3S0 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



Maintenance of Wild Life. — The maintenance of wild life in 

 parks, in a normal, healthy state, is a relatively new art in America. 

 This involves adequate protection, by rviles, rangers or police, and 

 by all the educational devices available. But this protection is not 

 all a question of restrictions, for there is the productive and con- 

 structive aspect. Favorable conditions must be maintained, so that 

 the animals will breed normally. If fishing is permitted, the main- 

 tenance of the stock in the streams must be looked after continuously, 

 and the supply maintained. Careful super\ ision of all this must be 

 given and definite policies followed, or great blunders will be made 

 and much damage will be done. A competent park official should 

 supervise all this fish work. 



x\t present, administrators are in a difficult position because of 

 the lack of definite ideas, policies, and public sentiment to support 

 definite programs, and the frequent changes of officials favor a laclc 

 of continuit}- in policies ; and furthermore, with such a wobbling 

 policy little is learned from experience. 



Education of Park Officials. — At present, the parks suffer to 

 a large degree because they are necessarily in the hands of adminis- 

 trators who, because of their lack of special training, we must con- 

 sider as amateurs. We have had no profession for this line of 

 work, and some who have had the most training are to be feared 

 to a corresponding degree, because of preconceived, formal ideals, 

 which they with almost religious zeal, slip into the wilderness parks. 

 The ideal of a wilderness park is beyond their ken, because their 

 approach has been from another angle. These persons are of course 

 welcomed in formal cit\ parks, but in our large National Parks, 

 and in the wild parts of State Parks they are liable to be a menace. 

 In the training of such men there has been no adequate recogni- 

 tion of the wild life problems or appreciation of the wilderness. 



Anorher source of difficult}' is the lack of trained rangers and 

 nature guides in our parks. ^Nlen are needed who have not only a 

 special familiarity with a special subject matter, but as well with 

 the ideals of parks. Until very recently we have had no provision 

 for such training in our educational system, and no: until adequate 

 provision has been made for this can we expect the detailed work in 

 the parks to be wholly satisf actor}-. A complete technical staff is 

 needed for our parks, but this fact must be generally recognized 

 before young men will devote themselves to the park profession, 

 and the public must appreciate it fully enough to provide for it in 

 the appropriations. 



