WORK OF THE FOREST SERVICE 303 



considerable sums of money have been given each year for the con- 

 servation of various forms of wild life — not only fish and game, but 

 also birds. Doubtless this movement was to some extent due to the 

 influence of President Roosevelt. Game refuges in the national forests 

 can be created only by special act of Congress, and only three have 

 been created — the Wichita Game Preserve in Oklahoma, the Grand 

 Canon Game Preserve in Arizona, and the Pisgah Game Preserve in 

 North Carolina. In 1918, the Wichita preserve contained a herd of 

 100 buffalo, with some elk, antelope, deer, and smaller game; the 

 Grand Caiion preserve supported .6000 to 8000 deer and other game ; 

 while the Pisgah preserve sheltered deer, wild turkey, and wild fowl. 

 The five big game preserves in which most of the wild game is to be 

 found are not in charge of the Forest Service, but are under the 

 jurisdiction of the Biological Survey. 



Many of the national forests carry considerable game, however. 

 Of the 40,000 elk in the Yellowstone region, about half live in the 

 national forests surrounding the park, and a portion of the remainder 

 occupy national forest land at times. There are 3000 or more elk 

 in the Olympic Forest, and smaller herds in the forests of central 

 and western Montana and central Idaho, and new herds are being 

 built up in various national forests of Colorado, New Mexico, and 

 Arizona. 



In spite of all efforts, national forests at present carry only an 

 insignificant fraction of the game which could be supported upon 

 them; in fact, in many sections the game has been almost entirely 

 exterminated. The individual states have jurisdiction over the game, 

 the Forest Service merely cooperating with the states in carrying 

 out the state laws for protection; and this division of responsibility 

 has not worked for efficiency. The Federal government has full 

 authority to protect game in only seven of the sixteen national 

 parks — the Yellowstone, Glacier, Mount Ranier, Crater Lake, 

 Platte, Hot Springs, and the Hawaiian. The states have not ceded 

 jurisdiction of the other nine parks, and, in the absence of Federal 

 legislation, the Federal authorities can punish poachers there only 

 by expelling them from the park limits. Of the thirty-four national 

 "monuments," twenty-one are administered by the National Park 

 Service, eleven by the Forest Service, and two are under the juris- 



