75 



mate objective is to maintain maximum variety and optimum num- 

 bers of wildlife for the many and varied uses of man, to observe, to 

 photograph, to study, and to harvest these surplus for food or for 

 wearing apparel. 



At this point, I want to make it perfectly clear the federation is 

 not opposed to complete protection of wildlife as a program manage- 

 ment tool. 



However, and this is the key point, protection is simply one of the 

 several techniques used by the professional wildlife biologists. 



Harvesting of surplus wildlife population is an equally important 

 management tool if the continuing long-range well-being of an ani- 

 mal population is the ultimate objective. 



The point I am making, Mr. Chairman, is that any recommenda- 

 tion or decision concerning the proper handling of wildlife should be 

 made within the framework of scientific management based upon fac- 

 tual research data and experience, and on the restoration and mainte- 

 nance of proper wildlife habitat, not on the basis of emotional, philo- 

 sophical or moral judgments. 



The federation feels it is absolutely vital to world wildlife popula- 

 tion that we continue management efforts, crude as they may be, that 

 are built upon a solid foundation of scientific knowledge about the 

 status and needs of wildlife. 



If we have insufficient data, and you touched upon this in your tes- 

 timony, Mr. Chairman, and I do think that we have inadequate data, 

 we should direct our efforts toward filling in those gaps in our body of 

 knowledge. 



We need all of the management tools at our disposal, including 

 both protection and harvesting to solve the complexities of contempo- 

 rary wildlife management. 



To do otherwise in this enlightened age would be an abrogation 

 of our responsibilities to the fish and faima of the world. 



No matter how much we desire it, we camiot return to the pristine 

 conditions of the stone age. 



Modern man, 5 billion in number, has so disrupted our planet and 

 ecology, poisoned and polluted the environment, that the only hope 

 for much of the world's wildlife is for man to utilize his great powers 

 of reason, science, teclmology, and persuasion to overcome or minimize 

 the inverse impact of his own intrusions into the plant and animal 

 ecosystems. 



The worst disservice we could perform to any form of wildlife 

 would be to aJbandon the principle of sound management. Because 

 man has so complicated and disrupted the animal habitat, there is 

 little semblance in the balance of nature. 



If populations are not kept at levels supported by adequate food 

 supply, living and breathing space, many will die of starv^ation and 

 disease, plus suffering tlie lack of procreation. 



Recovery to a nonnal balanced population following a starvation 

 die-off is a slow, inhumane, and unnecessary process. 



In our view, the methods employed in removing surplus populations, 

 whether carried out by individuals representmg sporting or com- 

 mercial interests, should be left, to regulation by professional wildlife 

 management experts as long as control is exercised to protect the 

 basic broodstocks and the hai-vest is carried out in the most humane 

 manner. 



