The Oregon Sportsman 



Volume II SEPTEMBER, 1914 Number 9 



MENACE TO FORESTS AND GAME. 



July and August have been unusually dry months through- 

 out Oregon. For over two months no rain has fallen. Forest 

 fires in various parts of the state have menaced some of our 

 finest timber. 



It is unfortunate that careless parties who are hunting and 

 fishing and camping in the mountains are often responsible for 

 letting camp fires get beyond control. Carelessness of this kind 

 is like the carelessness of the hunter who shoots his friend for 

 a deer. It is criminal and the punishment should be severe. All 

 sportsmen who are in the woods should make it a point not only 

 to be careful themselves, but to lend their efforts toward influ- 

 encing others to be careful. 



While it is our opinion that there are many careless parties 

 in the woods, yet we find that the average business man in the 

 city who goes hunting and fishing is the man who loves outdoor 

 life and is wide awake to protect our forests, our streams and 

 our game. He has been educated to know the great harm of 

 the pollution of our streams, the careless handling of arms and 

 the fearful results of a camp fire that gets beyond control. 



The main cause of forest fires is, we venture to say, not from 

 hunting and fishing parties; but in various localities we have a 

 class of careless, shiftless people who, because they have home- 

 steaded the land in the wilderness, believe they have inherent 

 rights on their own property, as far as the game, the streams and 

 the forests are concerned. It is difficult for such people to 

 understand that, even though they desire to clear their own land, 

 they cannot burn slashings that menace the property of neigh- 

 bors, except according to law. It is difficult to make these 

 people understand that the state owns the game; that is, that 

 the game belongs to all the people and that each individual 

 cannot kill game when and where he sees fit, but we must have 

 laws so that the rights of all citizens may be equalized. 



Page one 



