THE LEGITIMATE USE OF GAME 103 



within the boundaries of the United States. From 

 what we have seen with our own eyes, supplemented 

 by the green areas on the maps that show the exist- 

 ing forests of the United States, I think we are safe 

 in making the estimate that fully one-third of the 

 whole area of the United States is at this moment 

 covered by forests, the remains of forests or brush- 

 wood. Moreover, a large proportion of that total 

 area, especially that which is situated in mountain- 

 ous regions, consists of land that is incapable of 

 cultivation at a profit, and therefore is outside the 

 class of agricultural lands. This being the case, is 

 it not imperative that the American people should 

 seek to make those waste lands produce everything 

 of value that they can produce without prejudice 

 to the development of timber? 



Every wild deer that is born in an open forest 

 and rears himself at no expense to the state or to 

 any individual, is a national or state asset of real 

 value. In view of the already enormous cost of 

 beef, pork, mutton and poultry, it is now quite in 

 order to consider our native deer as meat-producing 

 animals and an important source of human food. 

 The logical conclusion regarding land that is 

 utterly unfit for agriculture is that it is available 

 for occupancy by valuable animals, either tame or 

 wild. The grazing of western cattle and sheep in 

 some of the national forests of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains is already a well-established industry, and 



