Manjf attempts have -"been made .to utilize; thi's-»fc5i*:cQ; in-, -order that.vf'avored 

 species — especially those classpd as- game — might /increase., ■.,• 5Ihe-.' Mas sach-os'et.ts- 

 colonies adopted ordinances to restrict the kill of certain species. Even 

 the Indians maintained ""bear pre'S.e;ir7es-" .'A'hereo.n.tiiie'/i^^ar , particularly valu- 

 a"ble to them "because of its fat, was never molested. Following settlement 

 "by the- white plan., this type ofj effort, .to incr.ease.' -game.' "b.y-. resiiricting; 'the';.' 

 kill appears with increasing frequency', until at the. -opening of the- present; ■. .; 

 cent,ury-;-ne.a^-Jy if not all the. Sta.tes" and the Canadian Pro-vi-nces. had adopted •.•.... 

 elaborate- statutory codes, designed to protect wildlife." . 'and' ena"bie itto. mul-- ' 

 tiply,:: The •-.sj^.stem.j- however , -is. only partially effective. Failure to reallzB " 

 to ;the.' ful'l:.the intended; "benefits has Tbeen due to lax enforcement of lavxs,..' 

 vrhich has "been occasioned in .turn "by negligi'ole appropriations of money ,► "by '. , 

 political interference,, and:l)y a general apathy on the part of the puh.lic, :.-' 

 all ,of which- are attributable to. lack of appreciation; o^ the seriousness of , . 

 the problem, confronting State and .Nation. ' -. C,:,.. ■ ''- ■ ■'- ,- - 



,.•.; But a deterrent factor ev.en more potent v.ras -the seeming inability .of 

 wildlife adm.inistrators to realize that . the reduction of the .annual-'-toll of 

 game taken by gunners, was only one part of a successful restoration plan. . 

 The missing element vjas that of planning for land utilization and management 

 in such v/ay as to- preserve to the greatest degree possible the eiivirohmental 

 conditions without which the wild creatures could not exist even though other--, 

 wise- freed from iiuman persecution. It is easy for us .now to.;realize, for .. ; 

 example, that the drainage and reclamation of about 100,000,000, acres of marsh- 

 landin the United. States alone operated as effectively to prevent the increase 

 of waterfowl as-did the gun? of the market shopters. Similar, conditions ap- 

 plied v/ith equal force to other species. Cultivation, deforestation, lowering 

 of water levels by drainage, and the pollution of many of the remaining natu- 

 ral reservoirs and streams placed upland game and other forms of wildlife 

 under a tremendous i-:andicap, Agricalture claimed not the fertile lands only — 

 it invaded the submarginal areas as' v;ell — and the domain of the wild living 

 things that req.uired vdlderness envirpnment shjrank away from the. invader* 



A lAiro-USS PHOBLEM . 



E* W, Nelson, a former Chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey, now 

 the Eish and V,"iidlife Service, vras one of the first to point to the truth, 

 when in 1915 he began to urge the..immediate a.cquisition. of marsh and v/ater 

 areas to be set aside as permanent sanctuaries for waterfowl and other forms 

 of wildlife-. It was not until- 1928, however, that there.' v.ras;. finally passed 

 the Migratory Bird Conse'rvat ion Act, which , authorized appropriations-*" of 'funds 

 amounting to about $8,000,000 to be expended over a .iOt-year period '.for the 

 purpose advanced by Dr, Nelson. Only about $1,300,000 was actually- appro- 

 priated, but by the passage of the act. Congress gave its endorsement to a ... 

 national policy of. wildlife restoration and declared the- preservation .of • '-■■'■ 

 habitat to be a fundamental, part . of the .Government' s restoration plan. This'' 

 act has. sihce...been suppldmented by others and by the "allocation of emergency 

 funds dcsigne-d.to carry out these 'purposes. 



Not only Congress but other legislative and administrative bodies and - 

 the people generally at last began to appreciate the value of preserving and 

 restoring v;ildlifc and to understand its intimate relationship to land 



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