108 WILD LIFE PROTECTION FUND 



or farfetched the effort may be. In this case you go to 

 ridiculous extremes to place upon conservationists in gen- 

 eral, and the undersigned in particular, a burden of blame 

 for the fact that Mr. Thompson went out hunting, failed 

 to kill the bear that he found, and was unfortunately killed 

 by the animal under particularly distressing circumstances. 



Just why I should be blamed for Mr. Thompson's unsuc- 

 cessful hunting, and his fatally poor shooting, is hard to 

 account for under the rules of common sense ; but that fact 

 does not seem to trouble you in the least. Mr. Thompson 

 was armed according to his own best judgment, and he was 

 out for bear. If his shooting had been good there would 

 have been one brown bear less to trouble the people of 

 Alaska. No law stood in the way of Mr. Thompson in his 

 hunting efforts, and no conservationist was to blame because 

 Mr. Thompson failed to kill the bear. 



No conservationist of my acquaintance believes for one 

 moment that a man should not have all possible rights to 

 defend himself against dangerous wild beasts when he is 

 either attacked or threatened with attack. The law per- 

 mits every resident of Alaska, and also every visitor who 

 wishes to take out a hunting license, to kill three brown 

 bears every year. This being the case, I ask you to tell me 

 why under the sun there are too many brown bears living 

 in Alaska to suit the people of Alaska? The brown and 

 grizzly bears of Alaska are not immune. Inasmuch as the 

 brown bears and grizzly bears of Alaska are so obnoxious 

 to the people of that country, why do not the men of Alaska 

 get their guns, go after the bears and kill three each per 

 year until the alleged surplus is reduced. Surely there are 

 a thousand men in Alaska who are able to hunt bears with 

 safety to themselves ; and if that is the case, the legal bag 

 limit would permit the killing of 3,000 bears every year until 

 the bears are exterminated. 



You have your remedy. Why do you not apply it? What 

 is the matter with the men of Alaska that they do not go 

 out, according to law, kill their three bears each, and en- 

 tirely eliminate the brown bear question? 



But no! The men of Alaska demand the right to kill 

 bears on a strictly commercial basis! It appears to be the 

 money that is wanted, rather than safety from bears for 

 the public. The law gives all Alaskans bear-killing rights 

 which the most of them do not seem to exercise; and this 



