than we are aware, and still others are as yet holding their 

 own. These should be included under the law now applying 

 to the mink and the musk-rat. Our big-game animals, one of 

 which, the lordly moose, represents the largest wild animal 

 that walks on this continent today, may be said to be fairly 

 well off. But this is not sufficient. Their range is steadily 

 being reduced with the spread of settlers and the clearing of 

 forests. The population of the state is increasing and there 

 is destined to be a corresponding increase in the numbers of 

 those who hunt. If we are to have all of these animals with 

 us as a permanent asset, more careful attention must be given 

 the subject. For all of them, in order to insure against off 

 years and possible epidemics among them, there must at all 

 times be maintained a distinct margin of safety. 



Many agencies have been constantly at work against the in- 

 terests of our wild life. Most destructive have been the inor- 

 dinate killing lust and greed of man, the clearing of forests, 

 the draining of marshes and sloughs, and in the large agricult- 

 ural districts of the state the more or less complete elimina- 

 tion of natural habitats. 



Our big-game animals and many of our choicest fur-bearers 

 we have seen, are essentially forest dwellers and their fate 

 is, inseparably wrapped up with the fate of the forests. Those 

 that readily adapt themselves to the settled regions can be 

 permanently preserved only by allowing the existence in those 

 districts of some areas here and there, they need not always 

 be large, where such animals may have their retreats and 

 homes and where they may rear their young undisturbed. 

 Minnesota has abundant natural resources for the permanent 

 preservation of all her wild forms and needs, but the awaken- 

 ing of the people to a full realization of their worth that they 

 may insist upon the enactment of proper measures, and, fur- 

 ther, insist upon their rigid enforcement. It is not alone as a 

 matter of direct or indirect economic value from man's view- 

 point that our wild animals are entitled to preservation; they 

 are entitled to it also, because of themselves, as living things 

 that have a part to play in the economy of nature and add a 

 peculiar interest and charm to our surroundings. 



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