36 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



There is thus an urgent need for scientific research. How can 

 this be best favored? 



Proposed Remedy. Our larger universities, as a rule, have 

 ignored the investigation of the larger game animals, and at present 

 there is no indication of an early change of policy. The larger 

 animals of the forest have for ages been considered as one of the 

 regular products of the forest, or as Chief Forester Graves of the 

 United States Forest Service has expressed it: "Wild life is 

 largely a forest product. It should be regarded as a public resource, 

 to be protected and systematically developed. It is a resource which 

 is easily destroyed under abuse; but it readily responds to right 

 treatment. The intelligent fostering of the valuable wild life of the 

 forest is and has always been one of the objects of forestry. Forests 

 are more than trees. They are rather land areas on which are 

 associated various forms of plant and animal life. The forester 

 must deal with all. Wild life is as essentially and legitimately an 

 object of his care as are water, wood, and forage. Forest adminis- 

 tration should be planned with a view to realizing all possible bene- 

 fits from the land areas handled. It should take account of their 

 indirect value for recreation and health as well as their value for 

 the production of salable material ; and of their value for the pro- 

 duction of meat, hides, and furs of all kinds as well as for the 

 production of wood and the protection of water supplies." 



The relation of game to forests is thus seen to be a permanent 

 one and not a temporary alliance. Progress in game should not 

 depend upon the favor of a few men who happen to be interested, 

 for it is based upon mutual fundamental interests and therefore 

 there should be a definite policy looking forward to permanent 

 results. For these reasons it is suggested that cooperation between 

 those interested in game and fur-bearers and a forestry institution, 

 The New York State College of Forestry, is based on sound logic 

 and upon mutual advantages. The College is a State educational 

 and research institution which is devoted to the utilization of all 

 forest crops both plant and animal. It is now coming to be generally 

 recognized that animal crops (game and fish) from forests are 

 necessary and legitimate in forest practice, as much so as is the pro- 

 duction of cattle on the farm. 



The following provisional suggestions are intended to aid in the 

 selection of a problem or problems and in the development of a 

 zvorking plan. 



