Report of tf)e CI)ief Game Protector 



1903 



To the Forest, Pisf) and Game Commission: 



GENTLEMEN. — I have the honor to submit the following report, showing 

 the work of the force of protectors under my supervision, and calling 

 attention to some of the changes which occur annually in the form of 

 amendments to the law, and to other points that may be of interest to your 

 Honorable Board, as well as to the many persons who take a deep interest in 

 the protection of the forests and game of the State and the propagation and 

 distribution of fish, which has been carried on so systematically and extensively 

 that nearly all of our once depleted waters have become profitable for commercial 

 fishing and furnish sport for myriads of anglers. 



Having been in the service for more than fourteen years, I feel like intruding 

 a little by calling attention to some very important changes that have occurred 

 in the work, so that recent converts to protection may know something of the 

 darker days and the difficulties under which the small handful of protectors and 

 the few sympathizers and supporters of the law labored at that time as compared 

 with the present state of affairs. 



Tl)e Force of Protectors. 



Prior to 1892 there were but fifteen protectors for the entire State, with 

 apparently no prospect of an increase, as the market hunter, together with the 

 net fisherman, presented such a solid front that it seemed impossible to make 

 any headway against their opposition to better laws. But, many thanks to the 

 few never tiring associations and persons who could see that, with the forests 

 denuded and the fish and game exterminated, the health and pleasure seeker 

 would soon abandon this State for other fields, thereby entailing expense which 

 many could not afford and which would have left the now prosperous health and 

 sporting resorts surrounded by barren ledges and unprofitable farming land as 

 against untold wealth at the present time. The first notable change for the better 

 was brought about by an act of the Legislature in 1892, as that body began to 



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