United States Depar'tment of Agriculture 

 ■Bureau of Biological Survey 



Wi ldlife Research and Management Leaf let ES -25 



Washington, D. C. * - December 1935 



FUR RESCURCES— THE ■STEPCHILD OF CONSERVATION 



By Frank G-. Ashhrook, principal hiologist, In Charge, Fur Resources, 



Division of Wildlife Research 



If the public does not helieve that ducks are just about the most 

 important species of -wildlife, it is not the duck h^unters' fault. 'That 

 more attention is being given to ducks than to any other form of v/ildlife 

 is a facl^ that cannot be denied. More power to all those who are interested 

 in duck conservation. The migratory waterfowl surely need it. 



But what about fur animals? Wjao is looking after their welfare? 

 This tremendously valuable natural resource is being constantly neglected 

 and shoved into the background and still remains the stepchild in the 

 family of conservation. As a matter of fact, it looks now as though we 

 are headed straight for a general extermination of fur animals — not be- 

 cause we want it, but because we can't help it under the present system. 



It is difficult to conceive that in a civilized country so valua- 

 ble a resource as fur animals has been so sadly neglected and atrociously 

 wasted. You can't go on killing millions of fur animals forever without 

 eventually coming face to face with their extermination. Surely a valua- 

 ble resource that yields an annual income to trappers of $65,000,000 

 deserves much more attention than it is now receiving. A large majority 

 of those who trap fur animals includes farmers and their sons who depend 

 upon this source of revenue to increase the farm income. The employment 

 it furnishes and the income it supplies to these rural folks should be 

 sufficient justification to arouse public sentiment for immediate action 

 in order to save what is still left of our fur resources. 



We like to think of ourselves as ardent conservationists, far-seeing, 

 and possessing the required initiative — but somehow or other we have come 

 to believe that we can treat our fur a.nimal heritage as we please. Even 

 some of those who have served as administrators of wildlife have seemed to 

 forget that they are custodians not owners of our fur resources. How long 

 will this continue before we realize that there is something fundamentally 

 wrong with such an attitude? Fur animals are the property of the people 

 in the various States, and this natural resource should be managed for the 

 benefit of all the people instead of permitting political groups and selfish 

 interests to exploit it. 



