Qa+ne, PteAeSut&i 



To the men who, in the early days of game 

 conservation, were instrumental in the creation 

 of game preserves can go much of the credit for 

 the present abundance of wildlife in Montana. 

 Game preserves are now, as in the past, an indis- 

 pensable tool in the management of all forms 

 of wildlife. There must always be sancutaries 

 where the wild creatures can find peace and pro- 

 tection from the guns of hunters. 



It is well to remember, however, that these 

 preserves are tools, and as tools they may even- 

 tually wear out. This term as applied to a game 

 preserve refers to the depletion of the forage or 

 the failure of the sanctuary to properly stock sur- 

 rounding huntable areas. Under such conditions 

 a preserve is benefiting neither the game sup- 

 posed to be protected or the sportsmen. 



The study of big game has brought out a 

 number of important facts concerning their man- 

 agement. One, that there is an uneven distribu- 

 tion of game animals over all available game 

 range and two, that the fullest use is not being 

 made of all available ranges and, three, that 

 several of the present game preserves are con- 

 tributing materially to this improper distribution 

 although they originally served a very useful 

 purpose in building up a game herd. 



Several of our game preserves have already 

 outlived their useful functions and have been or 

 should be abandoned. Examples of these would 

 be the Deer Lodge and Halfway Lake bird pre- 

 serves, and the Beaverhead game preserve, which 

 were abandoned during 1942. 



In other areas certain preserves should be 

 replaced by other closed areas more favorably 



located, and perhaps rotated at intervals of time. 

 By a flexible system of rotated closed areas, the 

 following benefits may be derived: 



1 . A better distribution of game animals over 

 all available range. 



2. A diversified use of the range. 



3. More game can be produced without se- 

 rious injury to any particular portions of the 

 range. 



4. It will minimize the chance for serious 

 parasitic infection and the spread of contagious 

 diseases. 



5. It will aid the department to direct hunt- 

 ing into the areas where hunting is needed. 



6. Game animals will always have the nec- 

 essary protected areas into which to retreat when 

 the hunting pressure becomes too great. 



This type of rotation has not as yet been tried 

 in the state, but it is hoped that it may be done 

 in the future. 



The benefits to wildlife to be derived from 

 several other preserves may be increased by 

 slightly changing or modifying the boundaries of 

 these preserves. Changed conditions in hunting 

 pressures, forage, and the number of animals 

 have made such alterations necessary. For ex- 

 ample, a slight change was made during the 

 summer of 1942 in the boundary of the Gallatin 

 Game Preserve in order to relieve the concentra- 

 tion of elk during the hunting season upon critical- 

 ly needed winter game range. 



On the other hand, there are generalized 

 areas where hunting would probably benefit if 

 new preserves or closed areas were established. 

 For example, the Sula Peak Closure was created 

 to take effect prior to the big game season of 

 1942. It is located in the lower reaches of the 

 East Fork of the Bitterroot river. This closure was 

 created for the purpose of building up the num- 

 ber of big game animals in that area. 



[ 18] 



