304 UNITED STATES FOREST POLICY 



diction of the War Department, while the game on them remains 

 subject to state jurisdiction. 



A good example of the confusion in jurisdiction is found in the 

 administration of the great elk herds in the region of Yellowstone 

 Park. In the park itself, game is wholly under Federal jurisdiction, 

 but in the adjoining national forests game is under state jurisdiction. 

 Within a relatively small area it would be possible to find as many 

 as four different sets of game laws, and of course the elk frequently 

 wander across state lines and into new jurisdictions. The states do 

 little to care for these elk, and in severe winters hundreds of them 

 died of starvation, before the Federal government established a feed- 

 ing station at Jackson Hole, where they are now fed in severe weather. 



There is need of a more comprehensive plan. Perhaps all game in 

 the national forests should be placed under the jurisdiction of the 

 Forest Service, with provision for proper state cooperation. Perhaps 

 the entire jurisdiction over the national parks should be placed with 

 the Forest Service, in the Department of Agriculture, instead of 

 in the Department of the Interior. The Park Service needs men of 

 much the same character as the Forest Service; many of the prob- 

 lems are similar ; and some economy, and perhaps also efficiency, would 

 be secured by turning the national parks and the national forests over 

 to the same administrative department — the Forest Service.* 



The game in Alaska has received considerable attention in recent 

 years. Alaska was once one of the finest hunting grounds in the world, 

 but in recent years the moose, caribou, white mountain sheep, and 

 other game animals have decreased very greatly in numbers ; and 

 with the building of the new railroad into the interior, some species 

 of game seem on the way to extinction. A law was passed in 1908 

 providing extensive regulations for their protection, and authorizing 

 the appointment of a game warden to enforce these regulations. 

 Considerable sums have been voted from time to time to carry out 

 the provisions of this law; but the enforcement has not been very 

 effective. The recent creation of the Mount McKinley National Park 

 as a game preserve will provide protection for some of the Alaskan 

 game. 



Probably the . development of the game resources of the national 



iAm. Forestry, Mar., 1917, 133, 139; Jan., 1917, 48, 49. 



