38 WILD LIFE CONSERVATION 



The most important conclusion to be drawn from 

 the records of the past is that it is quite possible to 

 save the existing remnants of our continental stock 

 of wild life, and also entirely practicable. It is a 

 matter of individual effort and campaign-expense 

 money. Five years ago the cause seemed almost 

 hopeless, and many persons predicted that in a few 

 years no large game would remain anywhere in the 

 United States outside of rigidly protected game 

 preserves. But, thanks to the energy and persist- 

 ence of the men and women on the firing-line, that 

 gloomy expectation has been dissipated. It is now 

 admitted that the extermination of a species is a 

 crime; that the wild life of the nation belongs more 

 to the 97 per cent of people who do not go hunting 

 and do not kill, than to the 3 per cent who do. It 

 has been found that large men prefer to aid large 

 measures, and it costs not much more to enact a 

 great bill into law than it does to promote a small 

 one. It has been demonstrated that millions of 

 people are quite willing to promote the protection 

 of wild life if they are only informed, and told what 

 to do, and reasonably led. The fact that it has 

 been proven possible to secure practical results has 

 encouraged thousands to take hold. 



The success and popularity of the national parks 

 and national game-preserves has led to great activ- 

 ities in that particular field of endeavor. The 

 Yellowstone Park, with its herds of bear, moun- 

 tain sheep, antelope, mule deer, bison and moose, 



