GAME AND WILD-FUR PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION 57 



esthetic uses. This has an important bearing on man's demands 

 on wildlife. When wildlife was used only to provide essentials, the 

 individual's requirements were limited, but when used for recreational 

 and esthetic purposes, the individual's demand is practically un- 

 limited. This change in use has created a new kind of demand, which 

 tends to increase with the increase in income and leisure time of the 

 people rather than with the population. Concurrently, the supply of 

 wildlife has decreased. Originally, all wildlife was produced and 

 harvested on public land. Today, more than 75 percent of our game 

 and wild fur is produced and harvested on agricultural land. More 

 than 80 percent of this land is privately owned. This change in owner- 

 ship and use of land has placed upon the private landowner not only 

 the expense of producing wildlife but also any loss resulting from 

 damage caused by wildlife and wildlife users. 



In an effort to overcome the difficulties associated with these changes 

 numerous plans and schemes have been sponsored during recent years. 

 Judgment relative to the success or failure of an undertaking of this 

 kind is largely a matter of individual opinion. A specific program 

 may be considered successful, if it accomplishes the principal objective 

 the individual or group has in mind. This same project may be con- 

 sidered a complete failure by others having different objectives. The 

 unsatisfactory results so commonly experienced in undertakings of 

 this nature are, in a large part, caused by an inability of those con- 

 cerned to harmonize the conflicting interests of the farmer and the 

 hunter. The farmer wants more protection for his property and 

 individual rights at little or no additional cost. The hunter wants 

 more game and more hunting opportunities at little or no additional 

 cost. The following incentives seem to be imperative if the land 

 operator is to be induced to provide game and allow the public to use 

 his land in taking game and fur : Protection from trespass occasioned 

 by the presence of wildlife ; opportunities to receive adequate compen- 

 sation in the form of money, social, esthetic, or recreational returns 

 for his efforts in providing game and allowing semipublic hunting; 

 complete control of hunting and hunters on his property subject to fair 

 and reasonable regulations by law, and custodianship of wildlife on 

 his property subject to fair and reasonable regulations by law. 



Only in exceptional instances and under somewhat uncommon cir- 

 cumstances are landowners able to obtain a revenue from game 

 commensurate with the agricultural use of the land. Where the 

 production and harvesting of wildlife can be harmonized with agri- 

 cultural use, it can be made to produce a supplementary in- 

 come. More frequently, it provides only recreational and esthetic 

 opportunities. 



In general, farmers have been penalized for having wildlife on 

 their land. The more abundant the game or fur animals the more 

 damage they inflict and the greater the nuisance and damage caused 

 by the hunters and trappers. As a result, most game and fur animals 

 found on farms today are there in spite of agricultural practices or 

 at best, accidentally. It is believed that if the farmer received proper 

 recognition he would, in many instances, produce game and wild fur 

 as a byproduct incidental to such farm practices as wood-lot man- 

 agement, erosion control, and soil and water conservation. 



