Agricultural, grazing, timber, and water management 

 practices are all seen as critical for particular species. 

 Shortages of animals for transplanting, limited 

 capabilities of fish hatcheries, overharvesting in the 

 East, and pesticides and pollution are other problem 

 areas. Lack of knowledge of the life cycle require- 

 ments of wildlife and fish, lack of adequate guidelines 

 for their management, and the need for public under- 

 standing and acceptance of management activities 

 have also been noted. 



Problems Perceived by Recreationists 



Those who hunt and fish for sport generally share 

 the managers' concern for ensuring suitable habitats. 

 Hunters, regardless of the type of hunting, rank the 

 most serious problems in the following order:" 



• posting of private lands against hunting 

 and closure of access to public lands 



• loss of game habitat 



• littering and trespassing 



• illegal hunting 



In addition, big game hunters say they do not hunt 

 more because of a lack of animals, a too-high cost of 

 hunting, concern for their personal safety, and regula- 

 tions that they find too restrictive. 



Most anglers agree that they would like to see im- 

 proved fish habitat conditions, increased stocking 

 programs, better access to fishing sites, and stricter 

 enforcement of fishing regulations. Warmwater 

 anglers are particularly concerned about water pollu- 

 tion, competition from speedboats and water skiers, 

 and too many other anglers. Those who prefer cold- 

 water fishing call for longer seasons, more "wild" 

 trout streams, and streams where only fly fishing is 

 permitted. Salmon anglers frequently feel that a 

 major need is to restrict commercial fishing. 



Opportunities to Maintain and 

 Enhance Wildlife and Fish Resources 



It is clear that the use of each of our forest and 

 range ecosystems will continue to increase. The 

 preceding discussion has suggested that the values 

 inherent in our wildlife and fish resources will gener- 

 ate more intense pressures on many animal popula- 

 tions. At the same time, some of the habitats which 

 are critical to these resources will be lost or degraded 

 if present trends in the treatment of forest and range 

 lands continue. 



Many of the uses and modifications of our land 

 and water base that have major undesirable implica- 



" 1975 National Survey of Hunting, Fishing, and Wildlife Asso- 

 ciated Recreation, op. cit. 



tions for wildlife and fish resources result from strong 

 social and economic forces. The resulting problems 

 cannot be resolved just by the wildlife profession, by 

 public resource or land managing agencies, or by the 

 owners of private lands. Their resolution depends 

 upon a general recognition of the values of wildlife 

 and fish and a willingness to make the tradeoffs 

 necessary to capture those values. 



This is particularly true with regard to activities 

 that radically alter aquatic systems, such as the dis- 

 charge of pollutants, the construction of dams, chan- 

 nelization, and water diversion projects. Comparable 

 problems in terrestrial systems include the spread of 

 agricultural activities to forest and range lands, and 

 particularly to wetlands, and the encroachment of 

 residential and industrial developments, especially 

 those at the edges of waters and on big game winter 

 ranges. Energy developments already pose major 

 problems to wild fauna in some areas and will 

 become more significant, particularly along the ocean 

 coasts and in the interior West. 



The general evolution of wildlife-oriented laws 

 reflects the realization that Federal legislation is 

 sometimes essential to deal with these problems. A 

 supportive body of State laws has also been devel- 

 oped to deal with more localized problems. 



Because forest and range ecosystems will continue 

 to be used for a variety of purposes, specific wildlife 

 populations will continue to be depleted for relatively 

 short periods of time. In general, though, there are a 

 variety of opportunities for ensuring continued sub- 

 stantial populations of most species; in the past, tak- 

 ing advantage of such opportunities has contributed 

 greatly to the present abundance of the resources. 

 The major, partially overlapping opportunities, can 

 be categorized as managing habitats and populations, 

 regulating or enhancing the use of animals, improv- 

 ing Federal-State-private cooperative programs 

 aimed at enhancing the resources on private lands, 

 and improving the research information base for 

 management and decisionmaking. 



Managing Terrestrial 

 Habitats and Populations 



The most direct approach to ensure that habitats of 

 particular animals are protected is to eliminate or 

 strongly control all activities that are not consistent 

 with that goal. This has frequently been done to pro- 

 tect habitats for endangered and threatened species. 



The National Wildlife Refuge System is probably 

 the best-known example of forbidding destructive 

 activities. In 1974, the system included about 40 mil- 

 lion acres. The refuges are widely distributed, with 



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