Land Planning Report 



From such an outing they return to their usual duties 

 improved mentally and physically, with a broadened 

 outlook and a quickened appreciation of natural re- 

 sources that should contribute immeasurably to the 

 wealth, comfort, and well-being of the people. 



Need of Wildlife 

 Management 



Conservation Alone Not the Solution: Recognition of 

 wildlife as a national asset of major importance brings 

 into relief the problem of management. Much has 

 been written on the conservation of wildlife by authors 

 representing many shades of opinion, but compara- 

 tively little indicating a broad, clear concept of its 

 corollary, wildlife management. The emphasis on 

 conservation has doubtless been due to the necessity 

 of building up a militant opposition to destructive 

 forces leading toward the extermination of so many 

 species. In many directions this danger is not yet past, 

 but conservation should be recognized in its true rela- 

 tion as a means to an end and not an end in itself. 

 The overabundance of game in one region may present 

 a more pressing and difficult problem than would its 

 absence or scarcity in another. Game management 

 consists largely in the regulation of numbers in accord- 

 ance with food supply and cover, with due regard for 

 other local interests. 



At the time of the discover}^ of North America, its 

 •\vildlife, probably unequaled elsewhere in diversity' 

 and abundance, ranged in everj' kind of habitat 

 throughout the length and breadth of the continent. 

 Great herds of grass-feeding animals — buflFalo, ante- 

 lope, elk, and mountain sheep — occupied the open 

 plains or high mountains of the West. Moose and 

 caribou had an extensive range in the northern forests, 

 and bears were numerous wherever conditions were 

 suitable. Fur bearers in great variety, including the 

 beaver, otter, wolverine, marten, mink, fox, raccoon, 

 and muskrat, were widely distributed and soon became 

 the basis of an extensive and profitable pioneer indus- 

 try. Upland game birds, as wild turkeys, passenger 

 pigeons in amazing numbers, and the various kinds of 

 grouse and prairie chickens, occupied great areas 

 adapted to their divergent needs. Waterfowl in count- 

 less millions, especially ducks, geese, and swans, nested 

 over an enormous territory but particularly in the vast 

 prairie regions of the Middle West, the Northwest, and 

 areas extending into Canada and Alaska ; and in concen- 

 trated niA-riads migrated southward to winter. Many 

 writers attest to their almost incredible abundance. 



For example, Grinnell records that in Eastern and 

 Hogg Bay, Chesapeake Bay, one might see redlieads 

 rafted in bodies miles in extent, probably not less than 

 50,000 ducks in a mass.' Incidentally the redhead is 

 new so reduced in nuinbei*s that only special protection 

 will prevent its extermination. Geese also were in such 



' Grinnell, G. B. American Duck Shooting. New York, 1901. pp. 485-86. 



abundance that, especially in California, they became 

 destructive to winter wheat on a large scale. 



Previous to the arrival of the settlers, the scattered 

 Indian population, hunting mainly with bows and 

 arrows, and without effective tools, was negligible in 

 its effect upon the game. Predatory animals — wolves, 

 mountain lions, bobcats, and, in the West, coyotes — took 

 their toll, but there was ample food for all. 



Essentials of WihUife Management: A re\'iew of the 

 general field, and contrast with past abimdance, shows 

 that wildlife has nearly every^vhere been sadly neg- 

 lected as a national resoiu-ce or grossly mismanaged. 

 The essentials of wildlife management are relatively 

 simple but exceedingly difficult to put into effect, 

 owing to public apathy, sheer ignorance or misunder- 

 standing, selfishness, misguided sentiment, and politics. 



First of all, only a well-informed public opinion can 

 overcome the inertia and prejudice that tend to paralyze 

 constructive effort. The management of game, and of 

 wildlife as a whole, calls for professional skill of the 

 highest order. The wildlife administrator should com- 

 bine broad technical knowledge and the instincts of a 

 natiu-aUst with capacity for dealing with hard, factual 

 realities. Such a combination of qualities is not easily 

 obtained, and it is rare where game officials are ap- 

 pointed merely as a reward for political party services. 

 Occasionally a political appointee will develop some 

 capacity as a game manager, but by the time he has 

 become familiar with the intricacies of the work his 

 services are apt to be terminated. His political suc- 

 cessor may be sincere, but untrained, and the splendid 

 game assets suffer for lack of the attention that can be 

 given only by those who would make wildlife manage- 

 ment a career. In order to function properly, game 

 commissions should be composed of well-informed indi- 

 viduals, free from political pressure, and must have 

 authority to deal promptly and effectivel}' with rapidly 

 changing conditions as the\ arise. 



The adequate management of big game on national 

 forests ^ is urgentlj" needed and presents especial diffi- 

 culty owing to conflicting views with regard to juris- 

 diction. Game is a product of the forest, and too 

 abundant game on national forests may be destructive 

 to forest reproduction and may seriously interfere with 

 the proper regulation there of the grazing of domestic 

 stock. Proper game management calls for the regula- 

 tion of niunbers, ordinarily by himting under a limited 

 license plan, the game supply to be maintained with 

 due regard to range-carrying capacity and other 

 local interests. The game should be fostered and made 

 to yield an annual crop that will be harvested in an 

 orderly way adapted to local conditions. 



Some States may have what is regarded as compe- 

 tent game administration, but it is obviously impossible 



3 See also contribution by the Forest Service on wildlife management on national 

 forests. Sec. Ill of part IX. 



