16 



Land Planning Report 



national forests. The former course is much to be 

 preferred. Steps necessary to its accomplishment are: 



1. Educational courses in universities and colleges 

 to develop personnel trained in scientific and practical 

 wildUfe management as related to forestry. 



2. Provision for the employment of an adequate, 

 qualified personnel, both Federal and State. 



3. Clear-cut definition of the responsibility for wild- 

 life management on Federal land by Forest Service 

 and State officials. 



4. Complete revision of State game laws, based on 

 biological facts rather than pohtical consideration and 

 vesting broad general powers in a nonpartisan board 

 or commission. 



5. Careful survey of wdldhfe resources, both publicly 

 and privately owned, by competent personnel; devel- 

 opment of wildhfe management plans. 



6. Adequate appropriations for the employment of 

 personnel necessary to the application of management 

 plans and the extension of research. 



Economic and Social Values 

 of Wildlife Areas 



Value, Eitent, and Conditions oj Wildlife on Forested 

 Lands : The forested lands of the United States provide 

 the largest part of habitat for most of that remaining 

 wildlife which is important for food, fur, hunting, and 

 aesthetic purposes. In 1929 the number of hunters 

 and fishermen in the United States was placed, by the 

 Senate Committee on Conservation of Wildlife Re- 

 sources, at 13,000,000, an increase, it is estmiated, of 

 400 percent in a single decade. The total positive 

 national value of all wildlife is estimated (by the Bio- 

 logical Survey) at more than $1,000,000,000 annually. 



Wildlife has decreased, and is stUl decreasing, on 

 much of the forest land of our country as a whole. - 

 Reasons are obvious: The enormous increase in num- 

 bers of hunters, disease, deterioration, or destruction by 

 fire (and otherwise) of forest cover and forage, lack of 

 management on at least four-fifths of the more than 

 600,000,000 acres now classed as forest or potential 

 forest land. 



Increase of Game Animals in the National Forests: 

 Contrasted with the general situation the number of 

 game animals on 167,000,000 acres of national forests 

 presents a difl'erent picture. Estimates, based upon 

 observations made by hundreds of forest officers who 

 spend a large part of their time on the game ranges, 

 show an increase of 100 percent between 1921 and 1933. 

 (See chart showing trends of big game populations 

 1921-33.) 



Double Value of Wildlife: Three-fifths of the esti- 

 mated total wildlife value is classed as economic, the 

 remainder recreational. Economic values include serv- 



' "Wildlife Conservation" S. Eept. No. 1329, 71st Cong., 3d sess. 



ices of birds, rodents, and other mammals in destruction 

 of insect pests, as well as returns in the form of meat 

 and fur from hunting, fishing, and trapping. 



Measurable social or recreational values consist of 

 expenditures for licenses, transportation, and equip- 

 ment by hunters and tourists. The large intangible 

 benefits derived by more than 31,000,000 people who 

 annually visit the national forests cannot be ade- 

 quately estimated in cash values. Hunting, fishing, 

 and nature study attract large numbers of these people. 



Contribution of Game to Busiiiess Activity: That those 

 who go in search of game contribute in many ways to 

 business activity throughout the country, is shown in 

 the total annual returns of about $158,000,000 for 

 hunters' expenditures and $254,000,000 of tourist ex- 

 penditures credited to wildlife attraction. Hunters' 

 expenditures include equipment, arms, and ammunition 

 purchases and, in addition, transportation, lodging, 

 food, guide, and other personal expenses. Tourist 

 expenditures are concerned with all of these except 

 arms and ammunition purchases. 



Examples of the value of national forest wildlife may 

 be cited. During the 1933 regulated hunting season 

 in the Kaibab National Forest in Arizona, 932 hunters 

 spent more than $43,000 incident to their sport which 

 resulted in bagging 859 deer. The average hunter 

 spent $47, 40 percent of which represented subsistence, 

 25 percent transportation, 15 percent license fees, and 

 20 percent other expenditm-es. On the more accessible 

 Sierra National Forest, the records for 1932 show that 

 1,400 deer were killed by 6,145 hunters, whose average 

 expenditures approximated $23 each. The meat ob- 

 tained by hunting and fisliing is a welcome addition to 

 the larder of many local residents, and highlj^ prized 

 by many of the hunters and fishermen who travel con- 

 siderable distances to enjoy their favorite sport. Trap- 

 ping fur-bearers provides a cash return for many a 

 family, and, as wildlife management becomes more 

 intensive, will no doubt assume greater importance in 

 connection with the conscious effort of the Forest Serv- 

 ice to supply more work for the dependent population 

 on each national forest, by developing all resources so 

 as to secure maximum yields. 



Recent studies by the Forest Service show that there 

 are within, and near the national forests, more than 

 5,000 farms and ranches primarily operated for recre- 

 ational purposes. A considerable portion of the fiveh- 

 hood of the owners and operators of these ranches is 

 derived from conducting hunting and fishing parties 

 on the national forests. An example of the magnitude 

 of these undertakings is obtained from the 1929 report 

 of the Dude Ranchers' Association. Fifty-one ranches 

 comprising property valued at approximately $6,250,000 

 showed receipts in 1929 of nearly a milhon and a half 

 dollars. 



