140 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



elk may t>e legally shot in three states only; mountain 

 sheep in two, and the hunting of antelope is generally pro- 

 hibited. In five states west of the Mississippi River deer 

 hunting is entirely prohibited ; in eight the limit is one deer 

 to the hunter a year; in five states the limit is two deer; 

 in two states three deer, and in Louisiana the limit is five. 

 In Arizona, one of the last states where frontier condi- 

 tions prevailed and in which there is a great extent of 

 superbly forested mountains and plateaus, affording 

 ideal conditions for game, the native elk was exter- 



Pkotograph by Albert SchlechUn. 



MULE DEER IN YELLOWSTONE PARK 

 Intelligent protection and restocking of ranges may restore these deer in large 

 numbers. Colorado has successfully reintroduced elk and has largely increased 

 the almost exterminated mountain sheep. 



minated nearly twenty years ago, the antelope and 

 mountain sheep are so nearly gone that there is a per- 

 manent close season on them, and there is a bag limit of 

 one deer a year to the hunter. 



The idea of game conservation in the West extends 

 back less than 30 years, and there, as in most compara- 

 tively new regions, many people long retain the feeling 

 that wild game belongs to whoever can take it, a survival 

 of the point of view of more primitive times. It has been 

 the history of all new regions that the pioneers depend on 

 game as a source of food supply and kill it freely at all 

 seasons. No thought is given the future until, with the 

 increase of population, the number of animals killed so far 

 exceeds the natural increase that the supply is rapidly de- 

 stroyed. It is evident from what we knowof past and exist- 

 ing conditions in a large part of the West that, although 

 the sentiment for protection is increasing, game will 

 continue to disappear unless some wiser and more effec- 

 tive method than now exists is put into operation, not only 

 for its protection, but for its perpetuation and increase. 



The National Forests are patrolled by rangers of the 

 Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, and the 



National Parks by rangers of the National Park Service 

 of the Department of the Interior. For some years the 

 Forest Service has been making a careful survey of game 

 conditions in National Forests and is well informed as to 

 the existing situation. It is well for the remaining wild 

 life of the West that the men in charge of both forests 

 and parks are deeply interested in its conservation. 



It is evident that wild game inhabiting a National 

 Forest is as much a natural asset of the forest as the annual 

 crop of grazing or of the timber. Up to the present time 

 our attitude has been that it is something entirely apart 

 and subject to entirely separate control. This has been 

 unfortunate for the game. With the example before us 

 of the efficiency shown by the Forest Service in safe- 

 guarding from spoliation and making useful to the public 

 the resources of grazing and timber in its custody, it is 



$% 





Photograph by Albert Schlechlen. 



WHITE-TAILED DEER IN YELLOWSTONE PARK 



In five states west of the Mississippi River deer hunting is entirely prohibited; 

 in eight the limit is one deer to a hunter a year; in five states the limit is two 

 deer; in two states it is three and in Louisiana it is five. 



evident that if it were given guardianship over the game on 

 the forests the results would be of far-reaching importance. 

 The trained corps of forest rangers and guards can and do 

 now serve with practically no extra cost as wardens over 

 the game, and a practical constructive program could be 

 developed, not only for conserving the game, but for restor- 

 ing it to areas where it has disappeared, and in increasing 

 the supply to the full capacity of the available summer 

 and winter grazing. The control of the grazing of cattle 

 and sheep on the National Forests being in the Forest 

 Service, gives that organization the absolutely essential 

 knowledge of summer and winter grazing conditions that 

 is required if the game is to be safeguarded. The use of 

 the forests for domestic stock will continue on a great 

 scale, but with good management great numbers of game 

 animals may exist in the same forests. 



