18 CIRCULAR 63 6, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



SUGGESTIONS FOR AN ACCEPTABLE COMPARISON 



As Avild birds and mammals are more or less competitors of farm 

 crops which the landowner produces because of theii' money value, 

 it is desirable to develop some acceptable means of compai-ing values. 

 For this reason the following suggestions and comparisons are made. 



A more acceptable way to compare the value of the game and wild- 

 fur crop with that of farm crops than the one now used would be to 

 compare the value of the wild meat and fur taken by hunters and 

 trappers with the gross value of an agricultural crop or livestock 

 product. Even in this comparison care must be exercised not to take 

 fictitious values for the meat and fur. This would require reliable 

 statistics relative to game and fur and some method of estimating a 

 fair price for wild meat. 



There are no acceptable statistical estimates of the value of the wild 

 meat and fur harvested each year by hunters and trappers. Avail- 

 able data indicate that any one of 15 or more farm crops, livestock, 

 and livestock products have a greater value than the aggregate direct 

 value of all wild meat and fur taken in a year. 



More industries are dependent upon farm crops than are dependent 

 upon wildlife, and many individual farm crops involve more Inisiness 

 activity and employ more people than does wildlife. But it must be 

 recognized that several industries are largely dependent upon wildlife 

 and that wildlife causes considerable business activity, furnishes em- 

 j^loyment for many people, and has esthetic and recreational value 

 that cannot be measured in money. But so do farm crops. All of 

 this leads to the conclusion that wildlife is one of our land use crops 

 that has a value sufficiently great to be seriously considered by farm- 

 ers and land use planners. 



GAME AND WILD-FUR PRODUCTION AND USE ON 

 AGRICULTURAL LANDS 



Importance of Agricultural Lands 



classification of game and fur species according to 

 habitat requirements 



A classification of game with respect to its optimum or preferred 

 habitat may assist in evaluating agricultural lands in relation to the 

 production and utilization of game and wild fur. The American 

 game policy.^ adopted by the American Game Association in 1930, 

 divided game into four classes, as follows: 



(1) "Fann game, which inhabits class B land. It thrives best on 

 farms with suitable cover." 



Class B land is land that is too high in value foi- the public to buy, 

 own, or manage in quantities exclusively for wildlife. The bob\\'hite 

 quail, cottontail rabbit, ring-necked pheasant. Hungarian partridge, 

 and fox squirrel are considered farm game species. 



(2) "Forest and range game, which inhabits class A lands. It 

 thrives best on land partially farmed." 



•^ AMERK'AX Gamk As. SOI- 1 ATI on. Tiansiictioiis of llio 17th .\mericiin Oame Conference 

 (1930), 17 : 286. 



