ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



507 



which no shooting is ever allowed. The Mon- 

 tana National Bison Range, or the Wichita 

 Bison Range, might answer well; though the 

 climate of the former might prove too rigorous 

 for animals that have been reared in captivity in 

 the milder climate of England. The logical 

 conclusion is the Wichita National Bison Range 

 containing twelve square miles of as fine deer 

 country as any deer ever saw. 



LEND A HAND TO GLACIER PARK. 



IN the wild and picturesque mountains of 

 northwestern Montana, there is a region that 

 is splendidly provided with rugged peaks, deep 

 valleys, coniferous forests, glistening glaciers, 

 mirror lakes and mountain streams. It is of no 

 direct commercial value to man. The most per- 

 sistent miners and prospectors have given it up 

 as worthless to them, and it contains no agricul- 

 tural lands worthy of mention. By reason of 

 the depth of its winter snows, it is wholly un- 

 suitable for grazing purposes. 



Indirectly, however, the very snows and 

 streams that now render that region impassable 

 in winter and early spring constitute an asset of 

 real value to the people of this country who live 

 below it. To preserve that value to the utmost, 

 and devote it to the greatest good of the great- 

 est number, there is now before Congress a bill 

 to convert 1300 square miles of that mountain 

 region into a forest reserve to be called Glacier 

 National Park. 



The area selected contains sixty glaciers and 

 250 lakes, and as a source of water supply it is 

 surpassingly fine. Cut off the forests, however, 

 and that region will be a constant menace, and 

 a source of disastrous floods below. Of the de- 

 sirability of preserving those forests, there can 

 be no question. But how about the game? 

 Senator Carter's bill, which died in the House 

 last winter, did not provide for the wild crea- 

 tures, probably because he fears that to have it 

 do so would provoke opposition to the bill as a 

 whole. Even the best game-protectors must 

 carefully consider ways and means. 



The proposed park contains a fair number of 

 mountain goats and mountain sheep, four mem- 

 bers of the deer family — moose, elk, mule-deer 

 and white-tail, — and a few black and grizzly 

 bears. There are six species of grouse, many 

 other birds of exceptional interest, and an abun- 

 dance of trout of three species. 



During the past five months, the columns of 

 Forest and Stream have contained three illus- 

 trated articles on Glacier Park in which its fea- 

 tures and its contents have been set forth with 



admirable fullness of detail. The dates of the 

 issues are January 9 and 23, February 20. 



We are troubled by the fact that Senator Car- 

 ter's last bill did not propose to make of Glacier 

 Park a wild-life preserve! Evidently the Sen- 

 ator felt that with that feature included, his bill 

 might be defeated. But will it? Let us see. 



In 1900 the Lacey bill, for the better protec- 

 tion of birds, became a law, by an overwhelming 

 majority, — chiefly because a large number of 

 good citizens wrote to their members of Con- 

 gress and demanded the passage of that bill 

 without any further postponements or delays. 

 As soon as the members of Congress were defi- 

 nitely assured that "their people" desired the 

 Lacey Bird Law, it went through on a whirl- 

 wind of votes. 



Now, then, if the people of the United States 

 desire that Glacier Park be made, and also made 

 as an absolute game preserve, the way in which 

 they can secure that end is by saying so to their 

 members of Congress, next December, when the 

 bill will start anew! 



We believe that the making of the Glacier 

 Park forest and game preserve would be directly 

 in the interest of all the people of the United 

 States; and not only those of to-day, but the 

 generations of the future. There is nothing to 

 be gained by postponing the effort in behalf of 

 the wild life of Glacier Park. If there must 

 be a campaign to secure its protection, by all 

 means lets have it now, and make one job of it! 

 The wild life of that region, game and all, must 

 be preserved; and that is all there is in the way 

 of a question about it. 



We call upon you, and your newspaper if you 

 have one, to consider this matter, and decide 

 whether or not you, as a broad-minded, patriotic, 

 far-seeing citizen, have a Duty in the matter. 

 If you decide that you have, then write to your 

 Congressman next December, and state your 

 views and your wishes. On all such matters, 

 you will find that the men who compose our Con- 

 gress and our state legislatures are willing to 

 enact into law anything reasonable that the peo- 

 ple desire in the line of permanent conserva- 

 tion of our natural resources. 



We have no right, either legal or moral, to 

 destroy the wild life now on this earth, or to 

 permit it to be destroyed. We are its guardians 

 and trustees ; and the men of the future will hold 

 us accountable for the manner in which we 

 guard their inheritance, and transmit it to them. 



