and related values of the national 

 forests so far as may be compatible with the purposes for which they were created, 

 and with the proper consideration of their scenic and wild life resources. 



WILD-LIFE PRESERVATION 

 GAME 



The national forests contain about 75 percent of the range of the 

 big-game animals of the 11 Western States. They are also the prin- 

 cipal fur-producing areas in these States. They provide sport for a 

 half million hunters, by whom some 100,000 big-game animals are 

 killed annually. They constitute the largest and the best game area 

 under public ownership where the American system of hunting can 

 be perpetuated. In addition to the value of game to the sportsman, 

 econoinic and aesthetic considerations justify development of the 

 resource. The addition to local business arising from expenditures 

 of sportsmen is an important factor in many communities. The sale 

 of hunting and fishing licenses is an important element in State and 

 county revenues. 



Game production is a recognized form of land use in the adminis- 

 tration of the national forests. The same systematic planning that 

 is applied to the production of timber, forage, and other resources, 

 is essential to the development of game, and is being developed. 

 There is one great difference, however, between game management 

 and the management of timber and forage. In the latter, manage- 

 ment is carried to the removal of the crop from the land. In the 

 former, Forest Service legal responsibility ends with the development 

 of plans. This is due to the division of responsibility between Federal 

 and State Governments which has grown up under the common law 

 and which imposes upon the latter and denies to the former regulatory 

 authority. The authority of forest officers is contained in the act of 

 May 23, 1908, which provides that all reasonable assistance in the 

 protection of game within the national forests shall be given State 

 authorities. Under these circumstances efforts of the Forest Service, 

 in cooperation with the Biological Survey, must of necessity be con- 

 fined to assistance in protective measures, study of conditions on the 

 ground, the development of plans necessary to meet the specific prob- 

 lems involved, and encouragement and assistance to State officers in 

 the application of those plans. The Forest Service has authority to 

 remove animals when damage to the forest occurs, but cannot insure 

 beneficial utilization of the animals removed. 



Under this cooperative policy there have been established on the 

 national forests 289 State game refuges covering almost 21 million 

 acres, and 24 Federal game preserves covering more than 3 million 

 acres of land. These refuges were established at a time when the 

 thought on management began and ended with protection. Years 

 of protection, however, have proved the rapidity with which wild 

 life under the right environmental conditions increases. This has 

 brought into the picture that regulation of numbers of game animals 



