12 BULLETIN 1049, U. S. DEPAETMEN^T OF AGEICULTUEE. 



ticable onh^ to estimate the total receipts, using as a basis such figures 

 as are available for a normal year. 



It was estimated prior to the war that under ordinary conditions 

 the number of persons hunting in the United States was approxi- 

 mately 5,000,000. Granting that 10 per cent of this number were 

 nonresidents, persons exempt from license requirements, and persons 

 hunting without licenses, there were 4,500,000 hunters who should ob- 

 tain resident licenses. At $1 each the gross receipts from this source 

 would amount to $4,500,000. Returns from 17 States in 1914 and 

 figures from 17 other States for a normal year prior to the wai- 

 showed that about 15,400 licenses were issued to nonresidents. Of 

 the other 14 States very few issue many nonresident licenses, so 

 20,000 is a conservative estimate of the number of nonresident 

 licenses issued in an average year. The fees for these licenses varied 

 from $5 to $50, but most of them ranged from $10 to $25. If the 

 average fee is considered to be $15, the average gross receipts from 

 nonresidents would be $300,000. The total receipts from licenses 

 should therefore amount to about $4,800,000 per annum. Costs of 

 collection, defective laws, and other circumstances tend to reduce this 

 figure considerably, and it is probable that a much smaller amount is 

 actually collected and made available for game protection. Never- 

 theless, the aggregate for all States is a verj^ large sum. 



The returns collected from all the States which issue resident 

 licenses — namely, all except Delaware, Mississippi, and North Caro- 

 lina (and Florida, from Avhich figures are not available) — showed 

 a total of 3,570,925 resident licenses, 20,221 nonresident, and 545 

 alien licenses issued in 1919. These figures, however, are somewhat 

 too high, because of the fact that several of the States issue a com- 

 bined hunting and fishing license and it is impracticable to separate 

 the fishing from the hunting licenses. In some States receipts are 

 suiRcient to bear not only the expenses of game propagation but also 

 the cost of maintaining fish hatcheries, and in a few instances large 

 sums collected from hunting licenses, ostensibly for game protection, 

 have been diverted to other purposes b}^ the legislatures. 



ESTIMATES OF THE VALUE OF GAME BY STATE OFFICIALS. 



Several States have made estimates from time to time of the value 

 of fish and game within their Ijorders. Under present methods these 

 are necessarily mere approximations and not compiled on a uniform 

 l>lan. Some include game, others game and fish, and still others 

 tourist traffic. 



The fish and game of Idaho have been estimated to be worth 

 $1,000,000 per annum. The Conservation Commission of Louisiana 

 estimates the number of waterfowl killed in a single season at 371,654, 

 :i total whicli includes many of the smaller species, but the value 



