Relation of JVild Life to tlic Public 373 



phases of nature to which, except the scenery, we have not yet given 

 adequate attention. 



It win help clear up the point of view from which I have dis- 

 cussed the park problem, to state definitely the assumptions upon 

 which I have based my remarks. Probably some will not agree 

 with me on certain of these points. I hope that those who do not 

 accept them will see the need of a thorough discussion of these 

 points, and that later they will assist in elucidating them. For 

 brevity I will state them without discussion as follows : 



1. The publicly owned National and State Parks are devoted 

 solely to the public welfare. The wild life in them is public prop- 

 erty and should harmonize with all other uses of the parks. 



2. This social ideal includes the recreational, educational, scien- 

 tific and aesthetic interests, and should exclude all commercializa- 

 tion of the parks. 



3. The main criterion of proper use is that which is harmoni- 

 ous with permanent or sustained use — to pass on to future genera- 

 tions, unimpaired, the natural resources of the parks. The pres- 

 ent generation has no honest claim to more than a fair share. 



4. The ideal and the practical must be combined in order to 

 harmonize with the preceding. 



5. These parks, to be maintained upon a permanent basis, must 

 remain primarily a wilderness, — at least our National Parks, and 

 most State Parks should strive for at least a part of their area 

 to be reserved for that purpose. 



6. All the wild parks should exclude from within their bound- 

 aries all plants and animals not native to the region. These areas 

 cannot be passed on to future generations unimpaired, if they are 

 periodically stocked with exotics. 



RELATION OF WILD LIFE TO THE PUBLIC 



The most important relation of animals to the public is their 

 attractiveness to park visitors. The silent grass-lands and forests 

 without birds and other animals lose much of their charm to a 

 host of people who will never become bird students. The pres- 

 ence of beaver dams and lodges, and the prospect of seeing these 

 animals at work, are powerful attractions in the Adirondacks and 

 m the Yellowstone. The mere presence of bears (Plate 25), 

 bufifalo, elk, deer or moose has an appeal that no intelligent person, 

 at all acquainted with the public in the presence of these animals, 

 can doubt (cf. Grinnell and Storer, '16). And these attractions lose 

 none of their charm even in the midst of the most wonderful 



