CHAPTER XIII 



INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNITY EFFORT IN THE 

 CONSERVATION OF WILD LIFE 



The conservation of our wild life, from the largest of our 

 big game to the smallest of our insectivorous birds, can only 

 be achieved when a wider interest in the subject is created 

 in the minds of the majority of our citizens. Our respon- 

 sibilities in this matter have been indicated in a previous 

 chapter. At the present time we depend almost entirely 

 upon the enforcement of our game laws for the attainment 

 of our ends. Wise game laws will do much for the protec- 

 tion of our wild life, particularly in the direction of checking 

 the destructive tendencies of the market hunter and game- 

 hog; but the proper enforcement of such laws can only be 

 effected if the will of the people at large is behind them, 

 and in order to secure such popular support there must be 

 carried out a policy of education among young and old. 



Education 



Educational propaganda on this subject should be more 

 easy of execution than that covering the conservation of any 

 other resource, for this reason: no subject is more appealing 

 to young people and to older people, whatever their voca- 

 tions, than that of wild life. Further, there is an encour- 

 aging growth in the demand for information on this subject, 

 and the increasing number of ''nature" books is an indica- 

 tion of that demand. No subject appeals more to the aver- 

 age child than natural history, and the ever-growing num- 



286 



