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United States Department of the Interior 

 Fish and '/rildlife Service 



¥ildlife Leaflet 282 



JUL 2 91945 



"T^OT 



OFAS!«OUITU«E 



Chicago d4, 111. 



May 1946 



y HISTORY AI'ID SIGNIFICANCE Of A^igRICAH.'.^.'aLDLIIl^ 

 ■ ■ - - . '* 



,PrQpar.ed in Division 'of Information 



X 



Contents 



Original v/ealth in wildlife. . . 

 .Abundance' ■unimpaired by Indians. 

 ^Exploitation ."by. v?hite settlers '. 

 ■•Influence of wildlife on coloni- 

 zation and settlement. . . . . 

 Early traffic in wildlife and 



its products . , 



Exploitation era .qlosing , . . . 

 Wildlife managemant the remedy-, 

 A land-use problem ...,,.. 

 Wildlife needs ignored during 

 development period , , ; , . , 



Page 

 1 

 2 



3 



I Avrakening to .the dangers vrhich 



j menace the resource, . .' ,.. ■. 



! Planning for ,v/ildlife restora-^ 



i tioh , . . , i . . • ..,. . . , . 



I Fact-finding basis for plans'. 



j Development of vdldlife-. .' 



! •p-O'^'S'^'ti"^© legislation . ,. . 



! Attitude favorable to restora- 



j tion as Government fmiction. 



I Suggested reading, ........ 15 



Page 



. 10 



. 11 

 . 12 



, 13 



. 14 



•;■■■■-'••- "■••^-' ■■• OHIGINAL WEALTH IN WILDLIFE 



Previous to the coming of the white settlers, .North America possessed 

 an abundance and variety of wildlife not surpassed by any other continent. 

 There were rca'sohs f.or this: Vfildlife, like vegetation, is modified as its 

 habitat changes and it varies in form a'hd abundance according to climate, 

 soil fertility ,: and altitude. North America, vdth its crest in the icy 

 Arctic and its base .in the v/arm subtropical, region- of the Gulf of Mexico; 

 with its Hocky Mountains in the West and its Alleghenies in the East; with 

 its arid deserts, fertile plains', and vrell-watered valleys' lying between, 

 has within its boundaries almost every possible variation in temperature, 

 precipitation, soil fertility, .and. vegetative cover. Altitudes .range from 

 ridges that are thousands of feet above sea level to de-Qths of the- Death 



NOTE-.— This leaflet supersedes Wildlife Research and Management Leaf- 

 lets ES-106 and BS-126 issued" March 19oB and February 1939, respectively, 

 by the Bureau of Biological Survey, of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture. . 



