BULLETIN NUMBER TWO 



37 



be done to increase the supply of game, 

 and prevent species from being exter- 

 minated, are loftily spoken of as "fa- 

 natics." 



One thing now should be apparent to 

 the dullest mind. It is that unless a 

 great number of game sanctuaries are 

 made and maintained inviolate for the 

 safe breeding and increase of big game, 

 the noble sport of the big game hunting 

 twenty-five years hence will be limited 

 to elk hunting around the Yellowstone 

 Park, and deer hunting in such states 

 as New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont 

 and Maine, where deer are so preserved 

 that they are breeding as rapidly as they 

 are killed. 



Which shall it be in 1940: a hundred 

 more game sanctuaries dating back to 

 1915, or no big game hunting outside 

 the four states named? 



OUR PLAN FOR GAME 

 INCREASE 



Millions of acres of our national for- 

 ests now are utterly destitute of game 

 worthy of mention. Over thousands of 

 square miles in the West and the East 

 you now can hunt till doomsday with- 

 out finding a four-footed animal worth 

 shooting as food. Vast opportunities to 

 create a great annual supply of big game 

 are being wasted through the lack of 

 intelligent and resolute action. 



The submitted plan proposes an enor- 

 mous increase in game that may legiti- 

 mately be killed for food purposes. This 

 can be secured without loss to any other 

 industrial interests. All that is needed 

 is a safe and sane law, honestly enforced, 

 and a little patience in waiting for re- 

 sults. 



The following basis has been agreed 

 upon, informally, by the officers of the 

 U. S. Forest Service, the Biological Sur- 

 vey and W. T. Hornaday. 



(1) A federal law empowering the 

 Secretary of Agriculture to select and 

 delimit areas in national forests suitable 

 for game sanctuaries. (2) These sanc- 

 tuaries shall be established by president 

 tial proclamation. (3) These sanctuaries 

 shall be so located that they will not 



occupy lands chiefly suitable for agricul- 

 ture. (4) These sanctuaries shall be lo- 

 cated where they will interfere to the 

 least extent practicable with the grazing 

 of domestic stock, especially the stock 

 of actual settlers. (5) These sanctuaries 

 shall be established with the approval of 

 the Governor of each State concerned. 

 (6) It is expedient to establish a large 

 number of sanctuaries of medium size 

 rather than a few large preserves. (7) 

 The ideal condition would be a chain 

 of sanctuaries which in time would re- 

 store game to all the intervening terri- 

 tory. (8) Administration will be vested 

 in the Secretary of Agriculture. (9) 

 Boundaries are to be settled after full 

 consideration of all conditions. (10) 

 Predatory animals are to be killed. (11) 

 The object of these sanctuaries is to 

 provide breeding places for game which 

 will spread over adjacent territory, where 

 it will be subject to the regular open 

 season provided by law. This will pre- 

 vent danger of overstocking the ranges. 

 It will therefore not be the general pol- 

 icy to extend these sanctuaries. 



In addition to the above, it is to be 

 understood that the final success of the 

 plan contemplates strict regulation of 

 the game that may and may not be killed 

 annually, the same as obtains in the deer 

 forests of Europe. A large stock of 

 game must be kept alive so that the an- 

 nual increase will yield a large food sup- 

 ply that will be permanent. 



Now the question is : Is it worth while 

 for the American people to take the 

 trouble to make the increase in their 

 annual food supply that this plan pro- 

 poses? 



Regarding both the judgment and the 

 executive power of the American people 

 we are profoundly optimistic. Our si- 

 lent millions are quick to do the right 

 thing when they are thoroughly aroused 

 to necessities, and shown the way. We 

 do not court a reputation for senseless 

 destruction of nature's resources, and 

 folly in conservation methods. It is for 

 this reason that the friends and the de- 

 fenders of wild life feel that it is worth 

 while to strive! The best Americans, 

 who, God be thanked, are yet in the ma- 

 jority, distinctly do not wish to rob Pos- 

 terity of its rightful heritage in the wild 

 game of this nation. 



