198 WILD LIFE PROTECTION FUND 



are fairly plentiful, in other localities where there used to 

 be many, they are nearly all gone. In this valley where we 

 used to see them in clouds, they are nearly all gone. A few 

 years close season, ivith enforcement of the law, would 

 bring them back. Irrigation ditches are a help to them, as 

 out on the dry sage-brush flats there is plenty of feed for 

 them, but far from water the young birds are never found. 

 I presume sheep destroy many of their nests." 



Idaho : 



Mrs. Elizabeth Young Hoffman, Ranch Owner, Fairfield 

 (July 13, 1916). 



''My brother and I have homesteads in the foothills of the 

 Sawtooth Mountains, about 40 miles south of Hailey and 30 

 miles north of Gooding. We live close to the hills, and in 

 the draw back of our house the grouse, willow and brown 

 grouse, and sage hens, nest and are safe. For five years we 

 have protected these birds, trying to keep the hunters off 

 our land, and trying to get all the people interested in pro- 

 tecting them. 



"Most of the ranchers do want to protect them. They 

 realize that the wild birds are a benefit to the farmer, and 

 they do all they can to keep the 'sportsmen' off. 



"But there is no legal protection. The game laws are a 

 farce. Politics seems everything. Certain men in Hailey 

 go out and shoot every bird in sight. They ignore the limit 

 prescribed by the game laws. The game keepers never ar- 

 rest them, — afraid to lose their jobs. The law is off July 

 15, but long before that the hunters come in here, — the only 

 bit of country where sage-hens are to be found, — and shoot 

 everything. They shoot before sunrise, which is forbidden. 

 They kill the old hens 'for fun,' leave them lying on the 

 ground, and eat only the young birds. These young ones 

 are too small to escape. You can knock them over with a 

 stick. 



"When we came in here about 18 years ago, the sage hens 

 were plentiful. Flocks of 50 or more were all through these 

 hills. This year I have seen just 15 birds. Those are on 

 my land. To protect them I have put up signs everywhere. 

 But it does little good. The hunters come in and shoot, 

 even though I go down with a rifle to run them off. Their 

 excuse is that if they don't get them some one else will ; and 

 they mean to have them while there are any left. 



